Mob Tries to Rob Jewelry Store, Proves You Might Want More than 10 Rounds

Then again, I could be wrong. It's not like I'm going to be giving it a shot.

But be that as it may, they're still targets for thieves who think they're trying to hit the big time. While the elite master criminal gets in and gets out and you find out you've been robbed after the fact, there's the more...pedestrian criminal who thinks force will go unanswered.

This time, though, it didn't.

An Anaheim businessowner recently scared off a mob of thieves trying to break into his store by firing a warning shot at the crowd. The whole thing was caught on store security footage.

What we know:

The attempted robbery happened at Al-Amira Jewelry on July 17. The owner told FOX 11 that it was close to closing time, when five cars pulled up to the front of the store.

Security camera footage showed about 20 people piling out of the cars and mobbing the store's entrance. Some of them had sledgehammers and pickaxes and started smashing the door. 

Seconds later, though, the group scattered, got back into their cars, and they all drove off. 

Video from inside the store showed the other angle. When the people inside saw the thieves, they ran behind the counter. Several came back out to the front, armed. That's when the owner fired one shot.

Not all that long ago, I saw a video of a mob hitting a jewelry store by smashing a car through the door. These weren't master criminals by any stretch, but it seems that this was just across the street from this jewelry store. They got away with $3 million worth of stuff.

This time, they got dirty underwear.

And make no mistake, the presence of sledgehammers and pickaxes means they were armed. California, surprisingly enough, doesn't actually have a duty to retreat law, either.

Of course, that doesn't mean someone won't be prosecuted for not trying to retreat, because it's California, but still...

It also seems that there were multiple people armed in the store, which is good, but what if it had just been the owner? California restricts the number of rounds you can have in a magazine. While statistically, you probably won't need more than the 10 rounds California allows, there are always outliers from the norm. Being well-prepared doesn't mean being prepared for the norm, but for the outliers as well, at least to a realistic point. No need to prepare for alien invasions, for example, unless you just want to for funsies.

In this case, 20 people or more bursting through the door with weapons is an outlier. While a single shot sent these guys scattering, what if it hadn't?

Even if the owner hit someone with every round fired, there would still be about 10 people who could and probably would beat him to death. Realistically, at least some of those shots would miss, making the mob that kills him even larger.

Yes, reloading is a thing, but under stress and within just a few yards--jewelry stores generally aren't that big, after all--it's not guaranteed he could pull off a successful reload.

In a lot of cases, though, criminals can. They can initiate an attack and, in most cases, reload at their leisure. They aren't being shot at, so even if they have just a 10-round magazine, it's not a big deal for them. The Parkland killer, for example, did just that.

But when it's a two-way range, especially against a numerically superior force, you may not get a chance.

10-round magazines are fine so long as they're a choice someone makes, either because of their firearm or just because they don't want to carry anything else. I may not agree with their choices, but I don't have to. It's their choices.

Magazine restrictions, though, take choice out of the equation. They dictate what you will be permitted to carry and you don't get a say in the matter, no matter what. So, if 20 armed thugs are coming at you, you just hope they're skittish like these guys were.

Maybe it's just me, but "hope" isn't a sound strategy.