A 61-year-old grandfather looked like an easy mark to a brazen 16-year-old punk at a Detroit gas station. It takes a brazen (or stupid) criminal to try to rob someone who’s open carrying a handgun. Unfortunately for the young hood, the old man not only had a gun, but also the willingness to use it. In fact, the grandfather told WDIV, “He wanted my gun. So I gave it to him.”

Grandpa delivered a single shot to the gut which ended the attack. Amazingly, after catching a round in the gut, the punk paused to grab his heater before stumbling out of the door.


WDIV has the story

DETROIT – A robbery attempt in Detroit backfired when a teenager picked the wrong man to mess with and quickly learned he wasn’t the only person armed.

Darius Summers is a mild-mannered musician in Detroit who just turned 61 years old this week. He also recently received his license to carry a concealed weapon.

…”I just wanted some coffee, so I walked down here,” Summers said.

He said a 16-year-old boy armed with a gun saw that Summers was also armed, and the teen tried to take his weapon. He stuck his gun in Summers’ back, thinking he was an older, easier target.

“I said, ‘All I want to do is leave,'” Summers said. “He said, ‘You can’t leave.’ I said, ‘OK. What do you want to do?'”

Summers said the teen was controlling him, but then the 61-year-old man pulled out his own gun and shot the boy in the stomach. The teen picked up the gun that he dropped and limped out of the store.

 

The perp, was later arrested. The seasoned citizen had the right mindset, saying he would not submit to victimhood. Amen, brother.

It’s possible Mr. Summers would have been left alone if he hadn’t been open carrying. Many years ago, as a younger gent, I open carried where legal as part of public education. Following an event in Louisville, Kentucky, I came to appreciate the many advantages of concealment. Only on rare days do I open carry now, for just this reason. Open carrying requires a very strong condition yellow level of situational awareness at all times.

My fellow instructors and I teach some rudimentary weapons retention techniques as part of our entry-level self-defense/personal protection coursework. First and foremost, I train my students that concealment is the single best way to defeat an attempted disarm. If a bad guy doesn’t know you’re carrying, they aren’t going to attempt to disarm you.

 

62 COMMENTS

  1. Rule number one. Don’t fuck with a stranger. Rule number 2, don’t fuck with an old guy. Rule number 3, don’t fuck with an old stranger.

    We will fuck back.

    shannon will include the gut shot fool in the stats about kids and gun violence. You just know she will.

  2. That’s one way of looking at it. With concealment, there is no deterrence factor and potentially a slower draw. If you look like you can’t fight back effectively, you are a potential target. I only choose to carry concealed in very crowded areas.

    • To be fair, wasn’t any deterrence here. The old guy is lucky he didn’t get shot in the back, that thug definitely had the upper hand until he decided to not treat the old guy like a serious threat.

      • Given the way the youth acted, I would say he was a thug-in-training, and had not yet earned his thug stripes.
        He may never, now.

    • When are folks going to get it through their heads that OC is a statement, not a deterrent. If a bad guy has made the decision to do something, all you have done is nominated yourself to be the first bullet recipient. If you want to OC to make a statement or you believe that thiscwill somehow “normalize” gun carrying in the minds of others, fine. Do it. If you think there is some sort of tactical advantage, there isn’t one unless you know that you are about to get into a gnfight and will be needing your gun immenently.

      • Still looking for the stats on the first target theory… Since 90% of states don’t prohibit open carry, I’m sure they’re out there… and not just the one or two from the last ten years that people throw around.

        • Open carry is generally a sign of concealed carry being a possibility so in small crowds most don’t worry about the obvious gun but start looking for the other guys. The ones who wear gun culture clothes especially of the concealed carrier type or the all black swat wannabe look .
          You know it when you see it.

      • Why do you anti-open carrier people give such a fuck how the rest of us carry. You sound like a bunch of pushy Progressives. Carry how you want. The rest of us will carry the way we want.

      • I look at it this way. Learn the pros and cons of each way of carrying a gun, and make your own decision.

        Conceal carry gives you the element of surprise. That is a clear advantage. I live in Arizona where everyone want to talk about guns it seems. I would rather conceal carry to limit the chit chat.

        Open carry deters most criminals, but for a few criminals, you are a target. If you are willing to take the risk and you keep your head on a pivot, who am I to judge.

