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Problem in Illinois

6K views 52 replies 39 participants last post by  Alacrity 
#1 ·
I was traveling back to Michigan last Saturday when I stopped for the night in a small town in Illinois. As Illinois does not recognize my Michigan Concealed Pistol license, I secured my pistol in my motel room before going to dinner. I must have forgotten Jeff Cooper's color coding as I got out of my truck before looking around. As soon as I locked the truck, I was accosted by a panhandler demanding money. I told him I had nothing for him, got rather stern, and he walked away. I'm glad I'm 6' 4" and weigh 220 pounds as I'm afraid things would have gotten ugly otherwise.

Has anyone else had a similar situation?

I'm thinking about avoiding Illinois in my future travels.
 
#34 ·
I was in a shopping center parking lot putting the groceries in the truck one day when a young man on a moped pulls right up to me and ask if I have a cell phone so he can call his mom. My first mistake I guess was being surprised and caught off guard because he came up on me so fast on the moped. I normally do try to keep my head on a swivel but he just came out of nowhere. My second mistake was handing him my phone but as soon as I did I thought to myself “What if this guy takes off with my phone?” I immediately stepped in front of the moped and blocked him from moving forward if he tried. I carry one of those older heavy hickory walking sticks that I was prepared to stick in the spokes of the moped or wrap around his head as the situation dictated. He made a call and handed my phone back and everything went well. You just can’t tell these days when someone really needs help or someone would rob you.


There are guys who stand at the exits of local shopping centers with signs saying that they need money to eat or something similar. I used to stop and give a few bucks a few years ago when they first started. It is the same people today as it was then mostly, sometime there are new faces. I stopped giving when my son showed me a facebook page with one of the guys holding a wad of cash and talking about the suckers.
 
#36 ·
I live in Indianapolis and maybe have been approached 2-3 times by panhandlers in 10+ years.
So, I'm not buying into the "it's a big city thing".

As for Illinois, I avoid it whenever possible. When not possible, I am very cognizant of the speed limit.
 
#37 ·
If I go to Tulsa - known as a generous town to homeless - I know that I'll see dozens of people after a handout. The popular tack at gas stations is "I need some gas money to get to my mother's funeral in Arkansas." Mothers must be dropping like flies in Arkansas. Now I just say, "You don't remember me? You asked me for the same thing last month. The answer is still NO!" They walk away quickly. I don't allow myself to become complacent. ANYONE can be a threat, but use your common sense and you should make out okay.

When I have had people run up at me in a store parking lot I am MUCH more verbal and don't allow them to get near.
 
#41 ·
As soon as I locked the truck, I was accosted by a panhandler demanding money. I told him I had nothing for him, got rather stern, and he walked away. I'm glad I'm 6' 4" and weigh 220 pounds as I'm afraid things would have gotten ugly otherwise.
Gentlemen like you who were blessed to grow big and tall have an advantage in being able to ward off potentially hostile individuals. As someone who is nearly a foot shorter and 50 pounds lighter I've had a much tougher time keeping aggressive strangers at bay. Twice while riding public transportation I was accosted by drunk individuals who decided I was worth picking on, and once while still in my late teens I was attacked at random by a group of druggies who thought it'd be fun to beat someone up. I've learned that I need to be mindful of who is around me and to watch I don't wander into the path of unsavory characters who might suddenly decide my small stature makes me an easy target. Most thugs aren't dumb enough to pick a fight with someone who's bigger than they are unless they have the advantage in numbers.
 
#42 · (Edited)
When I was an LEO, I was taught that 'every homeless person carries a weapon of some sort; they have to, since they live on the street.'

After encountering, in that job and others, a very large number of homeless folks, I have to agree; most (a strong majority) carry SOMETHING that they think of as a defensive weapon. For females, it's often a steak knife; the men often have some type of improvised bludgeon, a walking stick or something similar.

More than once, the combination of probable mental illness and a weapon handy proved problematic; the most recent being a homeless person sheltering in an ATM vestibule who, confronted by the police, pulled a razor blade and lunged for the nearest officer.

Larry
 
#44 ·
When traveling through Ill-annoyed I always fill up in Indiana and do not stop for anything.

I fill up again when I hit the other side of Saint Lowie.

On the return trip I fill up before getting to Saint Lowie and then again when I hit Indiana
if I need it.

I will not spend a damn penny in that state if I don't have to.
 
#46 ·
I've been around a little in my day.
even been homeless at times in mi vida loca

not all panhandlers are created equal.
Depending on the city (or even which part of the city) they can be more or less aggressive

in general, I find they break down into several category types with different threat levels ranging from nil/low threat to high/serious threat



The overwhelming majority in my locale are the passive type at intersections holding cardboard signs. ...for all intents and purpose, they're harmless.
Low threat level

The highest level threat/potential assault I occasionally encounter are rarely seen anywhere but in the most "undesirable" hoods
Most of them trying to bum smokes or change .
I'm sure some of them could become more aggressive (right up to/including strong arm robbery) if one showed weakness or naiveté .
Making threat level high...and very serious high if drunk.
(drug addicts are predictable, drunks aren't)

In the "normal" everyday places and by-ways it's the gas scammers.
99.38% of them are conmen/women.
Threat level can be low to high contingent when and where.
ie..back lot of the seediest truck stop in Gary Indiana ...
or the daytime/hometown Sheets, Circle K , BP off the hi-way by the Cracker Barrel, grocery store and Lowes


..L.T.A.
 
#47 ·
My wife and I went to a concert in Nashville, TN a few years back and got out at midnight. As we're walking to our car in the parking garage, a guy is walking towards us. Just as he passes, I see out of the corner of my eye that he turns around behind us. It was winter and I had my pistol in my outer chest pocket in my jacket. I had already unzipped the pocket and had my hand on the pistol. Turns out he was going back to his car to get something. I never pulled it out of my pocket but it got tense for a couple of seconds.

The wife was oblivious to what had just occurred.
 
#50 ·
I was approached at a WalMart parking lot by a panhandler junkie, he asked me for money and went on about how he hadn't eaten in days, I had just loaded my groceries and was still standing at the back of my Tahoe so I reached in and grabbed a loaf of bread handed it to him and said get lost, He took the bread and threw it across the parking lot and walked away.
Simple as that.
 
#52 ·
We have a lot of homeless in Chicago and the Burbs. A lot of these people are running a scam, most of the others have psych problems. i bet all of them can defend them selves and they have nothing to loose. Most of the wont hurt people, but that last 10% is deadly. Don't take your wallet out. Don't mark your self as from out of town, out of town people are the best to rob. As for me, the homeless look at me and know I'm not giving them anything; and I do see them all the time. If you want to give to a good cause, many churches have food banks, that serve meals; and those good fokes can use every penny they can get.
 
#53 ·
Panhandlers are a big problem in Chicago.

The most likely reason he approached you is that you had out of state plates.
The panhandlers here are set up in the tourist areas. I don't see them hit up the locals, or at least not me.

Occasionally a new one will hit me up. Asking for money for a place to stay at night or money for food. I just tell them where the nearest mission is. There are lots of them. They stay clear of me for fear the other marks may hear what I'm saying.

Funniest ones are the scammers who have a sob story about being robbed and no money to get home. Or spouse beat them and they need a place to stay.
My immediate response is; "That's terrible. Lets go get you help with the police" and start waving down police. I must be jesus because I have enabled the crippled to get up and walk away a couple of times.
 
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