A RightWay Interview
With Kris Follis: We here at the RightWay were very lucky to get a one on one interview with Kris Follis about his experience with an attempted robbery.
Here is the back story, followed by the interview with Kris:
On the 28th of May this year, Kris Follis a 22 year old living in Milwaukee, Oregon, was working as a clerk at The Plaid Pantry convenience store in Oak Grove.
It was a day just like any other, during Kris’ regular shift, when he noticed something strange about a man entering the store. Kris says that he was suspicious of the man the instant he heard the door’s bell ring and noticed the man had his face mostly covered,
As soon as the man approached the counter he lifted his shirt, and Kris noticed something tucked into his waist…the guy reached for it and then pulled it out…it was a hatchet!
Kris tells me that he feared for his life, not knowing what was going on in this stranger’s mind. Or what might happen if this guy were to swing and hit Kris or throw it at him. And so, he immediately reached down and pulled his firearm. He says he never pointed it at the man but wanted it to be clear that he was not unarmed, and that he would be willing to do whatever it took to protect his life.
The video below shows the incredible CCTV footage of the terrifying incident. In it, we see a calm, and unquestionably brave Kris, as he sees the man aproach the counter carrying a hatchet, Kris quickly pulls his sidearm he carries for protection; and as soon as the would-be robber sees the gun, he places the 12″ long hatchet on the counter, carefully slides it across, and immediately gets on his knees and places his hands above his head.
Good show kris!?
Sorry for the GIF, I couldn’t resist??
Now Back to Kris’ story:
Almost as quickly as he pulled his gun, Kris also picks up his phone and calls police. He tells the 911 operator that he has the man at gun point and that he has his concealed weapons permit. Kris says he can’t imagine what might have happened to him if he didn’t have his carry permit and his gun.
The operator asks Kris to describe the robber, which he does. All while this now terrified scumbag is crouched down (probably regretting his questionable life choices, and more than likely wetting his pants?)
It only takes around 5 minutes for the police to show up, but before they do, the man jumps up and runs from the store. Police search the area, but are unable to catch their suspect.
Hopefully he will think twice before robbing another store!
Or…maybe he will come back to the scene of the crime for a 2nd attempt, maybe the next clerk won’t be as lucky as Kris was, to leave the store alive…
…you see, Kris was fired from his job after he reported to his manager what had happened.
The Store is a “Gun Free Zone” and has a ZERO tolerance No Gun policy for their employees. And even though Kris was afraid for his life, and was only protecting himself and the store’s property and customers, Kris was not allowed to have his gun at work. And so they let him go.
Kris says he has no animosity towards the store, “I had broke the company policy and they couldn’t make exceptions and I understood that and don’t hate them for that. I guess I’m more upset that they don’t allow you to protect your life in a life or death situation.”
The Left is constantly talking about the danger of guns, and promoting things like Gun Free Zones, new gun laws, and so on. They talk about the rights of workers to get higher wages, more time off, better benefits etc…but they are absolutely silent when it comes to employees’ rights to protect themselves.
We have written about the fallacy of Gun Free Zones in the past…they simply don’t work! And Kris is right. If a retail store does not have a way to keep their employees safe, especially in a retail-type environment, then their employees should be able to protect themselves.
Thank God that Kris ignored store policy, effectively stopping a robbery, and potentially saving his own life; not to mention saving the lives of anyone else who may have been in the store at the time, or wondered in off the street.
Kris has been looking for a new job, but until he finds one, he is using any savings he has, along with his final pay check from the Plaid Pantry, to pay his bills, and just to survive. He gets help from his mom but hopes he will be back to work soon.
When I asked if he would like to return to his job at the Plaid Pantry if it was offered to him, his answer was pretty much what you’d expect… “Yes and no.” he said, “Yes because I was working a lot and I was making good money, but no because I would still carry my concealed weapon because that possible thing could happen again.”
