# Being robbed - safer to pull a gun or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 21, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111 "2011-09-21T21:37:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/21 "2011-09-22T04:27:42Z")
> [@RearEchelon](#): > > … more liberal-minded states where **the convicts have more rights than the citizens**! Given that this is the factual forum, cite? ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/22 "2011-09-22T04:44:29Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > If that’s a true story (would love to see a cite), that Bad Guy had some seriously slow reflexes, if an old man was able to pull a pistol out of a drawer and shoot him in the head before he could react. Bad guy was probably under the influence of drugs. I’m under the impression that a lot of burglars/robbers are under the influence of drugs. This has been known to slow reflexes. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/23 "2011-09-22T04:49:12Z")
I remember reading in Chuck Norris’s autobiography that an interviewer asked what Chuck (with hands registered as deadly weapons) would do if he were confronted with mugger demanding his wallet. He surprised the interviewer by responding simply, “I’d give it to him.” And he went on to explain that no amount of money is worth the risk of ending a person’s life, either your own or the purported Bad Guy’s. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/24 "2011-09-22T05:21:49Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > If that’s a true story (would love to see a cite), that Bad Guy had some seriously slow reflexes, if an old man was able to pull a pistol out of a drawer and shoot him in the head before he could react. Or, he only brought a knife to a gun fight… hh ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/25 "2011-09-22T05:25:48Z")
> [@Borzo](#): > > I agree with **isaiahrobinson**. > > If the person robbing you has a gun or a knife, how does _you_ having a gun reduce the chances of you getting shot or stabbed? The best way to avoid harm is to comply fully with the criminal. Not necessarily. A robber with a weapon, and you with none, leaves your life \*fully \*at the good mercies of a felon. A robber with a weapon and you with one can help equalize the situation. Full compliance with the demands of a malefactor led to the WTC coming down. hh ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/26 "2011-09-22T05:38:11Z")
Except I don’t want the situation equalized; I want the situation where I don’t get shot. ---
**Author:** ![Borzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/43a26b/32.png) [@Borzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borzo)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/27 "2011-09-22T05:46:32Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > Not necessarily. > A robber with a weapon, and you with none, leaves your life \*fully \*at the good mercies of a felon. > A robber with a weapon and you with one can help equalize the situation. Most people would avoid murdering someone if they are given what they want, and they are not threatened in the process. The odds of surviving a mugging are pretty high if you give no reason for the criminal to murder you. I fail to see how having a gun while being mugged, however, would \*increase \*my chances of _survival_. It may “equalize” the situation in that my chances of being \*mugged \*might significantly decrease, but if there’s a gun-fight with 50-50 odds then: 1. I’ve reduced my chances of being mugged from 100% down to 50% 2. But I’ve increased my chances of being murdered from ~0% up to 50% That kinda "equalization’ is not something I’d really want. I’d rather get mugged a dozen times than be murdered once. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/28 "2011-09-22T09:11:08Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > I suspect that in a society where all robbery is violently resisted the general population would be much less reluctant to commit murder. > > There would be fewer robberies sure, but there would be more murder. I agree. If the general population has much less of an inhibition against violence, then it’s reasonable that criminals will be at least as uninhibited. For that matter, I expect that there would be a lot more murder that has nothing to do with robbery. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/29 "2011-09-22T10:11:14Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > Not necessarily. > A robber with a weapon, and you with none, leaves your life \*fully \*at the good mercies of a felon. > A robber with a weapon and you with one can help equalize the situation. > > Full compliance with the demands of a malefactor led to the WTC coming down. > > hh And it has also caused the vast majority of hijackings to end with minimal loss of life, which is why it was the advised course of action in hijackings. The analogy is flawed anyways for the 9/11 attacks because it’s not the same thing. The OP isn’t asking if it’s safer to pull a gun or not when caught in a terrorist attack, they’re talking about getting robbed. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/30 "2011-09-22T10:33:17Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > The analogy is flawed anyways for the 9/11 attacks because it’s not the same thing. The OP isn’t asking if it’s safer to pull a gun or not when caught in a terrorist attack, they’re talking about getting robbed. And the passengers in the 9-11 attacks _also_ massively outnumbered their enemies, who only had box cutters. I’m not aware of many mugging scenarios where a man with a small blade tries to mug a hundred plus people at once. