[oldman45]

First off, this did not happen to me but happened to a friend last Thursday night. I may or may not post what I think I would have done but I will say what he did.

John went to eat with his wife and teenage son at a Mexican restaurant that sells about as much alcoholic beverages as they do food. They sat at a table in a corner that held four people. As they were about to finish their meal (no drinks), an argument began at the table next to them between two men, apparently friends before the alcohol took over. Both men got into each other's face. Within seconds, one pulled a fixed blade hunting knife from a scabbard and was about to cut up the other man. This was less eight feet from the table my friend and his family were sitting.

So we have a man about to stab another man. We have a man carrying concealed less than eight feet away.

What would you do? My friend and I discussed this in depth today as he wanted my take on it and what I would have done.

 

[ZeBool]

Get the family out of dodge, call the cops and be a good witness. I don't involve myself with drunk idiots.

 

[JDE101]

What ZeBool said. I carry to protect myself and my family - period. I'm not a LEO, nor do I want to act like one.

 

[RETSUPT99]

Disappear as quickly as possible...:theyareontome:

 

[OutWestSystems]

Get the family out, and one the way get a quick video of the combatants. The phone has a quick button to start video and there is no flash. Once I had the family in the car, I would do a quick walk of the parking lot to video the license plates.

 

[WHEC724]

Flash my conceal-carry badge and lay down suppressing fire.

No, not really. What ZeBool (and everybody else) said.

 

[farronwolf]

When the argument started to occur would have been the time to relocate with the family.

The fact that both had sat there for a period of time and been drinking, then started arguing would cause me to hesitate considerably before getting involved.

What I fear you would end up with if you intervened before anyone got stabbed would be his buddy taking up for the stabber after he sobered up. Saying something on the order of oh heck Billy Bob does that kind of stuff all the time, and he has never stabbed me yet.

 

[oakchas]

The Snagglepuss defense:

 

[Badey]

Flash my conceal-carry badge and lay down suppressing fire.

No, not really. What ZeBool (and everybody else) said.

I don't know, this may call for the Concealed Carry sash AND badge...

 

[oldnfat]

Stand up and loudly proclaim " free drinks for everyone at the bar" This would surely end any conflict. Really, ZeBool said it best. Tell us what your friend did. The suspense is killing me!

 

[Mike1956]

http://www.armoryguards.org/bugle/In Retreat.mp3

 

[mprp]

Being only 8 feet away it would seem that your friend and his family were quite a ways from being at a safe distance. All I can say is that if there was a clear way out that the path doesn't put me or my family any closer to the incident then I would try and make for the door. And in the process, if he looked as if he was going to turn his aggression on me or my family on our way out, he's going to face deadly force. 8 ft. is only a good lunge away so hopefully his focus would remain on his original argument. It's all going to rest on how I view the threat to my family but the first choice would be to get them away from the situation.

 

[Welder516]

As soon as to poop was hitting the fan that was time to get out . Call the police as you and your family are leaving . Or call GZ

 

[archer51]

Shoot them both and let the police sort it out!

Seriously though, get the family to safety and call 911. I'm not knife or bullet proof and it isn't my fight.

 

[ppkheat]

Two types of heartburn at play here, I'll take the food related heartburn as I give those two drunks plenty of space.

 

[tdave]

Proverbs 26 vs 17

Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.

 

[oldman45]

Answer: Due to table and chair positioning, walking out would require the friend to come within inches of the guy with the knife. The friend began to talk to the guy telling him that going to jail for stabbing a sorry POS like the other guy would serve nothing. He mentioned there were others in the restaurant that would be witnesses in court against him. This talk lasted just a minute or two but then he told the guy that the police were on their way and they ought to get out of there before the police arrived. The guy pushed past his focus of anger and left running out. A bartender had in fact called 911 and they got there within minutes of the man leaving.

No guns drawn, no fist fights, nobody cut. He told me that he felt if he could talk to the guy long enough, the guy would either cool down or leave. The guy did both but the police were going to arrest the man after talking to all those around.

I would have handled it differently but I suppose he did the right thing.

BTW: My friend was a chaplain during his military service and now is a marital counslor.

 

[OldandInTheWay]

tables in corners don't leave you much of a way out without pulling your family right through the fight. restaurants that sell as much alcohol as food are really bars. in Georgia, even being in such a place while carrying concealed would put me on perilous legal ground. what i would have done is pick another restaurant to begin with, then select a table with multiple avenues of escape. sadly, these days just about any time you go out in public you have to anticipate such craziness.

 

[Dennis1209]

None of my bidness, grab the family and do a 360 and get the heck out of Dodge.

I'm not going to waste my time making any statements, waiting for the report takers or court appearance's over a couple of drunks that can't hold their liquor. If security was a major concern in that drinking establishment, they would have bouncers.

 

[kelcarry]

I truly feel sorry for people who have to live in areas like that and have to eat in restaurants like that. Never ever ever ever have come close in my 71 years to anything that has even raised my eyebrows. Lucky? Blessed? I can only shake my head when I continually read these kind of threads on these forums.