ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI — It is often stated, and correctly so, that a concealed carry permit is not a badge. That being said, carrying a firearm doesn’t prevent you from also being a Good Samaritan. The concealed carrier in this story did just that, and did not use his firearm until he was shot at first.
A 26-year-old woman told police it all started when she got out of her car at 12:48 a.m. Sunday. She said one man pointed a gun at her while another man tried to take her purse off her shoulder, but she refused, which led to a struggle.
Via KSDK
The woman started screaming, which caught the attention of a 48-year-old man in the neighborhood. He came over and confronted the men who were trying to rob the woman—and it worked. The men dropped her purse and ran toward a red car.
But while they were running away, one of the men fired shots at the man who came to help. He pulled out his own gun and returned fire.
What I love about this story is that the Good Samaritan here didn’t go in guns blazing to stop this crime. He heard a woman yelling for help and went over to where she was being robbed and basically told the two guys to beat it. He didn’t draw his weapon on them, he didn’t try to arrest them, he just showed up and broke up a crime in progress.
However, when the two attempted robbers started to run off, they fired shots at him. Now that he was being shot at, he went for his own firearm and defended himself with lethal force. He fired shots at them, they fired shots at him. In the end no one was hit, just a bunch of damaged surroundings.
Of course, every situation is different, and should you find yourself answering the pleas of help, you will need to asses the situation and decide what role your firearm plays. However, if you can play a helpful role without ever drawing your firearm – that seems to be the safest bet.