Just Stopped the Attempted Robbery of My Gear

[Roberto B]

Awesome avatar man.:thumbup:

got a trade? :wink :emote_hippie:

andrew is a smart guy

 

[Sally Shamas]

I've seen what guns do to people too many times. It is not cool to glorify them.

Apparently they haven't ... The experience is different for people who watch tv shows about policemen , guns and heroes , because they haven't experienced being in a situation where they actually get shot , lose a friend or a family member . I think the approach to the story would've been different and the lesson learned would definitely have been different ...

 

[Martin Weiss]

I have to jump in here. (As background: I do not like guns, and I did civil service rather than the obligatory military service in Germany.)

So Andrew was working his job, making his living. (He is a grown up, knew that it was a tricky spot, he took the chance. If we didn't have gutsy cameramen along the front-lines, there would be no coverage about the war. Yes, one may call it stupid (just as you may call a Soldier, a Stuntman or a policeman stupid - they know about a risk but don't bulge), but it was his call. Where is the line between bravery and stupidty? I don't know, but have the feeling that it is a line drawn much easier from an armchair...)

A suspicious car drives by a couple of times. I trust Andrew in his assessment that the occupants had no good intent. He has stated that a couple of times, so no point in repeatedly asking him if they were maybe just tourists - tourists stopping in a no-stop zone in a lonely part of town, without any cameras or greetings? C'mon.

They get out of their car, all at once, and move towards Andrew. He draws his weapon - which he is legally allowed to carry and tells them in clear terms to leave. Luckily, they do.

It could have very much turned out differently, very ugly. Thankfully it didn't.

Calling his behavior "racist" and "looking for trouble" is just unsubstantiated.

The bottom line is: It is not Andrew that did something wrong. It were those 4 men trying to rob from him the tools of his trade.

It is easy for us to sit in front of a keyboard and ask if he couldn't just have handed over his equipment and hoped for that they would just leave. His assessment of the situation was that he would get at least hurt, no matter what. He defended something the others had no right to get.

I wish we'd live in a society were violence did not happen. But unfortunately we do, and Andrew acted within the boundaries of the law of his country. I respect very much that he does not want to become a victim.

Having said all that, I must stress that I am very glad to live on a continent where guns are very much controlled.

 

[Craig Ryan]

Well said, Martin! I agree completely.

 

[Steve G]

So Andrew was working his job, making his living. (He is a grown up, knew that it was a tricky spot, he took the chance. If we didn't have gutsy cameramen along the front-lines, there would be no coverage about the war. Yes, one may call it stupid (just as you may call a Soldier, a Stuntman or a policeman stupid - they know about a risk but don't bulge), but it was his call. Where is the line between bravery and stupidty? I don't know, but have the feeling that it is a line drawn much easier from an armchair...)

I am speaking from a position of one who has been on the front line. Been shot at (not hit), had guns drawn on me, seen unbelievable barbarism done to people....(body of baby with brain taken out so could not be given proper and complete burial)

Andrew legally used his weapon to defend himself, but I do have an issue with his avatar that glorifies the use of a gun. Not cool.

 

[Andrew Walker]

Andrew, you do have insurance, right?

Yep. But does that make it right for someone to steal your gear. Would you just sit there passively as they walked up to put your stuff into there car. Plus who's to say that they would have just taken my gear and left me alone. I have no regrets with the way I handled the situation.

I've seen what guns do to people too many times. It is not cool to glorify them.

I'm not glorifying them in my story. Just that they do work as a defensive weapon. I know it must be tough for all the people on here that think guns should be banned, to hear me tell how I might at the very most saved my life tonight and at the very least my gear.

I´ve worked with cash in transit for 10 years in the 90s and beginning of 00s - got robbed twice in my line of work and also twice as a civillian. The best thing that ever could have happened in my line of work back then was that we were unarmed and that i never carried a gun in private either.
I´d probably been dead by now if I had been armed.
Later on I also worked as an armed guard at a high security facility, pulled my gun several times when going on alarms and almost accidentally shot an employee who came around a corner once.
Now to my point.

Is a camera worth dying for? Is anything material worth dying or kiling for? What would you have done if those guys had pulled guns on you? -You´d been on ice by now i can guarantee you.
What if you had accidentally shot one of them and got charged with murder? Do you have a permission to carry a concealed weapon and even if you do; why do you walk around armed in the first place? That´s just plain stupid.

Get an insurance instead of a gun.