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/31 "2011-09-22T10:44:16Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > And the passengers in the 9-11 attacks _also_ massively outnumbered their enemies, who only had box cutters. I’m not aware of many mugging scenarios where a man with a small blade tries to mug a hundred plus people at once. In a small enclosed space, with no useable exits (those doors on the plane require an incredible amount of force to open when the plane is at altitude. Superman could do it, but he’d have to make sure he wasn’t lifting with his back.) ---
**Author:** ![FasterThanMeerkats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/278dde/32.png) [@FasterThanMeerkats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FasterThanMeerkats)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/32 "2011-09-22T12:32:29Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > If that’s a true story (would love to see a cite), that Bad Guy had some seriously slow reflexes, if an old man was able to pull a pistol out of a drawer and shoot him in the head before he could react. Not necessarily. We’re talking about a Bad Guy who is very distracted trying to simultaneously hold a woman hostage, keep an eye on the man, keep an eye out for anyone else who may enter the house, not worry about anything else that might go wrong, and still get as much loot as possible, and has a lot of adrenaline running through his body that makes complex tasks like all of the above more difficult. It’s a lot going on in a very short time period and it doesn’t take much time a gun instead of wallet out of a sock drawer, and the Bad Guy clearly thought there was no danger since he had the wife as a hostage. Once the gun is visible, there’s the “oh shit” moment followed by the flight or fight response. Bad Guys aren’t always professionals or rational, and sometimes if things happen fast enough, it doesn’t even matter if they are. That said, in response the OP, pulling a gun on a mugger is likely to disrupt the immediate mugging process, but skip directly to the flight/fight response, which you hope is flight. I’d say having a gun at minimum gives you options, which is good. If you think your life is in danger, go for the gun or find some other way to resist or run, otherwise give him your wallet. You don’t have to choose the same course of action for each mugging. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/33 "2011-09-22T12:44:11Z")
The “old guy shooting a robber in the head” story doesn’t sound very believable, and even if its true was incredibly stupid - or psychopathic. After all, what the old man in that scenario is _actually doing_ is seriously risking shooting his wife in order to save some property. Kind of shows his priorities. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/34 "2011-09-22T12:59:43Z")
When I was robbed, I asked the man if I could have my purse back before I gave it to him. He seemed surprised. I told him that it was my favorite and he said, “okay.” And he _did_ give it back. He kept the wallet but pitched it out not far from where we were. I had it back the same day. Why escalate something that may be minor? (Yes, he had a gun. I couldn’t tell that it was a BB gun that he had bought earlier after he had robbed someone else.) I think my teaching experiences helped me to remain reasonably unshaken. According to my doctor, the gun you own is more likely to kill you or someone in your family than it is an intruder. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/35 "2011-09-22T13:00:04Z")
slight non GQ hijack… what if you are a woman, and being robbed is only the first thing the mugger want to do to you… saying losing your money is okay, but what will the mugger take aswell, ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/36 "2011-09-22T13:06:04Z")
This is one of the [websites](http://thearmedcitizen.com/) displaying stories of armed citizens successfully ending robberies and other crimes. There are links to the original story that allw you to click through to the original newspaper or TV report. ---
**Author:** ![Borzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/43a26b/32.png) [@Borzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borzo)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/37 "2011-09-22T13:17:14Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > slight non GQ hijack… > > what if you are a woman, and being robbed is only the first thing the mugger want to do to you… > > saying losing your money is okay, but what will the mugger take aswell, I can’t see how decreasing your chances of getting raped is worth an increase in your chances of being murdered. I would only pull out a gun if it _decreased_ my chances of death, not _increased_ it. Those situations are pretty rare outside of warzones. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/38 "2011-09-22T13:53:27Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > The “old guy shooting a robber in the head” story doesn’t sound very believable, and even if its true was incredibly stupid - or psychopathic. After all, what the old man in that scenario is _actually doing_ is seriously risking shooting his wife in order to save some property. Kind of shows his priorities. Well, there’s an argument to be made that a person who will break into your house while you’re home and hold a knife to your wife’s throat isn’t acting rationally, and may be planning your injury or death. Not that spinning around and shooting him in the head is a good idea, but acting as if all you need to do is follow his instructions to the letter and everything will definitely turn out OK isn’t a great idea either. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/39 "2011-09-22T14:41:50Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Or more likely robbery would always begin with the death or disabling of the victim. No “give me your money or else”; they’d just shoot or stab you right off and loot you once you were on the ground. This reminds me of the story about the under-car flamethrowers in South Africa. You stop at a light, someone with a gun comes up to the car and says “get out and give me the keys”. Some fellow invented a flame-thrower that would flame-broil anyone standing next to the car doors. IIRC the response was an increase in car thefts where the driver was shot from twenty feet away. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111/40 "2011-09-22T14:46:34Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > This reminds me of the story about the under-car flamethrowers in South Africa. You stop at a light, someone with a gun comes up to the car and says “get out and give me the keys”. Some fellow invented a flame-thrower that would flame-broil anyone standing next to the car doors. IIRC the response was an increase in car thefts where the driver was shot from twenty feet away. Note to self: Make sure theft-deterrent flamethrower is effective up to 30 feet away.😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-robbed-safer-to-pull-a-gun-or-not/597111.md?page=3)