Staff, trust me, I want to point out something here. The topic is about being in possibly dangerous areas and as a pretty normal development to the topic, weapons were brought up. Just bear with me a moment.
I love to metal detect. My setup would run about $1100 to replace. I've found five times that amount in objects on the beaches from Panama City to Destin here in Florida, so the MD has paid for itself.
In PC in particular, there are a LOT of homeless who sleep on the beach. Most people don't see them because they're off the beaches soon after sunrise, but I'm out with my MD looking for stuff early in the morning but also, late in the afternoon. In the late afternoon you have to worry about tourists who may or may not have good intentions. I also always have my carry gun on me. The thing about carrying a handgun is that it gives many people a false sense of security and increases the likelihood of going into areas they normally wouldn't.
Personally, having been in more than one gun battle in combat (not in a non-combat civilian setting) I know given the fact that more and more criminals will choose to simply take someones life for a $20 bill (increasing lack of morals and ethics while having near complete disregard for another persons well being) I choose to be as prepared as possible. I always have a cover story to use and it goes like this.
Situation: Was detecting in Panama City Beach about 7:30PM when I was approached by some rather sketchy looking young men. I immediately noticed what I thought to be gang tats on two of them and all five were wearing a certain color hat with white tank tops and the same color shorts as the hat. There are always people walking the beaches so it's quite normal to have people walking by within feet of you and two can be criminals looking for trouble and the next two can be millionaires looking at property. I noticed these rough looking guys change direction towards me, three were looking intently at me while the other two were looking around, obviously looking for police. One of the guys asked me what I was doing. As usual, I explained what I was doing, said no, I hadn't found anything yet since I had just started. When asked what my detector was worth, I said I paid $50 for it at a garage sale, but wasn't sure it was working right because all I had found with it so far were some quarters and shell casings.
That "shell casings" comment got all five of them looking at me. I then said, "There were some shots fired calls received by dispatchers last night. You guys hear any shots fired out here last night?" Now I never identified myself as an officer, which I'm not. But the question had the desired effect. "Naw man" and all five immediately went on walking, interest lost. As they're walking away, I hear one of them saying, "Remember that MF'ers face. We see that cop on the beach tonight behind the club, GTFO."
The moral of this story is that we are using some expensive equipment. Have a plan in place to protect yourself. Abandon the equipment to them if they press their advantage. For those who carry, it's fine to think your gun will protect you. However, unless you've had some extensive training in engaging multiple targets, you're taking a huge risk pulling a gun. Keep in mind as well, the criminal(s) may have a gun and/or guns as well. Many plans go right out the window when you hear the crack of a round passing by you or someone gets punched in the face. Also, your laws may not clear you of wrong doing over property in this type of situation, so be informed of the laws in your area. Also, you cannot simply pull a gun out and threaten someone because you *think* they might attack you for your property. As such, you never know if you'll survive the initial attack or be conscious after the initial attack. So the best bet is to never put yourself in a sketchy environment in the first place.
Something like the beach is an altogether different situation, but I would never go into a known crime/homeless area in or close to an urban area. A thousand dollar piece of equipment isn't worth my health OR worth killing someone over. Even if it is a criminal. Don't get me wrong. I'm not going to just give my setup away at the first sign of trouble. I have extensive training and experience in weapons, close quarters combat and reading the environment. Enough to where I'm always more aware of/concerned with my environment than my equipment.
However, too many people who fly these quads, same goes for many people in the metal detecting community, think that even if they are attacked and are legally covered in a situation where they shoot and kill someone to protect themselves, believe that's the end of it. Unless you're lacking the very morals and ethics like the person you killed, you WILL suffer mentally with the situation you placed YOURSELF in by being in an obviously sketchy area when you had the CHOICE to be in a safer environment.
I love to metal detect. My setup would run about $1100 to replace. I've found five times that amount in objects on the beaches from Panama City to Destin here in Florida, so the MD has paid for itself.
In PC in particular, there are a LOT of homeless who sleep on the beach. Most people don't see them because they're off the beaches soon after sunrise, but I'm out with my MD looking for stuff early in the morning but also, late in the afternoon. In the late afternoon you have to worry about tourists who may or may not have good intentions. I also always have my carry gun on me. The thing about carrying a handgun is that it gives many people a false sense of security and increases the likelihood of going into areas they normally wouldn't.
Personally, having been in more than one gun battle in combat (not in a non-combat civilian setting) I know given the fact that more and more criminals will choose to simply take someones life for a $20 bill (increasing lack of morals and ethics while having near complete disregard for another persons well being) I choose to be as prepared as possible. I always have a cover story to use and it goes like this.
Situation: Was detecting in Panama City Beach about 7:30PM when I was approached by some rather sketchy looking young men. I immediately noticed what I thought to be gang tats on two of them and all five were wearing a certain color hat with white tank tops and the same color shorts as the hat. There are always people walking the beaches so it's quite normal to have people walking by within feet of you and two can be criminals looking for trouble and the next two can be millionaires looking at property. I noticed these rough looking guys change direction towards me, three were looking intently at me while the other two were looking around, obviously looking for police. One of the guys asked me what I was doing. As usual, I explained what I was doing, said no, I hadn't found anything yet since I had just started. When asked what my detector was worth, I said I paid $50 for it at a garage sale, but wasn't sure it was working right because all I had found with it so far were some quarters and shell casings.
That "shell casings" comment got all five of them looking at me. I then said, "There were some shots fired calls received by dispatchers last night. You guys hear any shots fired out here last night?" Now I never identified myself as an officer, which I'm not. But the question had the desired effect. "Naw man" and all five immediately went on walking, interest lost. As they're walking away, I hear one of them saying, "Remember that MF'ers face. We see that cop on the beach tonight behind the club, GTFO."
The moral of this story is that we are using some expensive equipment. Have a plan in place to protect yourself. Abandon the equipment to them if they press their advantage. For those who carry, it's fine to think your gun will protect you. However, unless you've had some extensive training in engaging multiple targets, you're taking a huge risk pulling a gun. Keep in mind as well, the criminal(s) may have a gun and/or guns as well. Many plans go right out the window when you hear the crack of a round passing by you or someone gets punched in the face. Also, your laws may not clear you of wrong doing over property in this type of situation, so be informed of the laws in your area. Also, you cannot simply pull a gun out and threaten someone because you *think* they might attack you for your property. As such, you never know if you'll survive the initial attack or be conscious after the initial attack. So the best bet is to never put yourself in a sketchy environment in the first place.
Something like the beach is an altogether different situation, but I would never go into a known crime/homeless area in or close to an urban area. A thousand dollar piece of equipment isn't worth my health OR worth killing someone over. Even if it is a criminal. Don't get me wrong. I'm not going to just give my setup away at the first sign of trouble. I have extensive training and experience in weapons, close quarters combat and reading the environment. Enough to where I'm always more aware of/concerned with my environment than my equipment.
However, too many people who fly these quads, same goes for many people in the metal detecting community, think that even if they are attacked and are legally covered in a situation where they shoot and kill someone to protect themselves, believe that's the end of it. Unless you're lacking the very morals and ethics like the person you killed, you WILL suffer mentally with the situation you placed YOURSELF in by being in an obviously sketchy area when you had the CHOICE to be in a safer environment.
