CCW IN ACTION: Armed Texan Thwarts Attempted Armed Robbery Outside Dollar Store: Why Concealed Carry Works

TYLER, TEXAS — Expecting to meet with some gentlemen to purchase a dog off of social media, two Texans allegedly met with a third party in the parking lot of a Dollar Tree. The purported seller informed them that they should meet him behind the back of the building. Fearing for nothing, the two gentlemen headed behind the building where they were confronted by not just the purported seller but two of his accomplices. The sale quickly spun out of control from a simple canine transaction to something much more insidious. Luckily, one of the victims was a concealed carrier and took out his pistol to respond in kind. The robbers realized they were in for more than they bargained for and fled.

According to the Tyler Morning Herald, after the failed attempted robbery, the concealed carrier headed to the front of the store and informed the store manager of the event. They called the police and cooperated with their investigation.

On the surface, this sounds like a great deal. A concealed carrier using his concealed carry handgun to end a potential robbery before it could even take off — what’s not to love?

Without getting into victim blaming, there are a few obvious things in this story that don’t add up.

1.) Why would you meet out behind a building?

In the parking lot, there’s other witnesses and potentially surveillance cameras. This is a win-win for someone interested in purchasing a dog. If the “seller” had said, “hey, I’m keeping my dog in the shade behind the building, why don’t you come around and join me over there?” It would have been too simple to say, “nah, you bring the mutt around front.”

Problem solved.

2.) Three on one, dropped ball.

As cool as it sounds that a concealed carrier would be able to draw his handgun and respond with an appropriate level of force to what amounts to a violent felony in-progress, everything from this story seems to indicate these two guys walked into a trap. And, as they walked into the trap, if the other party was at all capable, any resistance would have been very short-lived.

Now, perhaps this third party wasn’t interested in a gun fight out behind the Dollar Tree. Maybe they just wanted to rob a couple dudes of their money. Maybe this concealed carrier is the luckiest and dumbest gun owner on the planet.

It really doesn’t matter. In the end, the concealed carrier managed to somehow save his own life and property.

As a complete op-editorial note, sometimes I read these news stories and I just get this hankering feeling that there’s more going on than is in the story. Again, don’t really like blaming victims and the concealed carrier managed to pull off this fiasco without firing a single round (or getting one put in him). Can’t help but think, though, public places for conducting private business with complete strangers sounds like a pretty standard operating procedure.