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guy goes to grab my wife's purse....

5K views 59 replies 40 participants last post by  CyanLite 
#1 ·
my head is spinning right now in bafflement. so i'm more or less typing this to help me get my thoughts straight. i would like input of course. maybe what you would have done.

my wife was by herself at wally world the other day. it was like 7am. as she's walking in, right before the door there are newspaper dispensers. a headline catches her eye... she stops to read it.

out of the side of her eye, she notices some employees on break talking, smoking. one of "them" walks over towards her and before she cold react gets close enough to her you couldn't slip a piece of paper between them. he shoves his debit card in her face and says "i need money." this guy is mental by the way (i don't recall what they said he had) and turns out he wasn't a wal-mart employee but was wearing the typical blue t-shirt they wear. he frequents the area and causes trouble with some customers. but the employees let him stay around and talk to him. i guess they get a good laugh out of him. but he's known to make a lot of customers uneasy and nervous when he confronts them.

it startled her at first but thought it was a joke and says "uh, sorry i don't really have any money." the guy then grabs her purse and says, "whats in here" now here's the kicker, her gun is in her purse; she has a conceal carry purse. she says "something dangerous" the guy says "oh what, a bear" she says "no, like a 9mm" and he walked away.

now my wife is borderline disabled. she really cannot run. she has to use a cane sometimes to walk. she didn't have it with her this time. she loves informing people she's armed. maybe it's just me, i don't like telling people, especially men, bigger then me, close enough to me to take advantage of me, that i have something that they would want like a gun. especially in the case that he's grabbing on to what contains her gun. i told her she's lucky he was mental. if he was a criminal he could have grabbed your purse and you'd be SOL. i told her it would have went like this whats in here, a gun, ah don't hurt me, bang bang bang... bang. now its mine. what else is in there???

she agreed when i said she needs to carry it on her person more often. especially when alone but as far as to stop telling people she's armed, she says it scares people away... not always, not when someone has the upper hand on you already.

she of course called the cops. but what irked me, one of the managers told her she shouldn't call the cops.

the responding officer said there was no crime. and if she did pull her gun she could have been charged. to me, if he grabbed her purse, he (a mental person) is now in possession of a gun... YOUR GUN (another offense in itself), your only form of self defense. it's officially a life threatening situation. the cop kind of agreed. but he did say, "you know how to prevent something like this? next time, don't say a gun when someone asks what's in your purse. walk away, say leave me alone, if he approaches you then, pull your gun..." she was only a few feet from the entrance by the way
 
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#2 ·
He grabbed her purse and the cop said there was no crime? Anyway, I am glad your wife is ok.
 
#4 ·
it wasn't like he tried to take it from her. just grabbed it and shook it as he was asking whats in here. he took his hand off after asking the question.

we did talk to upper management. upper management is just now learning about him it seems. he's been around for the past few months. i guess the lower employees like him. they didn't see him causing any problems. i guess they thought he was funny. but many of the upper employees were learning about him and did see it is causing problems. the manager did say she was going to put a trespassing warning on the guy. one employee did give the times he likes to come by so the cop said they would patrol the area more during those times. so we'll see.
 
#3 ·
I'm glad I don't have these types of people hanging around my local Walmart. You or her should speak with upper management. If they are aware of the guy and he is causing trouble I don't understand why they allow him to hang around. Walmart is private property and he can be told to leave if he is being disruptive.

Should she have told him there was a gun in the purse? I can't answer that. It worked this time but one day she might meet that person that is not scared and as you said has the jump on her. Glad she is safe.
 
#6 ·
Happy everything turned out ok. I'd take the cane and if he reached for her again she should whack the snot out of him.:twak:
 
#7 ·
He was begging for a snout full of OC spray, if you ask me, and honestly, he is lucky your wife is as confident as she is and didn't shoot him! That could have had a much worse ending... oh, and NEVER TELL!!! If you tell, it is no longer concealed, and you have surrendered your element of surprise.
 