        I have been carrying for years, and I like 511 shirts and short. You know who associates 511 gear to a conceal carrier? other lawful conceal carriers. The bad guy will not notice. I do not care anyway, for I wear what I like.

        In the military, we always said that amateurs talk tactics; professionals talk logistics. This is the same, I think. Tacticol is fun to talk about. But, it brings out the opinionated purists. Sometimes, we have to step back into reality, perhaps understand that some people approach self defense in different ways. I guess the best way to paraphrase is educate, do not dictate.

        • I love my 5.11’s but seriously they could do a better job of belt loop placement. Have to always choose, too far forward, or too far back. Now my GI issue multicam that must be from the Iraq war are spot on. Puts it right there at 7 O’clock.

      • If this old guy had been targeted carrying IWB that’d have been exponentially more difficult to draw a fire when the bad guy already has the drop on you. Bad guys don’t only go after OC’ers…

      • Open carry is dumb and you shouldn’t do it. I’m not against the right to do it but you should always carry concealed. First, unless you’re a cop, you’re not likely to walk around all day in condition yellow without standing out. Frankly, most people I’ve encountered open carrying ARE ABSOLUTELY trying to let everyone see they are carrying like it’s a badge of honor. From a cop’s perspective, we would get A LOT of calls on 911 about a man with a gun (anywhere). Dispatch would try for more but once the caller said they were afraid – that’s it. 99 times out of 100 it would be some “guy” at the grocery store or pharmacy shopping and doing nothing. But we’d have to go in, approach, get ID, maybe disarm, and basically hassle the poor guy because some blue haired old lady from New York (or Australia) had never seen anything like this before. Just carry concealed. Or do what you like – just be prepared for this kind of thing to happen and you sure as hell don’t want to deal with some rookie cop who’s still jumpy.

        • Been ready for that to happen for going on five yeara… hasn’t happened yet. Maybe with more people open carrying, word is finally getting around that it’s somewhat normal. But if we take your advice, we need to act embarrassed about it, and hide it so nobody can see our yucky guns… because of their feelz… Maybe they need to spend some time in Alabama where open carry is a little more common to see that it’s fine…

    • OC is a political move/statement. The only time OC makes sense is if you intend to be the one who acts and not reacts. Outside of the police and mil, good guys are not going to be the ones “acting”, but reacting to aggressors

      • See that’s the thing I’m most confused by.

        The crime conceal because they wish to deceive their target into believing they are harmless. They have the element of surprise because they initiate. Espoused logic suggests that we would benefit equally from the same tactic, but no we don’t have the element of surprise when we are reacting.

        As for the “condition yellow” I have yet to see a reason why you should ever be at anything less, regardless of whether or how you carry.

        I’m from a very old school of thought regarding being armed. “The honest man hides nothing.”

  3. Generally, I don’t believe that open carry is tactically sound, but then again I don’t live in Detroit. In such a well-stocked thug lake, perhaps any shiny thing is like a lure.

  4. Not really a win for open carry in my book. The thug had the drop on the old guy, he could’ve shot him right in the back and only his complacence is what allowed the old guy to fight back.

    If you’re gonna open carry, use a retention holster and be aware of your surroundings.

    • How is this a “win” for open carry? Guy says he was *targeted* because he was open carrying. If he didn’t have an openly-displayed gun, he may never have gotten a gun shoved in his back. We’ll never know for sure; all we do know is this is one more data point against those who claim that open carry is always a deterrent.

      • It’s obviously not, but the article is more about congratulating the old guy for shooting the thug than pointing out that he got targeted for open carrying and the whole situation could have easily gone south for him.

  5. Open carry guy won. Thug and open carry deniers lost. Get over yourselves before you get a nosebleed on your high horse.

    • +1… you can say the same thing about a cop or armed security guard. They open carry all the time and aren’t regularly targetted for their guns…. suspect room temurature IQ. Period.

  6. So, maybe the moral of the story is, open carry only deters criminals with an I.Q. above room temperature who have sense enough to move on to a softer target. It works the opposite way with thugs such as this who lack the cognitive ability of a domestic turkey.

    • Unfortunately, you’re right – we’re assuming the typical thug has more brains than a beached starfish but our daily newsfeeds seem to prove otherwise. Best not to attract the attention of predators that are lured to shiny objects.
      …Okay, MY guns are shiny, Ol’Buddy’s up there might have been matte finished.

