Risk Assessment

Smoke

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Every so often I read posts in which the poster states that if they're going to a particularly sketchy part of town they upgrade to a higher caliber or higher standard capacity gun.

In one post I read the poster stated that a given location was a high risk venue and the one place where he might actually need a gun.

My first response is to ask why you would even go to a place you deemed "high risk" if it was at all avoidable ?

I'm curious do any of you do even an informal risk assessment before you head out the door?

are there parts of your town you routinely avoid? (You wouldn't catch me dead in the Wal Mart on Platte)

Thoughts?
 
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Plenty of parts of town (and places, events, "scenes" in general) I avoid.

But sometimes you have no choice, for one reason or another, to be in a place you consider higher risk; nothing wrong with choosing what you carry accordingly.
 
If I find myself needing to go into a questionable area, I'd be more apt to enlarge the diameter of my 'Comfort Bubble', as well as being more aware of potential avenues of egress, rather than pack more heat.
 
Looking for Trouble?

As a Sheriff of my acquaintance put it "you're more likely to be convicted of excessive force if you shoot someone with a 1911 or Glock, then if you're using a revolver or .380 auto."

Civilians are not peace officers, why are we carrying military grade sidearms concealed? Are we looking for trouble??
 
As a Sheriff of my acquaintance put it "you're more likely to be convicted of excessive force if you shoot someone with a 1911 or Glock, then if you're using a revolver or .380 auto."

Civilians are not peace officers, why are we carrying military grade sidearms concealed? Are we looking for trouble??

I would question the sheriffs judgement. And "we" don't go looking for trouble.

Sounds like something a troll would say.
 
As a Sheriff of my acquaintance put it "you're more likely to be convicted of excessive force if you shoot someone with a 1911 or Glock, then if you're using a revolver or .380 auto."

Civilians are not peace officers, why are we carrying military grade sidearms concealed? Are we looking for trouble??

1911 is no longer considered big enough for military, and the only real important questions are 1) can you shoot and hit, and 2) is the shoot legally justified.
Dead is dead, whether with a .22 or a SW500. Sheriff doesn't get to make that decision, and probably has no data to back up the statement.
As an aside, the BGs carry big guns also, including current military stuff. They don't believe your sheriff.
 
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some of us that are in the utility(water,electric,gas,cable,etc)business have to go where the breaks in the main are. More often than not, the older infrastructure is in the older (less desirable) parts of town and are required by our jobs to enter these areas. And if a water main breaks in the middle of the night, off we go. Of course we go in with heavy equipment and plenty of lighting, but the few of us first on scene to determine what needs to be brought in to make the repairs carry some extra mags.
 
My EDC is more than adequate for any trouble I might encounter in whatever part of town I visit. That being said, if I actually expected trouble, I wouldn't go there. Armed or not, I don't go looking for trouble.
 
As a Sheriff of my acquaintance put it "you're more likely to be convicted of excessive force if you shoot someone with a 1911 or Glock, then if you're using a revolver or .380 auto."

Civilians are not peace officers, why are we carrying military grade sidearms concealed? Are we looking for trouble??
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That Sheriff is completely wrong, has no qualifications for expressing that opinion, and should shut up and retire before he gets one of his deputies hurt. This is typical of most American LE command officers - the level of ignorance of the actual legal issues and standards in that population is utterly terrifying.

I write and teach and some litigation on such issues. The stuff I see, and the stuff I have reported to me by people in the field whom I respect, is worse than cringe worthy.

A pistol is what one carries when one is not expecting a problem - if you expect a problem you can't avoid and are not taking a long gun, too, you are a fool. When I used to go looking for trouble as a matter of duty, I almost always had two pistols, a carbine, and a shotgun, and back up on the way if not already on scene. If I had to look for trouble again tomorrow, I would have at least two pistols with reloads, a carbine with several reloads, and all the well equipped friends I could summon.

I carry all the time, and the choices are usually one of two pistols. One is chosen for the times when concealment is more important; the other for the rest of the time.
 
As a Sheriff of my acquaintance put it "you're more likely to be convicted of excessive force if you shoot someone with a 1911 or Glock, then if you're using a revolver or .380 auto."

Civilians are not peace officers, why are we carrying military grade sidearms concealed? Are we looking for trouble??

"Military Grade" that sounds like something Mike Bloomberg would say
 
some of us that are in the utility(water,electric,gas,cable,etc)business have to go where the breaks in the main are. More often than not, the older infrastructure is in the older (less desirable) parts of town and are required by our jobs to enter these areas. And if a water main breaks in the middle of the night, off we go. Of course we go in with heavy equipment and plenty of lighting, but the few of us first on scene to determine what needs to be brought in to make the repairs carry some extra mags.