#8 ·
First, I'm gald she is ok.

These type of incidents can be very difficult. Perceiving the mood and intent of those with mental conditions can be extremely difficult.

Virtually nothing, crime wise, maybe a disturbing the peace if you stretch it.

I understand her using the presence of her gun as a deterrent, but I would strongly try to convince her that it is a bad idea. OC spray might be a better idea, as might be some training using her cane in a SD mode.
 
#15 ·
I agree.

It sounds to me like your wife, and perhaps you as well need a few more tools in your Tool Box.

Pepper Spray, Cane and Stick Fighting, Knife Techniques and even Weapon Retention and Disarmament. Those are just some of the tools that should be in any gun packer's Tool Box.

You don't have to know every technique, but one or two from each discipline would go far in providing you more options over just having a gun. I can assure that the MP, (mental patient), would not have known I had a gun, but would not have liked my response, be it physical or verbal judo.

Don't be a one tool wonder. Fill your Tool Box with a variety of tools. While physical limitation may preclude the use of certain tools, it opens up avenues for others.

Biker
 
#9 ·
Spray him in the face (OC), and kick him in the nuts, but don't stand around to see the crazy man dance.:wave:

I would definitely write a letter to HQ and explain the situation to them. Tell them that you would rather not involve your attorney if someone would just give the local management an attitude adjustment. Tell them that someone should deal with a known 'customer problem' in that store, and that you would like a written response with their solution if they would like to keep it on a civil level...you just want customers to feel safe.OMOYMV
 
#10 ·
I'm sorry but I'd have had the gun out as soon as he touched the purse. DW knows she's slow and she keeps her hand on the gun in the parking lot I think she'd of drawn too.
 
#48 ·
Anytime I'm in a closed in situation like that, I'm trying to remember to have the zippers open on the holster section of my purse. I cross-shoulder carry the purse, with the purse hanging at my left hip.

I can have my hand in there and not look esp suspicious....like I'm fumbling for keys, etc.

I can also fire thru the purse. I practiced aiming with my old purse and need to do so with my new one. I may only get one shot off, so that is what I practice.....shooting, immediately drawing, racking, and aiming again.

Has she considered shooting thru the purse? Not ideal by any means, but can give the advantage of surprise.. (Like anything else, it requires practice)

I'm very glad things worked out for her. However I dont think I would have announced my gun's presence. And as already said, this seemed like a good time for OC spray.
 
#11 ·
Glad to hear that it all worked out.

I agree with everyone that it is a bad idea, and in some places illegal, to tell anyone that you are armed unless needed as a last resort. Doing so in an attempt to scare someone off can get her a first hand view of how the police respond to a man (woman) with a gun call.
One idea is for your wife train herself to put her hand on the gun while it in her purse when confronted. Just be sure that her purse is designed for this, or the gun is carried in such a way, such as in a holster, that it is safe to do so. That way, if the purse is snatched, she will still have possesion of the gun.
A can of pepper spray carried in the weak hand can also give a few seconds to get away or prepare for further attack.

Hope this helps.
 
#12 ·
I have a big complaint of people carrying off - body... so I won't comment on that part.

Situational Awareness : and telling the guy to "back off" and "don't come near me" way before he ever even got near her, let alone that close.

Once he had, a cane to the groin should help him understand .... or across his head. A perfect weapon in this case and that close.

It was "assault" the minute he touched her , let alone her purse. He was making a demand for money, which is an attempted robbery ... he didn't ask, he demanded. Then when he was told "NO", he attempted to get control of the purse. NO crime ? Baloney.

Never tell anyone you have a gun, they will know it if it gets the point you need to pull it ..... then they'll understand you have a gun.

Why weren't the Walmart employees interceding... because they would be fired if they did... it's against Walmart policies. Don't shop at Walmart unless you have to.
 
