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Who else scopes out shooting lines in stores?

2K views 26 replies 23 participants last post by  Phillep Harding 
#1 ·
I automatically check out where the cash register is in relation to the doors, what doors robbers are likely to use (or could use), where the cover and concealment is, where crowds of customers are likely to gather, etc whenever I enter a store or restaurant, and take that into consideration while picking a seat in a restaurant.

The Seattle WTO riots started me thinking about loons smashing the windows at the McD I hit for lunch sometimes, and how to react to a takeover by armed invaders. (I'm toast if they come in all three doors and no one else is carrying, unless I sit in one particular area.)

Who else?
 
#2 ·
I automatically check out where the cash register is in relation to the doors, what doors robbers are likely to use (or could use), where the cover and concealment is, where crowds of customers are likely to gather, etc whenever I enter a store or restaurant, and take that into consideration while picking a seat in a restaurant.

Who else?
Every cop in the world. Watch cops eat, their eyes never stop moving, and when two cops eat, they NEVER look at each other. Scan for threat, watch people's movements. Get careless, get hurt.:image035:

Situational Awareness is your friend. Cultivate it. Don't be paranoid, just very, very alert.:hand5:
 
#3 ·
I watch the surrounding areas of ANY place I go. When in the supermarket, I do watch to see who walks in...in fact upon entering, I always scan to see the manager's office and desk area, and the cashier's faces. Does anyone look tense?
When I leave, my right hand is always free. I scan the front door and parking lot area closely.
The bank in this little 'mini-mall' area was robbed last year, so things can definitely happen.

Stay armed...always stay alert...stay safe!
 
#4 ·
It’s been decades since I carried a badge and worked the streets of southern California. However, I still find myself accessing people, places and vehicles as though I’m still on the job. Granted, I’m not as streetwise as yesterday and my softer lifestyle has taken its toll. Anyway, I never face away from the door in a restaurant; I always look closely at people’s eyes, shoes and fingernails. I instinctively memorize license plates when stopped in traffic and I’m always thinking of an exit strategy; figuratively and literally.
Regards,
 
#5 ·
Excellent thread.

Thanks for posting.
 
#6 ·
I do that all the time. When my dad and I eat we face eachother, and watch all around us constantly. Although sometimes we argue who gets to face the door. A female friend and I(former Girlfriend) also do this, the only down side is I can't convince her to carry too. Heck my whole family never really is in condition white as they say. Its part training part how I was raised.
 
#7 ·
Good to think about. I do this often but not always. Have you ever been scanning an area and suddenly become aware that another person was scanning you? The two times it happened I checked for expressions in eyes, checked hands, nails and clothing. I assume the other person did same cause satisfied, we both continued eating.
 
#8 ·
I've been more aware since taking my CCW class, and reading some books on body language, etc. This is a great thread! I haven't thought to scan "shooting lines" in a store so much as watch other people, exits and entrances, etc.

I have to ask though -- why look at fingernails?
 
#9 ·
My girlfriend has become very accustomed to me watching others and watching entrances when we go places. Starting a few months ago, when we go out to eat at a sit down place, she always asks if I want the seat that can see the door/other people.
 
#14 ·
Eyes and hands I understand...not fingernails.
I drive my wife crazy. The VERY few times we go downtown, she walks on the outside away from buildings. Being a lefty that puts her on my strong side. No handholding.
When we're at the malls...I move where she's on my weak side.
I refuse to try anything on until I get home.
I leave a large gap between my car and the car in front of me at stoplights in case something happens I can drive away
 
#16 ·
Shoes:
Show the economic state of the person warring them. Also, do they match (cost) the other items being worn?

Fingernails:
clean USALY means no trouble. Dirty adds another mark to the overall score of threat/ no threat.
 
#18 ·
Well I cannot agree with this, or I'm sometimes a threat,. I work at a desk and computer, so I have clean hands,. WELLLL... Not always,. I like to tinker in the garage and like right now, I have dirt in the cracks of my hands and under some of my nails,. (did I just become a threat?)

Also, I buy shoes or my kids every other month, but myself,. I buy good shoes and I wear them for years,. I wore the same boots for over five years,.. They was very comfortable but the outside of them was looking bad in the last couple years,. Spend $200 + on boots you don't replace them until you have to.. (did I just become a threat?)

