This is a throwaway account but I am a long time lurker and this is my first post. I'll provide a little background. I live in a state that fortunately is very 2A friendly, at least for now. A few years ago for my birthday my wife purchased a CCW class for the two of us and purchased me a G19. I have been carrying aiwb @ 12 for the past 2.5 years and try to make it to the range at least a couple times a month and run a variety of drills. Im comfortable with my firearm, but am by no means a pro and am still learning lots from others who have been carrying for a lot longer than i have (thank you all for your posts).Now to the story. A friend called me yesterday afternoon asking if I might be able to help him move a mattress to his new place of residence since I have a larger pickup than he does and the mattress wouldnt fit in his. I accepted and met him at his place and quickly loaded up the mattress and box spring and began the 15 or so minute drive to the new place. Along the way we would need to jump on the highway for a few exits and get off the residential streets. I noticed after accelerating to 45 mph that the mattress began to lift so I flashed him my headlights to indicate I would be pulling over at the next opportunity which happened to be the last turnout before the highway on ramp. It was in an area of town that is a little more working class and I happened to pull into a shared parking lot for a state run liquor store (closed on Sundays) and a pawn shop.Upon entering the empty parking lot I noticed a large dumpster and someone who appeared to be rummaging through it. He was wearing a black hoodie pulled up over his head and jean shorts with a large backpack on his back. I noticed him, some ~50 yds. away from my now stopped vehicle, but my senses for some reason were up and not wanting to have my back to this person I flipped my vehicle around before parking it. Unfortunately I didnt assess the parking lot very well and only then realized there was only one exit in this portion of the shared parking lot and I was now facing the exit from some distance away with the pawn shop immediately to my right and a curbed barrier at my 6 and 9 o'clock respectively. My friend hadnt seen my headlights in time but noticed I was not behind him and had come back and found me in the parking lot just off the main road we had been traveling. For some reason he had parked a little ways away in another parking lot and walked up to me. When I exited my vehicle I locked the doors after grabbing an extra bungee cord. While securing the mattress down more I kept one eye in the direction of the only other person I could visibly see in the area. During the 7-8 minutes I was in the parking lot he paced up and down the length of it twice and no fewer than 5 vehicles had circled the parking lot and approached the man and were gone very quickly. Again, spidey senses are elevated. One of the last vehicles I see was a small silver dodge pickup truck and i watched as two Hispanic men exited the vehicle leaving their doors open and approached the man near the dumpster. Im trying to secure the mattress as quickly as possible and get out of this parking lot. I look up and see the vehicle is gone, just like all the others i've seen and think nothing more of it. We finish securing the mattress and I am chatting with my friend about where to meet him once we get to his new apartment. Here's where things get tricky.As we're departing im standing next to the door just behind the drivers seat in my 4 door pickup and I look up to see this same silver dodge pickup truck now swinging back into the area of the parking lot im in and park perpendicular to my truck, nearly blocking the entirety of the exit. The two hispanic men exit their vehicle again leaving the doors open and begin approaching my vehicle from about 15 feet away. My friend is now entering his vehicle in the distance and im by myself, with my vehicle doors locked. I quickly press the unlock button once unlocking the driver's side door and swing it open. It's at this point I hear one of them shout something inaudible at me and I called back with "what?" to get some clarity. Mind you this all happened very quickly and they are now about 10 feet away from the front of my truck. One of them puts both hands in his pockets and the other has had his hands there from the beginning. At this point I lift up my shirt and have my hand on my pistol from behind my door leaving it in the holster. Quickly assessing the situation I get into the truck and close and lock the doors while maintaining one hand on my pistol the entire time. At this point one is standing at my side mirror and looks down and kicks the front left tire and spits on the hood while the other is standing at about 11 o'clock about 2 feet in front of my fender.It's at this point I determine i've got to get out of here before SHTF and I slam the truck in gear and swerve slightly to the right to avoid hitting the man in front of my fender and then quickly swerve back to the left to squeeze past their truck and out the exit of the parking lot and back onto the main road and then onto the highway on ramp. I looked in my rearview to make sure I was out of the situation and watched as one man threw his arms up in the air and shouted something at me and the other threw his hat at my departing truck. The whole experience happened in a matter of 10-15 seconds. However, my heart rate and adrenaline stayed elevated for the next several hours as I relived the moment.A few things I learned:Situations can change very quickly, even if you think you're paying attention. Much faster than I have imagined and practiced.Always be assessing. I also ride a motorcycle, so this is a little more natural for me at this point, but I need to be better about my surroundings and have an exit plan prepared.I need to continue to practice clean, quick draws.Avoid parking lots with only 1 exit if possible.I dont ever want to have to draw on someone. But I will be better prepared should the next circumstance ever come.Besides what i've listed. What else could/should I have done differently? How can I be better prepared? via /r/CCW https://ift.tt/3a7JA1D
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