A few slightly different angles come to mind for me. First, if I'm in Dick's, I'm probably there with my wife and children. That being the case, my primary goal would be to protect them, which in the scenario of the OP could probably best be done by grabbing the kids and moving away from the robber as quickly as possible to a position of cover, or to a rear exit.
As others have implied, Dick's sucks, and I won't go there on my own--I'll drive a bit further and go to GM or to a local gun shop. But we do go to Dick's every once in a while to buy athletic gear for the kids, simply because their location is convenient to us. (This may not be the case pretty soon, since my wife gets a little more ticked off every time she has to say no to the employees about signing up for their tracking card.)
But...in the generic scenario of an armed robbery taking place in front of me--I still think I would probably try to get out of there. Maybe this makes me a wimp...but I don't shoot enough to feel a great deal of confidence in my quick-draw skills or marksmanship under threat. Yes, I should practice more--we all should--but realistically, I do not have the time or money to practice every day. I shoot reasonably well, but would still reserve the use of my sidearm for a situation in which I HAVE no choice, i.e., I am directly threatened, or my family is threatened. If a robber starts going around executing people, I would consider that a direct threat. But most armed robbers are unlikely to actually kill anyone, aren't they? I mean, robberies happen all the time, but it really isn't that often that we hear of a store clerk actually being murdered. There is a real chance that, with my non-professional firearms skills, my escalating the situation would only make things worse.
Yes, I would like to help anyone in need. But I think it comes down to this: do I have the necessary skill to believe, with a high degree of confidence, that I will be able to end the crisis quickly, without injuring a bystander or escalating the situation to put myself in greater peril?
As others have implied, Dick's sucks, and I won't go there on my own--I'll drive a bit further and go to GM or to a local gun shop. But we do go to Dick's every once in a while to buy athletic gear for the kids, simply because their location is convenient to us. (This may not be the case pretty soon, since my wife gets a little more ticked off every time she has to say no to the employees about signing up for their tracking card.)
But...in the generic scenario of an armed robbery taking place in front of me--I still think I would probably try to get out of there. Maybe this makes me a wimp...but I don't shoot enough to feel a great deal of confidence in my quick-draw skills or marksmanship under threat. Yes, I should practice more--we all should--but realistically, I do not have the time or money to practice every day. I shoot reasonably well, but would still reserve the use of my sidearm for a situation in which I HAVE no choice, i.e., I am directly threatened, or my family is threatened. If a robber starts going around executing people, I would consider that a direct threat. But most armed robbers are unlikely to actually kill anyone, aren't they? I mean, robberies happen all the time, but it really isn't that often that we hear of a store clerk actually being murdered. There is a real chance that, with my non-professional firearms skills, my escalating the situation would only make things worse.
Yes, I would like to help anyone in need. But I think it comes down to this: do I have the necessary skill to believe, with a high degree of confidence, that I will be able to end the crisis quickly, without injuring a bystander or escalating the situation to put myself in greater peril?
