Friend was approached by guys with guns...

[+Castle Mischief]

Man, I am so afraid that guns are going to cause global warming that I can't figure out how in the world this thread has turned into a discussion/pep rally on gun rights.

 

I mean I'm so scared that I can't see straight enough to recycle, much less drive my Volvo.

[+KBLAST]

I fully understand and agree with your assessment that there are loose ends. They are actually loose on purpose, because if I give too much info then my friend may feel "outed" or be embarrassed or get unnecessary peanut gallery comments from locals who stumble on this. I gave him a link to this topic, so for all I know, he's reading all of this.

 

I mean, look at this forum topic - imagine if I stood up in one of our local cache events, stood up and got everyone's attention, and pointed at my friend and said, "Here's what happened to him the other day..." Can you imagine the backlash?

 

I hope that you can understand my lack of detail. As far as my original intent, I think the consensus appears to be that people need to be careful wherever they go, so calling for the cache to be archived or posting notes on the cache page would probably not be appropriate in this case, as it is an isolated incident and could have happened anywhere.

 

Can you at least explain why he didn't call the police? Or would that be too revealing?

 

I actually have no idea if he called the police. I was so amazed by his story I didn't bother to ask.

 

Heck, he may have said he called the police - I was kind of overwhelmed by the whole thoughts of, "Wow - I'm glad he made it!" and "Dang, glad it wasn't me!"

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

+1 to Ecylram. Whatever gets you out of the situation alive is the right response.

 

Canada would be a good place, you might get whacked over the head with a frozen trout but that's about it, you can barbecue it once is defrosted

But we might sic our polar bears on you.

Or just stick a knife in you!

 

When guns aren't available people use knives.

 

Outlaw knives and they'll use clubs.

 

Except the criminals, of course, they'll always use guns without regard for the law.

 

Wikipedia - Crime In Canada

 

The number of murders dropped to 594 in 2007, 12 fewer than the previous year. One-third of the 2007 murders were stabbings and another third were by firearm. In 2007, there were 190 stabbings and 188 shootings. Handguns were used in two-thirds of all firearm murders. Seventy-four youths were accused of murder, down 11 from the previous year. About eighty-four percent of murders were done by someone known to the victim. Male victims of homicide were most likely to be killed by an acquaintance, someone known to them through a criminal relationship, or a stranger. Female victims of homicide were most frequently killed by a current or former intimate partner, or another family member. The province with the highest crime rate was Manitoba while the lowest crime rates occurred in Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. Saskatoon has the highest murder rate at 3.6 per 100,000 people

 

BBC News - Crime in UK

 

Knife crime

 

In fact, the most common weapon used in a violent crime in England and Wales is not a gun - but a knife.

 

CRIME FIGURES IN FULL

 

Crime in England and Wales 2006-07 [2.7MB]

Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader

Download the reader here

 

There are four times more knife-related killings as firearms-related killings.

 

The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King's College London recently conducted some deeper analysis of the available Home Office's statistics.

 

It concluded that between 22,000 and 57,900 young people could have been victims of knife crime in 2004.

 

However, it says without better official data it is impossible to know for sure - and that we need that data to improve the public debate.

[knowschad]

holophobes

Fear of global warming?

Actually, that would be Algoreaphobia.

 

[+KBLAST]

holophobes

Fear of global warming?

Actually, that would be Algoreaphobia.

 

 

Really? I thought that was the fear of inexpressive statues...

[+Pinehurst]

I have a friend (no really - this time I'm talking about a friend!) who was visiting a cache I had retrieved a while back. Right after he made the find and put things back, he was approached by two guys who asked him what he was doing. He tried to just move along, but one of the guys lifted his shirt to reveal a gun. My friend pointed at his car which has a marking that indicates he works for the U.S. military something or other and explained that if the two guys didn't back down, he would have to shoot them. The GPS under his shirt looked like a gun, so they backed down.

 

He got out of there and contacted the owner, trying to be polite and nice (this guy is well-known as one of the nicest cachers around). The owner never responded, and nothing about the cache page has changed.

 

I live in a large city, so this scenario is not completely surprising, nor is it confined to this one area (I can name about a dozen places I grabbed a cache and was glad my kids weren't around). But in this case something DID happen at the cache site.

 

He asked me what I would do, and I'm torn on this one. I never personally had trouble at this particular cache, but I went on a rainy, nasty day on purpose, because I know the area and was trying to grab the cache when I hoped people wouldn't be around.

