Transcription
Call the police right now at 11:00. We were robbed at gunpoint while on tour here in the Bay Area.
So imagine this: you're on tour, living the indie band dream, fresh off the plane from London. You stop for a quick caffeine fix at Starbucks, only to find someone outside ransacking your van. You step out to confront the thieves, and bam! They pull a gun on you. What do you do?
Members of a British rock band are sharing their frightening experience with us now—how it unfolded, what happened next, and what has them especially rattled. The thieves got away with a lot, but the band members still have their instruments. NBC Bay Area's Terry McWeeny has their story.
"Get down, Lauren! Get down!"
Members of the sports team rock band, just in from England hours before, stopped to get coffee at Starbucks in Volo yesterday morning. That's when robbers broke into their Sprinter van. A band member and manager went out to stop them. At that point, somebody shouted that they were holding something, and then he pulled out a gun and pointed it at Lauren, our tour manager, and was sort of waving it around, telling us to get back. So we then retreated and ducked for cover.
"Ring the police! Ring the police! Guys, somebody ring the police!"
Band members tell us that as bad as the robbery was, things got worse when someone did call Volo police and was told to file a report online. It's not the way the situation would have been handled in their hometown of London.
"I understand why guns are a problem here, and I kind of understand the sort of frontier spirit that exists in America, but I do think it's got to be time to make a change."
This exact scenario happened to a British rock band as they kicked off their US tour in California, raising the million-dollar question: would you be within your legal right to use lethal force in this situation in California?
But before we dive into the legalities, let's get real about the setup here. These people are from the UK, so I'm sure they don't live here. They probably wouldn't even have the ability to carry a gun. Hell, California makes it hard for people who live in California to carry a gun, let alone visitors.
Because they didn't have a gun while they were inside the Starbucks, they were basically told by others, "Hey, don't even bother going out there. Just stay here, let them do what they do, and then go."
Now, I want you to think about that for a second. This seems to be quite the pervasive thought process in places like the Bay Area. People are numb to the crime at this point; they've just accepted it as part of life. There are no repercussions, nothing gets done, and the criminals only get bolder.
Even one of the managers for the band tried to step outside to confront them, and that's when the gun was pulled on him. But let me tell you, that's not just a problem; that's cultural rot at that point.
Now you walk out of the Starbucks, emotions running high. Your livelihood—your stage equipment, laptops, passports—is being stolen right in front of you. You want to stop them; I get it. This isn't just stuff; it's your ability to earn a living, your memories, and your identity.
But here's where things get tricky. In California, you can't legally use lethal force just to protect property. That's a hard pill to swallow, I know, but the law sees your Nintendo Switch as replaceable, even if you don't.
The real game changer here is when one of the thieves pulls a gun. Now the stakes go from "Stop taking my stuff" to "Am I going to survive this?" Under California law, if you reasonably believe your life is in imminent danger, you may be justified in using lethal force.
But legality isn't the only question here; there's a personal dilemma along with the legality. You may have seen them robbing your stuff, you may have known that person had a gun on them, and you said to yourself, "I got a gun on me. I'm going to go out there, draw my gun, and tell them to stop stealing my stuff."
Now, I'm a Texan, as you can see here, through and through. I live in Texas, and in Texas, everybody has a gun. Under certain circumstances, you can use lethal force to stop someone from stealing your property—very specific situations, but it can be done.
However, we're in California now. If I were in their shoes, standing there watching someone ransack my van with all of my gear, my equipment, maybe even replaceable items, what would I do?
Well, none of what I'm about to say is legal advice. This is just me giving you the thought process that would go through my mind in a situation like this in California.
So you see someone stealing from your car, and then you notice they have a gun on them. The question is: can you pull out your gun and use deadly force? The short answer is no—not unless you're about to become the star of your own self-defense story.
Here's the deal: California is one of those states where they're more worried about your response to crime than the crime itself. The law doesn't let you use deadly force just because someone's helping themselves to your property, even if they are carrying a gun while doing it.
Why? Because deadly force is only legal if you're in immediate danger of death or great bodily harm. Now let's look at this scenario: if this person is just rummaging through your car and hasn't so much as looked in your direction with that gun, you can't just go full John Wick on them.
They have to pose a direct imminent threat to you or someone else. In other words, if they're not pointing that gun at you or doing something that screams, "I'm about to shoot you," the law sees you pulling the trigger as overkill.
And trust me, you do not want to end up on the wrong side of California's legal system. It's not friendly territory for gun owners.
But here's where things get dicey. Let's say they turn towards you, start reaching for the gun, or make some kind of move that makes you think, "This person's about to make me a hashtag." At that point, you're not protecting your car anymore; you're protecting your life.
That's where self-defense laws kick in. California will let you defend yourself if the threat is real and immediate. But even then, the force you use has to be proportional to the threat. You can't just light someone up because they looked suspicious.
California loves to turn the self-defense situation into a courtroom drama. If you use deadly force when the law doesn't justify it, you could be hit with criminal charges like manslaughter or murder. And even if you dodge the criminal side, the thief's family could come after you with a civil lawsuit.
Now imagine that: you're out here defending your life, and now you're the bad guy. Yeah, I know it's ridiculous as hell, but it is real.
So what's the best move? It really hurts for me to say this; it really does. I'm not going to lie to you. Even on a personal level, it hurts for me to say this: call the cops. Tell them there's an armed person breaking into your car. If you can do it safely, back off and document everything—license plates, descriptions, the whole nine yards.
But don't confront them unless you're absolutely forced to. You got to play this game smarter, not harder.
Bottom line: you can't use deadly force to protect your property in California. That gun on your hip doesn't change the fact that if they haven't threatened you, the law sees you using your firearm as an overreaction.
California doesn't care that it's your car, that it's your stuff. They only care about the proportionality of your response.
This is why I always say get some type of self-defense legal insurance—something that you can get from an organization like USCCA, which is the sponsor of today's video.
I like USCCA because it's comprehensive. It's not just self-defense insurance; you also get information, knowledge, and training so that you can navigate these complex issues and avoid it altogether instead of having to run through the legal system or get run through the legal system.
Because I assure you, you don't want to go to court. You don't want to have to deal with this on a legal level. But if you do end up finding yourself in a situation like that, a membership with the USCCA can take a lot of that burden off your chest, and you won't have to go through this alone.
I'm telling you, it's a complex maze, and it is not fun. So if you carry a gun for protection, if you carry any weapon for protection, look into USCCA and get a membership there.
But even if you don't and you go with a different company, do that instead of getting nothing. Because I'm telling you, the law is not always on your side in these situations, and you don't want to roll the dice or gamble on it being so.
If you want to learn more about the USCCA membership, hit the link in the description section of this video.
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One thing's for certain and two things are for sure: politicians and tech giants don't want gun content to be recommended to you, and we're all fighting this culture war together.
Now you can help do your part by liking, commenting, subscribing to the channel, but most importantly, sharing this video with at least one person. Together, we can stop the suppression of our 2A rights.
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