#13 ·
It was "assault" the minute he touched her , let alone her purse. He was making a demand for money, which is an attempted robbery ... he didn't ask, he demanded. Then when he was told "NO", he attempted to get control of the purse. NO crime ? Baloney.



The 2009 Florida Statutes
Title XLVI
CRIMES Chapter 784
ASSAULT; BATTERY; CULPABLE NEGLIGENCE View Entire Chapter
784.011 Assault.--
(1) An "assault" is an intentional, unlawful threat by word or act to do violence to the person of another, coupled with an apparent ability to do so, and doing some act which creates a well-founded fear in such other person that such violence is imminent.
(

The 2009 Florida Statutes
Title XLVI
CRIMES Chapter 812
THEFT, ROBBERY, AND RELATED CRIMES View Entire Chapter
812.13 Robbery.--
(1) "Robbery" means the taking of money or other property which may be the subject of larceny from the person or custody of another, with intent to either permanently or temporarily deprive the person or the owner of the money or other property, when in the course of the taking there is the use of force, violence, assault, or putting in fear.



Good luck trying to sell that to a watch sgt.
 
#14 ·
she of course called the cops. but what irked me, one of the managers told her she shouldn't call the cops.

the responding officer said there was no crime. and if she did pull her gun she could have been charged. to me, if he grabbed her purse, he (a mental person) is now in possession of a gun... YOUR GUN (another offense in itself), your only form of self defense. it's officially a life threatening situation. the cop kind of agreed. but he did say, "you know how to prevent something like this? next time, don't say a gun when someone asks what's in your purse. walk away, say leave me alone, if he approaches you then, pull your gun..." she was only a few feet from the entrance by the way
You know...aside from your wife needing to carry on her person (vs purse) and telling the guy there is a gun in the purse...your wife was very lucky...and the Wal-Mart manager needs a kick to the head.

IRT self-defense: I think your wife should have screamed for help...to start out with.

IRT the cop: I think you've already explained you wife can't run, so in the event of an attempted mugging, her only recourse is to defend herself.

IRT the manager: Leaving out the gun part, I would contact the press and basically have him shamed on camera--"Does Wal-Mart have a policy of not calling the police when crimes are committed on it's property?" I would start a ____storm with corporate on this and explain how this manager (by name) told your wife she shouldn't call the cops. Hopefully he would lose his job over this...
 
#16 ·
now my wife is borderline disabled. she really cannot run. she has to use a cane sometimes to walk. she didn't have it with her this time. she loves informing people she's armed.
Working on her SA might help avoid another situation like this. Being at a disadvantage already stacks the odd aginst her.

she agreed when i said she needs to carry it on her person more often. especially when alone but as far as to stop telling people she's armed, she says it scares people away... not always, not when someone has the upper hand on you already.
Her Purse is not where that sidearm should be. Again, being at a disadvantage AND having her primary carry removed or unattainable in a struggle is VERY bad.
 
#17 ·
and that is exactly why i 1) i dont carry a purse 2) i sure as heck dont keep my gun in my purse and 3) I tell others not to purse carry.
If she is going to consider purse carry, I highly suggest she find a purse that can connect to her body in some way, so that it cant actually be taken away.
I use the wilderness safepacker, which rides on my belt just like a OWB holster, but looks kinda like a hip new purse stlye, whenever I really cant use my normal IWB holster.
Im sure there are purses out there that can both go over your should and around your waist, or over the shoulder and also snap to a belt. If not, you can retrofit one to do that.
 
#55 ·
Edit: Sorry, meant to include this:




A gun in a purse isnt quite that much of a disadvantage. First, if it's seriously attached to your body, it's dangerous. It will just pull a small-to-medium sized woman off her feet. If it's a motorcyle or bike grab, she could be dragged. I carry cross-shoulder and the strap is wire-reinforced.

