Bar Patrons Tackle Armed Robber Who Held Them At Gun Point

There’s just something awesome about a story where the victims turn the tables on the criminal, at least to me. As a Second Amendment writer, I love to hear about the good guys pulling their guns and taking down the bad guys, but truth be told, it doesn’t have to be like that to make me happy. Even cases of people taking on bad people without a firearm give me a warm tingly feeling, though I’d prefer they be armed for their own safety.

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However, in California, being armed is easier said than done in many cases, which may be why no one in this bar had a firearm handy.

FALLBROOK, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say patrons tackled and disarmed a man after he held them at gunpoint outside a Southern California bar.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports sheriff’s officials say the man had pulled a gun from his waistband and pointed it at people in the parking lot outside Red Eye Saloon at 2 a.m. Saturday in Fallbrook.

He demanded their wallets and cellphones and fired a shot into the air.

Authorities say several patrons rushed and tackled the gunman, holding him on the ground until deputies arrived.

Talk about a tried-and-true plan backfiring.

In this day and age, I suspect the patrons would have been fine with handing over their wallets, but their cell phones? Not a chance.

Seriously, though, good on them for taking down the criminal. Police recovered a 9 mm handgun at the scene. The suspect also had a 16-round magazine almost fully loaded and two 10-round magazines. Clearly, California’s high capacity magazine ban is working just great.

Again, good on the patrons, but let’s also be realistic, that could have gotten ugly. The man was armed and had already fired a shot. They knew the gun was loaded, and they were taking a big risk by going after him. They could have given him their stuff and been safe, but by attacking him they risked being shot themselves.

Luckily, no one was, and all’s well that ends well and all that.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying they did anything wrong. I’m partial to resistance in the face of tyranny, even if it’s the tyranny of the criminal and not the government. I like what they did.

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But I’m also not sure it was that great an idea, based on what little we know.

If you, God forbid, find yourself in a situation like that, be careful. Just because it worked in this instance doesn’t mean it will work the next time. There are a lot of unknowns in this case, and it may have been a much better idea than it may look like from the outside. If you’re going to resist, be very careful.

Someone can easily get hurt, so know what you’re doing. Train it, learn what to look for, and be careful.

In fact, due to the danger of some act, I cannot and will not advise you to do what these folks in California did. I won’t be liable for anyone getting hurt.

But if you do and you do it in a way that protects human life while taking down the bad guy, I’m going to salute you with my full heart and soul because I’m a sucker for stories like that.

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