Convenience stores are direct targets for armed robberies, given the limited number of employees who staff such stores, late hours they are open and the relatively significant number of cash transactions.
Law Enforcement and the National Association of Convenience Stores gives this advice in the event of an armed robbery: Stay Calm; Comply with the robbers demands and do not resist.
Despite that, countless store clerks are stabbed, shot or even killed despite their compliance. But Law Enforcement and NACS counters that your odds of being unharmed increase with compliance. Tell that to the family members of those who have perished or are seriously injured.
Stores like Cumberland Farms, Nouria Energy's Shell Stations, and 7-Eleven all have "no gun"policies for its employees, all of whom ascribe to the notion that clerks are safer with a passive response.
If a company is going to ask a person to stay in a place alone, after dark where there is a lot of cash and all walks of life are coming and going, that company should leave it up to the individual employee whether or not he or she will carry a gun.
Choosing to carry a firearm is not for everyone. But most people of average sensibilities, judgment and the right attitude, can do so without a problem when they devote the necessary time and training to do so.
And to be fair, carrying a gun has a host of accompanying responsibilities. Knowing deadly use of force laws and doctrine, training, situational awareness drills. It simply isn't enough to purchase a gun and strap on a holster.
The Londonderry Fish & Game Club hosts NRA certified classes on a regular basis. Many of these class participants are small business owners seeking to protect themselves and their businesses by carrying a gun.
Finally, it cannot be ignored that many crimes are halted with the mere showing of a gun. A crime can be thwarted without a shot ever being fired. That overwhelmingly happens every day across this nation.