 

What would YOU do if you were him? I know... I know... now comes the barrage of opinions. I hope at least one of you can offer something better than a frog eating popcorn or an opinionated tirade based on your experiences in Podunk, USA.

 

 

Post a needs arcived log.

[Clan Riffster]

holophobes

Fear of global warming?

Actually, that would be Algoreaphobia.

 

OK, now I just gotta get that T-shirt!

[+MightyParagon]

<sigh> It's not about the guns, it's about being accosted. He was successful. He lived. Good for him.

 

Post the log. Warn others.

[+hukilaulau]

I'm late to the party, but here are my thoughts:

1) A note on the cache page would be appropriate. I've had people "challenged" by locals of some of my caches and I appreciated the notes on the cache page.

2) I'm not sure what calling the police would do. They're not going to stake out the area based on a report like this.

3) I doubt the story is completely true, but it doesn't matter. It's a good story! And the question really is what should be done after the incident happened, right?

[+Castle Mischief]

<sigh> It's not about the guns, it's about being accosted. He was successful. He lived. Good for him.

 

Post the log. Warn others.

 

Give that man a prize. Not every thread that has the word "gun" in the title needs to turn into a pro/anti debate- that's what Off Topic is for.

[knowschad]

2) I'm not sure what calling the police would do. They're not going to stake out the area based on a report like this.

No, they're probably not going to stake the area out just for one incident alone, but if they see a pattern, they will give it more coverage, at least. Without people reporting the incidents, they have no way of knowing if there is a pattern.

 

In addition, if they already suspect something is going on in the area (drug production, perhaps) that would give them one more reason for a search warrant, I suspect.

[+GeoGeeBee]

holophobes

Fear of global warming?

Actually, that would be Algoreaphobia.

 

 

Really? I thought that was the fear of inexpressive statues...

 

Really? I thought that was the fear of crazed sex poodles.

[+Cedar Grove Seekers]

 

When guns aren't available people use knives.

 

Outlaw knives and they'll use clubs.

 

 

Not sure this is entirely true.

 

Homicide rate in Canada hovers around 1.9 per 100,000 versus 5.5 per 100,000 in US in recent years.

 

The almost 3x more homicides in US could be partly due to availability of guns considering only 1/3 of homicides in Canada are gun related, compared to over 60% gun related homicides in the US.

[+Coldgears]

This is why I refuse to step out of the safety of the suburbs and drive 5 miles into philly for a cache. I don't care how close philly is, too much crime to go in for a cache.

[+Moose Mob]

I am sooo tempted to send this thread to Off Topic.

[+Ecylram]

**Deleted**

 

Due to the comment of the moderator regarding off topic. (I wasn't helping.) :-)

Edited July 16, 2010 by Ecylram

[+MightyParagon]

2) I'm not sure what calling the police would do. They're not going to stake out the area based on a report like this.

 

Because of the gun and the threat that made them back down. The police tend to believe the story of the first one who calls in. That makes you the "victim".

 

So he doesn't call the police. But the other people do. Their story: "A man threatened to shoot us, said he had a gun." Now they are the victims.

 

The weapon used makes no difference. It could have been a knife, a piece of concrete or just the disparity of force (2 against 1) and bare fists. Any threat, you make sure YOU CALL FIRST. Establish yourself as the victim.

 

It makes no difference what happens after the report is taken. As long as you are on record as the victim and not the perp.

[knowschad]

The police tend to believe the story of the first one who calls in. That makes you the "victim".

Nahhhh.... I tried that one with my mom when I was about 5. It didn't work with her, then. I don't see how its gonna work with the cops, now.

[+MightyParagon]

The police tend to believe the story of the first one who calls in. That makes you the "victim".

Nahhhh.... I tried that one with my mom when I was about 5. It didn't work with her, then. I don't see how its gonna work with the cops, now.

 

<shrug> It does, unless there is actual evidence to the contrary.

[+proimion]

I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often, especially where people place caches in silly locations, like on property lines or very close to houses. What would you think if one morning you looked out your window and saw someone sneaking around and examining a fence post (or whatever) very closely?

[+Lil Devil]

What would you think if one morning you looked out your window and saw someone sneaking around and examining a fence post (or whatever) very closely?

That he already found the pot plants in my backyard.