You're overlooking my caveat "If it's at all avoidable" in your cas it isn't
 
There are times I must drive through a bad section of a neighboring town but I do not stop or hang out there. Hell the whole town is nothing to write home about, so I don't go there unless there is an unavoidable need. I get **** for it from time to time but statistics are statistics and the town is a cesspool.
 
There are times that I go into areas that I consider to be more risky
than most of the places I go.This doesn't happen often but sometimes
it's just necessary for various reasons. It just seems to me that
common sense dictates that I upgrade somewhat from my usual five
shot J frame so that's what I do.
 
My EDC is more than adequate for any trouble I might encounter in whatever part of town I visit. That being said, if I actually expected trouble, I wouldn't go there. Armed or not, I don't go looking for trouble.

I avoid places I know to be dangerous. But life is a trade off.
If i wanted a really safe place and wanted to spend $4000 a month or more for rent i might live in NYC apartment. Instead
i live in a more dangerous place where the rent is less than a tenth of that. I have seen it get worse and have seen it get
better, so i just keep carrying two revolvers. We don't have
a choice either. I do think a second revolver is prudent now
and an adequate supply of ammo. Now that police must
wait for backup and let thugs continue to destroy property
because of the social climate, it means we all may need extra
fire power and a bigger caliber to protect our property, and
that includes our billfold. I make reasonable efforts to avoid
stop and rob places, but i won't pay ten times the going rate
to live in a fortress.
 
A Little Clarification

I'm not talking about places you wouldn't ordinarily go to but that your business takes you to. I'm talking about places you choose to be even though you deem them dangerous.

As an example there is a section of South Tejon (Tay-Hone) Street in Colorado Springs where someone decided it would be a good idea to put about fifty different night clubs. The area attracts several different demographics all of whom are looking to get hammered and laid and most of whom are looking for a fight.

There are frequent shootings, nightly fights involving multiple combatants and at least one sexual assault a week.

I make it a point not even to go to that part of town on Friday or Saturday night because the risk far out weighs as potential reward.

I said something about the Wal Mart on Platte at least once a week someone gets robbed in the parking lot I don't arm up when I go there I just don't go.
 
Every so often I read posts in which the poster states that if they're going to a particularly sketchy part of town they upgrade to a higher caliber or higher standard capacity gun.

In one post I read the poster stated that a given location was a high risk venue and the one place where he might actually need a gun.

My first response is to ask why you would even go to a place you deemed "high risk" if it was at all avoidable ?

I'm curious do any of you do even an informal risk assessment before you head out the door?

are there parts of your town you routinely avoid? (You wouldn't catch me dead in the Wal Mart on Platte)

Thoughts?

Guilty as charged.

I have had a CCWP since early 70s and have a lot of carry time and in the past carried one decent gun only no matter where I went.(when legal)

Now retired and living way out in the boonies if only going reasonably local I will throw a bodyguard .380 in my pocket. (holster used) Best bet up where I live I have a better chance of seeing UFOs having dogfights than need a gun.

With that said I moved out of the city do to demographic changes to the population and attitude of many city folk. I do my best not to go to the city but if I have to for good reasons upgrade to a XDs.45. Doctors, specialty shopping, visiting a friend in hospital will bring me in. I know the city well (lived there close to 60 years) and plan my driving routes but if a serious problem does occur I'm ready
Just reading the local newspaper gives you good reason to being in condition orange at a minimum while in the city
 
I do my best not to go to the city but if I have tofor good reasons upgrade to a XDs. 45

You also overlooked the caveat if there's somewhere you have to go that's not the same as deliberately putting yourself in the situation
 
Its really not about the place for me the weather trumps all in terms of carry gun. A 1911 would be carried 100% of the time but summer etc can make that impossible. I don't feel too under-gunned with the 329PD though for heat duty.
 
Answer to question #1: Nope, unless it's somewhere I haven't gone before. Even then, I try not to overthink it. If it can't be avoided, I try to stay alert so that I don't inadvertently insert myself into a situation where my J-frame may be needed, and avoid doing things that will paint a big target on my back.

Answer to question #2: Yes, absolutely. If it can't be avoided, I do exactly what I do in question #1 - Stay alert and refrain from doing stupid things that make me an appealing target.

I'm a civilian with pretty tame orbits and no enemies that I know of, nor do I go out of my way to make them. As a result, I've decided that I have no personal need for a full sized service pistol. If, by some freakish twist of fate, some terrorist cell decides to go on a murder spree while I'm out in public, what sidearm or caliber of said sidearm I'm carrying on my hip will be the least of my worries.
 
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