  7. 1. Apparently everyone knows he wasn’t carrying his handgun in the correct holster? NO
    2. He could’ve easily been shot in the back but he took his time and waited to draw when the thug wasn’t looking and putting the gun back in his pocket. YES
    3. So tell me Experts. What else did he do wrong other than save his own life and maybe others that the thug might have tried to rob later that day?

    I mean you all seem to be the EXPERTS.

    Enlighten me. Or just STFU

  8. Maybe the little boys gun was unloaded or broken and that’s why he wanted the old guys gun ( and didn t shoot him)

    • I was thinking the same thing … I saw a reliable statistic somewhere that attackers’ firearms are inoperable for about 42% of their attacks.

      I was also wondering if the teenager’s gun was a toy or an airsoft gun and he was bluffing.

  9. This is what, the third documented instance where a thug specifically went after an open carrier because he was visibly armed?

    As we have hashed out many times before, there are advantages and disadvantages to concealed carry versus open carry. Which is better? Yes.

    • The problem is that you won’t be able to find any reliable statistics on how any times open carry has deterred an attack. Without the costs and benefits all we can do is speculate.

  10. How many are mildly offended by 61 being an “old guy”? Ralph? Jwm? I’m still pretty big and strong at almost 65. Pretty sure I could kick a lot of 16 year old butts. Yeah head on a swivel and always be vigalent. Never let a punk get the jump…

  11. I love the tag line: “He wanted my gun so I gave it to him…” One bullet at a time…

  12. Why did he let him pick up his gun?
    It would have been better to keep it out of his hands for evidence and to remove it from circulation.
    He already traded him a bullet for the gun.
    Another gentle giant Obama son denied his constitutional right to rob people.
    How else is he going to get school supplies?

    • Even worse, the thug could have attempted to shoot him after picking up his gun. I would consider reaching for the gun cause for a second bullet from the old man, no way to know that the thug is simply trying to retreat at that point.

  13. I wonder if the good guy think about his childhood with Master Po when he plays that flute.

    • This was the second video of someone drawing and successfully firing on someone with a drawn weapon before the initial aggressor could fire. (In the first video the drawn weapon was only a taser).

      • See that’s the thing I’m most confused by.

        The crime conceal because they wish to deceive their target into believing they are harmless. They have the element of surprise because they initiate. Espoused logic suggests that we would benefit equally from the same tactic, but no we don’t have the element of surprise when we are reacting.

        As for the “condition yellow” I have yet to see a reason why you should ever be at anything less, regardless of whether or how you carry.

        I’m from a very old school of thought regarding being armed. “The honest man hides nothing.”

        • Ignore my comment here. Ttag fucked up and attached my reply to the wrong thread.

          On a side note the comment section has been getting worse not better. It’s been weeks since I’ve gotten notice of a new comment. Holding conversations has become impossible.

          • If I used a different e-mail address, it fixed the problem you’re having. I don’t want to deal with the hassle, so I don’t even read comments anymore.

            Turns out comments were the reason I came here virtually every day. Now I only come by and read articles that really peak my interest every couple of weeks (or longer).

            The saddest part is that I’ll likely never know if the issue gets fixed because I’m avoiding the comment section.

            (The reason I’m replying is I still get notifications from old posts).

  14. I see he reached around and pointed twice with his gun, the 2nd time he shot and hit the kid in the gut…

    Did he shoot and miss the first time? Not shoot the first time? Maybe safety was on?

  15. “If a bad guy doesn’t know you’re carrying, they aren’t going to attempt to disarm you.”

    It could also be argued that if a bad guy doesn’t know you’re carrying, he doesn’t know to leave you the (BLEEP) alone. A TRUTH that the die-hard Concealed Carry community fails to acknowledge is the when you are Carrying Concealed, you look just like all the “other” sheep out there. BECAUSE of this, you are actually MORE likely to be targeted than an Open Carrier. Consider the fact of the ever popular security camera clips of Concealed Carriers getting into gunfights because they were targeted for robbery. Of footage of Open Carriers being targeted, the same (maybe 5, now) are circulated over and over and …

  16. Ahh, self perpetuated poverty. Single mothers breeding kids in intercities and raising those kids in communities with where the only values are rap music and NBA 2k.

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