“If the guy sticks a gun in my face, I’ll just give him my wallet. It’s stupid to fight back, because I might get shot!”
… Have you ever heard someone say something like this?
Usually they’re justifying their opinion that they don’t need to carry a gun or think about self-defense because if an armed robber holds them up, they’ll just give them what they want.
In other words: they assume that compliance with the bad guy will save their life and make things easier. Well, the sad truth is that you and I are not violent criminals, so we don’t think the same way violent criminals do.
And some violent criminals may just murder you … even if … you give them everything they want.
“But, I’ll Just Comply And Give Them What They Want!”
That’s a stupid strategy in my opinion.
Most people think that a violent criminal thinks like they do. That is, they’re logical.
“The guy is only sticking a gun in my face because he wants my wallet, he doesn’t actually want to kill me”
Maybe.
Maybe not.
The problem is, you have to wait and find out until AFTER he shoots you or not to figure out if you were right.
Do you see the problem?
Some Violent Criminals Will Murder You Even If You Give Them What They Want …
Tom Givens was the first to point this out because he has lived for a long time in Memphis, which has one of the highest murder rates in the USA. Tom explains in a past newsletter …
“In 2013 there lived in Memphis a man named J.P. Shelley. He was a contractor who remodeled houses. He had a wife and a couple of small children, and by all accounts he was a good man.
At the same time in Memphis there lived three parasitic vermin who produced nothing but pain and suffering. They decided one afternoon to rob someone, so they piled into a car and cruised the neighborhood.
They spotted Mr. Shelley standing in the driveway of a home he was working on, talking with one of his sub-contractors. They pulled over. One of the thugs remained behind the wheel of the car, while the other two got out to commit the armed robbery.
According to the surviving victim (the sub-contractor), Mr. Shelley had already given over his cell phone and wallet at gunpoint and was standing there with his hands raised in surrender when one of the assholes shot him in the face, killing him. The thugs then got back in their car and left. Of course, they were caught. Physical evidence, an eye-witness, and eventual confessions leave no doubt whatsoever that the correct three people were apprehended. Last week, the last of the three was in court for sentencing. Here is what they all got…
The driver was sentenced to eight years. With credit for time served awaiting trial, he will probably be out of prison in about a year. One of the robbers who got out of the car was sentenced to fifteen years. The actual shooter was sentenced to thirty years. If he served every day of that time (no one does), he will be in his 40’s when he is released, with a lot of life still ahead of him. Mr. Shelley, on the other hand, will still be dead.
Jeff Cooper said it best, thirty years ago: “If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it. The felon does not fear the police, and he fears neither judge nor jury. Therefore, what he must be taught to fear is his victim.”
Having been to a few Tom Givens classes, that’s just one of many heart-breaking stories he could tell you about people who did everything the bad guy wanted and were still murdered immediately after.
Instead, choose not to be a victim
Choose to fight back.
Choose to carry a gun.
It might just save your life …