Give up the purse. Let them take it if you are unable to turn and run. If they do grab the purse, with or without the gun in it....then still turn and run, away and try to put cover between you. They wont find the gun immediately.

It's only stuff. Not worth your life and not even worth shooting or pulling your gun and getting hit with legal fees.


As I said before, better SA would allow her to have her gun in her hand, in her purse if done correctly. He shouldnt have gotten close enough to touch the purse (what woman allows that, even non-carriers???)...I would be backing away immediately at a strange male (or female) entering my space, and that's not arm's reach.

In general, I put a wide space between myself and groups like that (partly because I hate walking thru clouds of smoke) unless I absolutely have to. And I would be alert if I did have to.

With my cross-shoulder purse carry my gun will be at my left hip. I can be backing away, body bladed with left side of purse aimed directly at a bg. Hand on gun, he wont even know there's something aimed at him. I can shoot thru the purse if absolutely necessary but that's not optimum (altho I've practiced it), or draw quickly and already be aiming directly at him, still backing away.
 
#18 ·
she loves informing people she's armed. maybe it's just me, i don't like telling people, especially men, bigger then me, close enough to me to take advantage of me, that i have something that they would want like a gun. especially in the case that he's grabbing on to what contains her gun. i told her she's lucky he was mental. if he was a criminal he could have grabbed your purse and you'd be SOL. i told her it would have went like this whats in here, a gun, ah don't hurt me, bang bang bang... bang. now its mine. what else is in there???
I agree, not smart at all the announce that especially when they are holding your purse. I also agree with the cop...walk away..say leave me a lone and if they don't then respond with the gun, don't announce it.
 
#21 ·
I think that purse carry is THE WORST possible form of carry EVER. the purse is THE TARGET.... this story shows that. IMHO the gun needs to be on your persons at all times.

glad she is ok..... great learning experience for everyone.
 
#22 ·
The cop had it right and your wife had it very wrong, in many ways.

You if someone already has ahold of your purse you don't notify them there is a gun inside.. ...

Purse carry is irresponsible. If your gun is stolen by a purse snatcher you didn't do enough. You shouldn't be charged with anything, but you are an IDIOT. Nobody deserves to be the victim of a crime, but sometimes they should have known better.

You don't walk into the bad part of town where you know you will be beaten, and then claim "that's not right". Yeah, it's not right, but you should have known better.

Get her a holster, spend 9,000$ on one, buy her a new wardrobe. I don't care, something, anything but purse carry.
 
#56 ·
Purse carry is irresponsible. If your gun is stolen by a purse snatcher you didn't do enough. You shouldn't be charged with anything, but you are an IDIOT. Nobody deserves to be the victim of a crime, but sometimes they should have known better.

You don't walk into the bad part of town where you know you will be beaten, and then claim "that's not right". Yeah, it's not right, but you should have known better.

Get her a holster, spend 9,000$ on one, buy her a new wardrobe. I don't care, something, anything but purse carry.

Wow, so it's better to go unarmed than carry in a purse? Your post is ignorant of some realities of purse carry.

I'm 50, carried a purse all my life, including yrs in NYC and never had my purse stolen. I'm sure the percentage of women who have lost/had purses stolen is less than those that havent.

And altho you denied it, you most defintely were blaming the victim for the crime...twice. I have the right to carry anywhere it's legal, anytime, and in the manner of my choosing. I dont live in fear, I just try to be prepared...which anyone holster or purse carrying can do. Do you also blame the poorly trained holster carrier who get's disarmed by a bg? Or the one's who's guns are stolen from their cars? Or cars stolen with their guns inside? (huh, shouldnt have parked in the WalMart lot I guess, I'm irresponsible).

I can draw from my purse as fast as an average-trained man from a holstered gun. My hand can be on my gun anytime I'm walking around, I dont have a garment to flip out of the way. I dont even have to draw to fire (and I've practiced the angles for shooting from within the purse.)
 
