Multiple Views of Flash-Mob "Survivors"

[Bond 281]

If you only have 9 rounds with you, you're definitely going to lose if they don't scatter. If you have 33 or 49 rounds (1 or 2 spare mags for me), then you at least have a slim chance...

If they see the back of a couple friends' heads get blown out they'll run. The simple fact of what they do means that they're cowards.

 

[iChokePeople]

If you only have 9 rounds with you, you're definitely going to lose if they don't scatter. If you have 33 or 49 rounds (1 or 2 spare mags for me), then you at least have a slim chance...

Dammit. Note to self: Spare magazines may not be allowed for 1911 owners in IN -- check laws today.

 

[Paco Bedejo]

If they see the back of a couple friends' heads get blown out they'll run. The simple fact of what they do means that they're cowards.

That's a good point & I really hope it would go just that way if I'm ever in that tough position.

Dammit. Note to self: Spare magazines may not be allowed for 1911 owners in IN -- check laws today.

For an XDm 40 to have 33 rounds, it requires only a single extra mag. For an 8+1 single stack to have 33 rounds, it requires 3 extra mags. To reach 49, it's 2 xtra mags -vs- 5 xtra mags, respectively... If you're going to carry 3 to 5 extra mags & practice speed mag changes, then you might be OK in such a rare, hypothetical situation.

My comment was directed at those who carry a single-stack or an ultra-compact with zero extra mags and might, theoretically, find themselves in such a situation. I would hope one or two shots disperse the crowd...but gunshots in a park aren't nearly as loud as they are at the range. A mob might not notice just a few shots. I'm pretty sure 17 would alert the remainder of the mob to their imminent danger.

Also keep in mind that my comment about the single-stack people was made prior to becoming enlightened to the fact that some people can't grip double-stacks adequately. I really hadn't considered it.

That said, I'll continue carrying 33 or 49 rounds with me wherever I go (31 or 46 when I get a G20), working on my accuracy at the range, & hoping to never need any of it.

 

[iChokePeople]

In most cases in an urban environment in the US, I'd guess that if they're not running for cover after 3-4 rounds, they're not that kind of mob. And in that case, you're probably not going to be able to change magazines because they'll have you on the ground kicking the bejeezus out of you. And in that case, I want a 40 oz steel 1911 because it's a better club. (light purple because, as someone else said, I'm SORT OF joking...) If you can barricade yourself into a safe place or otherwise keep them off you somehow, then you might be able to get a mag changed. Of course every situation is different, and I'll happily concede that nobody ever comes out of a gunfight saying, "Yeah, the only problem was that I had way too much ammunition." But I'd also be interested in any data on any situation like this, in the US, not in a Sarajevo marketplace or Mogadishu or Baghdad, when someone really got off 33 rounds. That's a serious request for data, not a purple one.

 

[singlestacksig]

single or double stack.. if you have not started shooting before the mob get within arms reach, you are not going to get to use those spare mags if the mob does not scatter..

you just can not reload if people are grabbing your arms and pounding your face...

yes, most mob attacks here in the USA are just kids doing "thrill" crimes.. and will run at the first sign of someone really fighting back..

 

[Mens Rea]

I would say regardless of the number of people they are going to scatter at the sight of a weapon, if not when they start seeing their pals drop to the ground, most of them with any common sense left will run the other direction.

 

[Paco Bedejo]

I would say regardless of the number of people they are going to scatter at the sight of a weapon, if not when they start seeing their pals drop to the ground, most of them with any common sense left will run the other direction.

Ah, but isn't that part of the problem? Couple that with some of them not being familiar with the sounds of small arms fire in an open space & I could easily see a mob failing to disperse after fewer than a dozen rounds.

 

[Fastmover]

Ah, but isn't that part of the problem? Couple that with some of them not being familiar with the sounds of small arms fire in an open space & I could easily see a mob failing to disperse after fewer than a dozen rounds.

I'm willing to bet these types of kids are quite familiar with the sound of small arms fire in their neighbourhoods.

 

[Indy317]

Ah, but isn't that part of the problem? Couple that with some of them not being familiar with the sounds of small arms fire in an open space & I could easily see a mob failing to disperse after fewer than a dozen rounds.

You are wrong. See below. Might be NSFW:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YErCm55IK0A

At 6:26 the gun goes off and people flee.

I can't find the other video, but it was a cell video after some recent event. Groups of young people started fighting each other. Someone pulled a gun and fired three rounds...everyone runs away.