Ya, sometimes you just get the feeling something or someone isn't right,. But we careful to judge a book by the cover.. ??? IMO
 
#17 ·
I'm finding this thread interesting. I've allways scanned the building that I'm in for other reasons, usually for fire exits and sprinkler systems, most likely due to my profession and the family history in the job(raised to be aware for reasons other than human threats). I've also picked up an odd habit of watching people for fun, usually assesing a persons health and socio-economic status, but I guess I could adapt this to single out threats.

As for shooting lines in stores, thats never came into mind due to the fact that I do not yet have my CWL. I'm sure that will change when I do.
 
#19 ·
I've been doing something for years that makes me a little safer whenever I'm driving. On streets/roads that have 2 or more travel lanes in one direction I prefer to drive in the 2nd lane. I avoid driving in the extreme right hand lane nearest the curb. Driving in the extreme right hand lane of travel exposes you to people who may have bad intentions towards me. I return to the extreme right hand lane only when I plan on making a right hand turn.

Do you have any habits you do to keep yourselves safe while driving? I'm enjoying this thread very much. I do much of the same things mentioned in many of the messages. Now I know a few more things to keep my safe.
 
#21 ·
I don't see shoes and fingernails being an issue, you never know the circumstances. But hands and feet are WAY more reliable indicators with body language than faces, since we've been trained from childhood on up to lie with our faces ("just smile and tell granny you love her liver soup, sweetie, and I'll buy you an ice cream when we leave" etc) .

Example as I understand it: watch people in a retail store. Those who are shopping and feeling easy/comfortable let their hands swing a little bit as they walk, or have "normal" basline body movements. You see the man/woman with their limbs stiff and awkward, held close to their torso and immobile, it's a clear indicator of high stress levels. LP Agents will tell you it's THOSE people you watch on the monitor, it's much more likely THEY are the ones who will shoplift. Subconsciously, these folks are trying to restrict their movements so they won't draw attention to themselves. In reality, if you know what to look for, they're putting a neon "look at me!" sign on their foreheads.

But fingernails and shoes, I don't understand.
 
#23 ·
we've been trained from childhood on up to lie with our faces ("just smile and tell granny you love her liver soup, sweetie, and I'll buy you an ice cream when we leave" etc) .
Ha HA HA.. :rofl: Yep.. I remember them days..

Example as I understand it: watch people in a retail store. Those who are shopping and feeling easy/comfortable let their hands swing a little bit as they walk, or have "normal" basline body movements. You see the man/woman with their limbs stiff and awkward, held close to their torso and immobile, it's a clear indicator of high stress levels. LP Agents will tell you it's THOSE people you watch on the monitor, it's much more likely THEY are the ones who will shoplift. Subconsciously, these folks are trying to restrict their movements so they won't draw attention to themselves. In reality, if you know what to look for, they're putting a neon "look at me!" sign on their foreheads.
That does make sense...
 
#24 ·
I don't have my CWP yet, but I do this routine almost out of "ADD" habit. I tend to memorize weird and random things, like the floorplans of malls, business, my place of work, and what have you. I know people's license plate numbers that haven't worked with me for over a year and a half. If I'm "at rest" my brain tends to wander(focus?) and I start taking in what's around me.

Sejune, a member of this forum who is also probably only a few miles away from me posted an "Active Shooter" thread a while back about a local Barnes and Noble. Being that I actually used to work there, I know the entire layout of the place. Not from nitpicking a diagram of what it looks like, but from being there. I know where you can and can't get out of most buildings I'm in. In this particular B&N, if someone comes in the front door shooting, your options are rather limited. Keypad locked stock room, Employee area in the back doesn't offer an exit. Only viable exits are...in the front(if my memory serves me, which it generally does). Plenty of cover to be had in this case though.
 
#27 ·
Actually, I'd be more concerned about where a potential bad guy could shoot than where I could shoot, he/they have the advantage of initiative, after all.

Where would someone who planned go? Where would someone doing a quick grab go?

"Someone standing /there/ can cover those two doors, but cannot hit the till, on the other hand..."

Also, where would a bullet go if the robber shot at the clerk and missed? Is that into a dead end area? Is there something there I really want?
 
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