Robbed of Guns, At Gunpoint

ACE over at Airborne Combat Engineer found the following news article out of Florida that details an armed robbery of two men followed home from a gun range.

From WFTV, Eyewitness News 9

Men Followed From Shooting Range, Robbed Of Guns

There are shooting ranges all over Central Florida, but the victim and his friend left one in Apopka on Sunday afternoon after two hours on the range. While in the store, they noticed four young men.

The victims later confirmed with detectives that three of the young men were the suspects who showed their faces on in-store surveillance video. One suspect could be identified by his heavy chain, a chain the victim saw again in his own driveway.

"They were in their driveway for a matter of minutes when a green Honda pulled up," Egert said. "When they got out of their car, they put their guns right to their faces."

After the heist, the suspects fled in a bluish green, mid-90s model Honda Accord with tinted windows. The traumatized victims noticed one suspect was even on his cell phone as they drove away, but they didn't get a tag number.

The stolen semiautomatic handguns are a .45 caliber Kimber, worth $1,200, and a .40-caliber Sigsauer, which gun shops sell for about $600.

This incident highlights the necessity of being aware of your surroundings at all times. It is over 21 miles from the range to the house. According to Mapquest, the drive takes over 30 minutes and has several turns. There was plenty of opportunity for the driver to notice that he was being followed.

If you carry a gun, large sums of money, jewelry, a purse, kids or drive a nice car, it pays to be aware of your surroundings. Situational awareness is something that needs to be practiced daily. It is a learned skill, and takes a bit of work. It is a skill (one of many) that I am still working on.

From the moment you step out of your door you should be in the habit of noticing everything that is going on around your street. Do you know every car that belongs to every house on your block? If not your block, how about 3 houses down on each side of the street. How would you know if something is out of the ordinary, if you do not know the ordinary?

A good practice drill is to try and note the basics of every car that you pass/passes you. How many people are in the car, how old, what color and make, what is the plate number. How many cars are behind you? How long have they been there? Could you tell if one of them was following you? If you pay attention like this, then yes, you would be able to tell if one of the cars was following you.

Always be on the lookout for goblins. When you are in a store, mentally separate the goblins from the people. Try to pick out the folks who are paying attention. Who all is carrying? What are the exits and where is the cover?

Situational awareness is something that costs nothing to practice and is the number one thing that will save your life and the lives of your family. If you don't see the threat, you can not avoid it. If you don't see the threat, you can not take measures to respond to it.