#23 ·
Well, purse carry beats no carry. And I'm not a fan of it.

Pepper spray, kubaton, pen, stick, yell, scream, kick, something. I think me and mental patient would have been covered in pepper spray, blood, and gravel when the dust settled. But, it would likely not happen if I was around. He's probably smart enough to not do that to Jane Doe and her spouse. Makes you wonder how mental he is, or if he's playing on the mental image to get by with this crap. Glad it worked out.
 
#43 ·
Find me a better paying job and I'll get one. :tongue: I tried to get her to look at one, she had her heart set on the XD sc 9. That's what she has now. Heck, I am still trying to get her to get a CCP. We are currently at a stale mate, she want's it but does not want to take the public class. And she does not want to fork over the money for the private class. :scratchchin:
 
#27 ·
Telling someone you have a gun is unbelieveably poor practice. If it was my wife, the moment the perp grabbed her purse she would have backed up quickly and yelled "robber, robber, he's trying to steal my purse!" as loud as possible. Now who feels uneasy?
 
#28 · (Edited)
You might want to get your wife a cane sword.


Another thing she might want to start carrying is some pepper / OC spray. I carry Cold Steel Inferno in several sizes. Pen, key ring, and 1.3 oz. This is a foam that melts on the face. Nice thing with it being foam is that will not blow back into like some of the liquids or mists can do if there is a breeze blowing.

Watch the vid>>>

The managment needs to be set strait and yea, if they do not, I would bring it to the attention of the press.

Has anyone run a check on this "mental" guy to make sure he is not a sexual offender? Here is the national list CHECK NOW >>>

Ray
Texas
 
#30 ·
I have a several purses for carrying my gun. Most not only go over my shoulder...they go over my head too. When I am going into a store, especially alone, the weapon compartment is unzipped and a firm grip on my weapon. If they grab my purse...I still have my gun.
I have gone since to carrying my new gun...a Ruger LCP...in my pocket most of the time, but still use my purse weapon on occasion. I went to a pocket gun mainly because of the weight that the purse gun (5 shot Ruger pistol) added to my purse.

Now about telling anyone about my gun....NO. They will know I have a gun when they see it in my hand...not unless or until then. It is this lady's ace in the hole.

The gentleman whose wife is the main subject of this thread needs to impress on her the tactic of being ALERT to one's surroundings AT ALL TIMES. This means when armed...or not. This means alone...or not. You have to be alert to who is around you and what they are doing. This guy should never have gotten this close without her verbally "dressing him down". "GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" Would have probably worked wonders and would have drawn the attention of others (which is a good thing).

As for the Walmart manager....I would inform him if he and his staff encourages this type of person to accost customers, you are going to contact cooperate and then do so. Just because they find him "funny" doesn't mean he can't be a problem for customers and customers are their business.
 
#57 ·
I have a several purses for carrying my gun. Most not only go over my shoulder...they go over my head too. When I am going into a store, especially alone, the weapon compartment is unzipped and a firm grip on my weapon. If they grab my purse...I still have my gun.
.
Thanks, this is a really helpful addition to my tactics. I often do the first, but the second part is great.

I can pretend to be handing it over, drawing in the process. I think that would have a decent element of surprise. If they ran off with the purse, I still wouldnt shoot, just retain it to protect myself if they attempted to retaliate.
 
#32 ·
she agreed when i said she needs to carry it on her person more often.
I'm sure you know this already, but ...

Carrying it "more often" in a manner that it'll be accessible is fine. But how is she to know what the next situation is going to be like? It might or might not be similar to what she just experienced.

She's disabled. She's seen as a potential juicy target. If she's not paying great attention to her purse, it's likely to be the most probable thing taken from her. If it's clearly obvious she can't run after a person, a quick grab is highly likely.

She needs to be carrying the firearm on her person ALWAYS, else such situations are going to get the better of her at some point.
 
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