So since this seems to come up quite a bit. What do you believe if anything, is worth dying for? Since you seem to think that its okay for people to steal from you, would you think your family is worth dying for...maybe not. I have a different set of ideals than I believe most people live by. I do not let people take from me. Whether it be my camera or one of my family members or a close friend. I defend myself and what I hold dear because I choose too. So do I think a camera is worth dying for...yes because I would rather die than give into that type of tyranny. By just letting these people take from you, that feeds the cycle. If everyone stood up against these type of people that believe they can take what isn't there's, then it would stop. Or at least I believe so.

I walk around armed for these little events and for whatever else might come my way. I also go out shooting quite a bit and train for these type of encounters so that I know what to do and to use good judgement. I also have a concealed carry permit that I had to take a class for and prove that I'm a competent person ready for that responsibility. I have never even come close to accidently shooting someone because I practice safety and trigger discipline. I teach other how to shoot, ranging from 11 year olds to people in there 50's.

 

[Sally Shamas]

I have to jump in here. (As background: I do not like guns, and I did civil service rather than the obligatory military service in Germany.)

So Andrew was working his job, making his living. (He is a grown up, knew that it was a tricky spot, he took the chance. If we didn't have gutsy cameramen along the front-lines, there would be no coverage about the war. Yes, one may call it stupid (just as you may call a Soldier, a Stuntman or a policeman stupid - they know about a risk but don't bulge), but it was his call. Where is the line between bravery and stupidty? I don't know, but have the feeling that it is a line drawn much easier from an armchair...)

A suspicious car drives by a couple of times. I trust Andrew in his assessment that the occupants had no good intent. He has stated that a couple of times, so no point in repeatedly asking him if they were maybe just tourists - tourists stopping in a no-stop zone in a lonely part of town, without any cameras or greetings? C'mon.

They get out of their call, all at once, and move towards Andrew. He draws his weapon - which he is legally allowed to carry and tells them in clear terms to leave. Luckily, they do.

It could have very much turned out differently, very ugly. Thankfully it didn't.

Calling his behavior "racist" and "looking for trouble" is just unsubstantiated.

The bottom line is: It is not Andrew that did something wrong. It were those 4 men trying to rob from him the tools of his trade.

It is easy for us to sit in front of a keyboard and ask if he couldn't just have handed over his equipment and hoped for that they would just leave. His assessment of the situation was that he would get at least hurt, no matter what. He defended something the others had no right to get.

I wish we'd live in a society were violence did not happen. But unfortunately we do, and Andrew acted within the boundaries of the law of his country. I respect very much that he does not want to become a victim.

Having said all that, I must stress that I am very glad to live on a continent where guns are very much controlled.

well, lets not talk about the entire continent but u live in a country where the crime is so little that cops try to catch teenagers smoking dope in the parks You are very lucky to be born there , beautiful landscapes...

 

[Steve G]

I'm not glorifying them in my story. Just that they do work as a defensive weapon. I know it must be tough for all the people on here that think guns should be banned, to hear me tell how I might at the very most saved my life tonight and at the very least my gear.

But you are glorifying guns with your avatar. Your choice to do that. But it is not cool.

 

[Martin Weiss]

well, lets not talk about the entire continent but u live in a country where the crime is so little that cops try to catch teenagers smoking dope in the parks You are very lucky to be born there , beautiful landscapes...

Except for the landscape, a lot has changed over the last say 10 years.

 

[Sally Shamas]

Except for the landscape, a lot has changed over the last say 10 years.

I donno if u are talking about immigration, but relatively to other countries in europe its a veryyyyy safe place to live and a reach country . The only thing i dont like about Norway is Indoor planting ... more then 250 days of rain ... that will get me to hold Andrew's gun and shoot myself

 

[XiaoSu Han]

Maybe you've caused yourself more harm for the future than you did by saving your gear once.

I don't think that you would be able to go back to the same spot again, what if the said people see you there again and this time they sport guns as well?

This time you've been "the man", the next time they probably are.

Would it have been possible for you at any time to just pack up and walk away? You were so attentive anyways, why didn't you just go when you sensed danger the first time, or was it not possible at all? Would it have been possible to avoid contact and confrontation?

Why didn't you get any license plates? Why didn't you report the incident to the cops at all?

Questions after questions, maybe it's not what you've expected when posting this here.

PS: You list "guns" as interest next to skateboarding in your profile. What are guns for mainly? Shooting at cans?

 

[Ace]

Chk Chk Boom.