Armed Citizen Tells Story About Self-Defense And While It’s Hilarious, It’s Not Responsible

Note: After we posted this on our Facebook page, some may be missing the point. While this may very well be a staged video, it still doesn’t negate the fact that displaying your firearm in public is irresponsible. That’s the point.

A man named Steve posted a video on his Facebook page back in April, shortly after what he describes as an encounter with two men who tried to rob him and then pulled a knife and threatened him.

During the video, seen below, he describes what happened just a few minutes earlier. Then, there’s a surprise twist at the end that even I didn’t see coming.

You’ve already got a spoiler based on the article’s image. Give it a watch:

I get a little torn with these types of things, because I get the point that Steve is trying to make. However, I also have a few rather large concerns with how things went down.

They are:

1. While he may have not felt threatened while doing the video, if you’re really going to do a video describing the situation that just unfolded, wait until you’re in a different location.
2. The choice to talk freely about an incident such as this, right after it’s happened, could come back to haunt you. What if the guys went to the police and said that you pointed a gun at them unprovoked? Stranger things have happened.
3. The act of taking your firearm out and pointing in the direction they ran, all for the camera and out in a public parking lot, is not a responsible thing to do. What if others in the area witnessed this and had absolutely no information to go on? What would you think if you were there and saw a man pointing a gun in any direction without any clear scope of what was happening? It’s not something a responsible gun owner should be partaking in.
4. Did he call the police before taking this video? It doesn’t seem like it, and that should be the priority right behind getting yourself to a safe location.
5. At the end of the video, the armed citizen stole their beer. While I get the motive behind it, it’s still theft. After all, it wasn’t his to begin with. I’m not saying it wasn’t funny, but I am saying it’s not right.

Hate on any of these, or don’t. That’s my take. What’s yours?