With a quick Google search you will see a lot of local support for Kris and a lot of condemnation for his former employer. Take a look, with a 1.8 ☆ rating on Google and most of the 43 reviews at just 1☆, it’s more than obvious how the store’s customers feel about their decision to fire Kris Follis:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/PRdMqfrECsFzf5ERA
Here are just a few of the reviews:
Someone has set up some help for Kris untill he’s back on his feet, in the form of a Go Fund Me page. (Link Below) But Kris said he would much rather be working. He has already lost one job opportunity because he does not have a car to get himself back and forth, and the job required it. So if any of our readers near Milwaukee have a job opening for Kris please let us know in the comments.
Gun Free Zones Don’t Work!
How many times can we yell this at the tops of our lungs? Criminals don’t care about gun laws or your gun free zone signs, they just don’t. In fact, studies have shown that it is more likely a criminal will attack somewhere where they think no one will shoot back at them. ? duh!
Most mass shootings actually take place in gun free zones. It seems like common sense to most of us, but there is a loud minority of anti-gun activists who would like to see all of us give up our guns…gun free zones only disarm law abiding gun owners, and turns them into helpless victims.
Kris’ story is just one example of a “defensive use of a firearm” of the many thousands of these incidents every year. These are the incidents we never hear about when the left talks about violent crimes and gun control.
A report done by the CDC under the watchfull eye of the Obama administration, says the number of “self defense use of firearms incidents,” ( a good guy with a gun protecting themselves), including crimes stopped by simply brandishing a gun, could be 60,000 to 120,000 anually, they also found that that number could be upwords of 2.5 milliion every year.
You can bet Obama and his Leftist friends weren’t expecting that!
The problem with that wide number discrepancy, between 60,000 and 2.5 million a year, might come from the fact that most of these incidents are self reported. And so, it could be even higher, since not every incident is actually reported; especially if someone pulls a gun and the attacker just flees.
Steven Crowder has a great article about this:
Here is the local Fox news broadcast report of the attempted robbery:
And here is the transcript from my interview interview with Kris, in his own words:
Jason Haugen from The RightWay: Before we get started, I would sincerely like to thank Kris for agreeing to talk with us at the RightWay about himself and about what happened when the store, in which he was a clerk, had an attempted robbery.
Q.1) Hi Kris, how are you?
KRIS: I am doing alright, considering what had happened.
Q.2) I just want to thank you again for being here on theRightWay.site. So, tell me about your self, Who are you, and Where are you from?
Kris: I am Kristofer Follis, I am from Milwaukie Oregon.
Q.3) Are you Married, Single, do you have any Children that kind of thing?
Kris: Not married but I am in a relationship no children.
Q.4) What time of day did this attempted robbery happen?
Kris: The robbery had happened at 1 o’clock in the morning.
Q.5) Is this a normal shift time for you? Do you think this man had been in the store before and knew it would be you behind the register, or do you think it was just dumb luck? Dumb luck for him as it turned out.
Kris: Yes I would typically do that shift I do not know if he had been in before he was wearing something over his face and yeah I believe that it was dumb luck for him that it was myself working that shift that night.
Q.6) Did you notice him right away, or not until he approached the counter?
Kris: I noticed him once he entered the store because we have a buzzer that tells us if someone enters the store.
Q,7) Was his Face Covered Did you recognize anything about him, had you ever seen him before that day?
Kris: He did have something over his face nothing about him seemed familiar to me.
Q.8) Did you notice right away that he was armed? What was it that he was armed with?
Kris: As he entered the store I did not notice that he was armed until he approached the counter that’s when he pulled the hatchet out of his pants.
Q.9) What was the very first thing that went through your mind? Were you Scared for yourself, your family at home? Did you think he might start using it to hurt you or others?
Kris: The first thing that went threw my mind was draw my weapon to make sure he knew I was not un-armed and if needed would do what I had to do to save my life, and yes I was scared, scared for my life because I didn’t know what was going on in his head didn’t know what could have or would have happened if I did not have my concealed carry permit.
