Your response

[notagangsta]

You've just walked down the street and got into your car which is down the road from an ATM. You're sitting in the drivers seat with your carry weapon on your hip. It's about 11pm in a deserted part of town.

You're just about to start your car up and drive up when a white van screeches to a stop in front of the ATM and 3 thugs get out with jackets on and pull one of them pulls out their Glock and points it at a woman that has a child in a stroller beside her. The BG's havn't seen you. They yell at the lady to take out all her money or they'll kill her and her baby. She's getting her money out when the BG on lookout is staring around and see's you and points at you and yells at his homey's and two of the BG's (one is armed with a knife, other apparently unarmed) heads towards your car while the one with his gun keeps getting the money from the lady. The van is still running with one gangsta inside it.

What do you do?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Ram Rod]

Start the car, lock doors of course, then proceed to put it in gear and head in the direction of the two BG's headed your direction. Pretend you don't see them when heading straight for them (be dialing your cell phone at this time---folks do alot of cell phone dialing with no idea of what's in front of them{your innocent way out if you accidentally run over them}). Once the guy with gun sees you accidentally take out his two 'homies', he's gonna freak--point his weapon at you at which point, you should already be heading his direction with the same innocent intentions as the first two thugs. Hopefully by this time, you have your pistol handy. Once the van driver sees all of this, he'll likely split as he is lacking the same pair the other three are. Count on the guy with pistol to shoot at you wildly as you go toward him now---now you have the right to run him down if you can. If the first two aint down for good, they'll probably make like ghosts and disappear. Surely the woman and baby are also long gone by now. The end.

[cdwolf]

I LOVE THESE!!
Depending on the distance from me and the guy with the gun and the guy with the knife?
How far is the guy with the gun from the lady?
The two has started coming to rob you or get rid of any witness!
Hit 911 and drop it on the seat!
If the guy with the gun is 5+ feet from the woman and within 30 yards of me,step out take aim and shoot him!
That should slow down the two heading towards you!
If you put him down the other two will bug out, or join him if there back is not what I see!!
Start moving toward the woman and child as soon as my first shot hit's BG with the gun! Apply as many as needed
Shoot whoever is not running, while watching the driver!
It's all about distance, him to her , me to him!If the guy with the gun is behind the woman preventing a clear shot, I shoot the guy with the knife and call 911 from cover.
There will be shots fired is the only thing I'm sure of!

[rstickle]

The FIRST thing is dial 911.......

[Krmnnghia]

I think I would prefer the idea of stepping out and firing on the guys coming at you instead of running them down, we need to remember that you have an innocent woman and child just sitting there and a man with a gun next to them. Depending on the state you live in, he could could freak out, kill the victims and bolt away in the van leaving you in some serious legal issues if the family decides to sue because you got in the way. Ridiculous yes but we have seen it before.

It is an ugly situation but I believe I would step out and take cover behind the car and begin firing on the 2 attempting to do me harm and hope the other 2 just bug out. If they do not bug out and attempt to harm the woman there isn't much you can do legally or safely.

[boss mustang]

I think I would prefer the idea of stepping out and firing on the guys coming at you instead of running them down,

Besides, you could ruin the finish on your car.

This is a tough one. You have the means to escape and protect your self by driving away. This is not a requirement in Texas anymore, You no longer have to try and retreat. But in this instance, you could. However, you are leaving the woman and child at the mercy of the goblins. If you intervene and they get hurt, you could be facing a lawsuit. That being said, I would engage the two coming my way first. Thought being, once the hombre with the gun sees/hears me shooting at his fellow demons, he will quickly forget about the woman and child and focus on me. At which point he will take two to the sternum.

[pgrass101]

Call 911,

Then change into my Superhero tights and cape and fight some crime

[Fast Cloud]

Call 911,

Then change into my Superhero tights and cape and fight some crime

Whew, you would about have to in this situation. Anyway, here goes nothing...I guess I'd give it the old Godfather 3 approach...Shoot the two thugs coming at me first and then shoot the van driver thereby cutting off any escape for the thug with the hostages. Then tell him "If you let them go I'll let you live". If you harm them in any way, you've eaten your last pizza. All you have to do is drop it. If he kills the hostages then drop him. If he drops the weapon and moves away...drop him anyway. No, no I'm just kidding. If he plays nicely and splays out face down hold him for the police. Oh yea...call 911 first.

[tns0038]

I always lock my doors and start the truck as soon as I enter. Since the truck would already be running, I would call 911 with the cell phone on speaker.

What happens then would all depend on how close the BG’s are.

If they are far enough away that I can drive off I would. By fleeing the area, the BG’s will presume I’ve called the COPS and hasten their departure.

The main thing you have to worry about is the woman with the child. In most cases the BG’s are crack heads, and the BG with the gun will shoot her ASAP if there is trouble.

So fleeing the area would be my first choice.

[Rob72]

The real issue is whether or not you believe the woman will be abducted. If so, shoot the guy with the knife; shoot BG #2 (whom you are sure is reaching for a weapon), see what #3 is doing while you reload and respond appropriately.

Now, if the BGs seem to be more interested in unarsing the area than driving off with a party favor, by all means call 911 & wait.

Or you could drive off when they spot you.

[gotammo]

First what is she doing out that time of night with a baby.
Call 911
No matter what you do harm can come to the woman and child, the fact that there is a potential witness may increase the odds that they will not be harmed not guarantied.
You can't help anyone if you are harmed so I'm not sure how I would handle this, running them down doesn't seem to be an option anyone can dodge a car they see coming which detracts your attention from the guy that will shoot you.

[SIXTO]

I'm in a perfect weapon... time to go for a drive.

[gg12]

"First what is she doing out that time of night with a baby. "

my thought also. But then what am I doing out at that time of night??

I'd start the car and leave, find a phone (since I don't own a cell) and call the police. My gun is for my protection.

[Southtexas]

If I could dial 911 I would, if I could see the plate number on the white van I would give it, but as soon as the two thugs start heading my way my safety is most important, they are approaching my vehicle, moving closer in my vehicle to the armed individual seems like a poor choice to me, and fighting from inside my car is a bad choice for me as well, putting my car in reverse and backing away from the scene seems the most prudent thing for me.

That is what the bg would expect, if they come running after my car while it is in reverse its ok by me, the further I get from the Van (anything could be inside there ak/shotgun/more guns) the better, After I am at least 150 yards from the van I am stopping and being a good witness, if the two guys still are intent on chasing me down I will fight from there. IF they get back in the van I can try to back out of the area in my car, if they attempt to follow me at least 911 knows the area they are in, I will be telling police exactly where I am driving to.

Before I get the usual "you pansy what if it was your wife being robbed" comments, I want you to understand it is my belief that IF i escalate this the bad guys are more likely to harm the woman.

If I can draw the two thugs into chasing me further they will be in the area longer meaning a better chance for the police to catch them. It will also mean the driver will be wanting to get the gun bearing guy into the van asap as well, hopefully this means less chance of harm to the woman.

If the van decides to chase me I have an advantage in my vehicles ability, also why I dont want to fight from it, it is a standard.

[Ragin Cajun]

Call 911 at the begining for the first thing. I wouldn't take the chance of getting shot trying to drive off and leave a lady and child with thugs. I'd get out the car, take cover, and shoot as they approached. I have to say, any woman out with a kid in a stroller at 11PM don't have any sense but I couldn't leave them there and drive off.