Q.10) When did you see, or what did you see, that gave you the perfect opportunity to pull your firearm, that ultimately stopped the robbery and potentially saved your life, the store and anyone else that scumbag may have hurt?
Kris: I saw him lifting his shirt which had exposed the hatchet and as soon as I saw it I drew my concealed weapon.
Q.11) In the cctv footage, we all noticed how incredibly calm you stayed as you held the man at gunpoint and called the police. Have you ever been in a dangerous situation like that before?
Kris: I had never been in a situation like that before and I might have looked calm but I was scared for my life because there still was the chance of him grabbing the hatchet back up off the counter and try to throw it at me injuring me, and I never actually did point my gun at him I drew it and just made sure he knew I had it
Q.12) What did you say to the 911 operator? And what did they tell you to do while you were waiting for the police to arrive?
Kris: I told the police operator that I had my concealed carry permit and had someone trying to rob me at my work with a hatchet and they told me they had police on the way and had me start describing him to them.
Q.13) How long was it until the cops showed up to arrest him?
Kris: It took a total of about 5 minutes before police got to the store but right before they had shown up he had taken off running out of the store and up the street.
Q.14) What did the cops say when they first arrived, did they immediately arrest him?
Kris: The cops took off up the street looking for him as more showed up and started asking me what had happened and their typical protocol.
Q.15) I bet you were excited to call your boss and tell ‘em what a hero you had been for stopping an armed robbery in the store, How did that conversation go?
Kris: I actually wasn’t really excited about calling my store manager but had to for protocol and I had woken up the store manager since it was 1 o’clock in the morning and they didn’t realize what I was saying until we had got off the phone and then they called back freaked out and in a hurry trying to get to the store.
Q.16) What reason did the owner’s give for firing you?
Kris: I had broke the company policy and they couldn’t make exceptions and I understood that and don’t hate them for that I guess I’m more upset that they don’t allow you to protect your life in a life or death situation.
Q.17) Has anyone else offered you a new job yet?
Kris: I had got offered a couple jobs after I had done an interview with someone but had to decline the offer because of the issue of me not being able to drive and only taking public transportation to get from point A to point B.
Q.18) How are you buying the things you need to survive? Food, rent…etc?
Kris: I had one last check so I was able to pay my portion of rent and get food but had to start looking for jobs right away.
Q.19) I see there is a Go Fund Me page set up in your honor to help with those things, but I bet you’d rather have a job right? What kind of job will you be looking for now?
Kris: Yes and yes I would much rather be working and ideal job for me I really don’t know just anything that I can do and pay the bills mostly If I could choose any job it would be something with working with and around guns though.
I personally think because there is so much support out there for you, that someone should start a petition to give to your ex boss to get your job back…would you accept your position back if they offered it to you?
Kris: Yes and no. Yes because I was working a lot and I was making good money, but no because I would still carry my concealed weapon because that possible thing could happen again.
Q.20) You obviously support the 2nd amendment, the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Have you always carried a firearm for protection? Or was this something new for you?
Kris: I knew once I turned 21 that I wanted to get my concealed carry permit and I did about 6 months after turning 21 and yes it was always for my protection.
Q.21) Do you also sport shoot, or hunt?
Kris: I do go up into the mountains with friends and shoot and I would like to get into hunting but I don’t know to many people that hunt so I wouldn’t have many opportunities to be able to.
Q.22) Have you been around guns a lot in your life, with family and so on?
Kris: I have been around guns quite a bit of my life with family and friends owning guns.
Q.23) Most importantly, have you thought about what might have happened if you were not armed on that particular day?
Kris: Yes I have thought about what could have possibly happened that night if I was not armed and I’m glad I was because there was a small chance that I could have been going to the hospital that night with a hatchet sticking out of some part of my body or the worst case not leaving the store alive if he had got me in the right spot with the hatchet .
Q.24) I haven’t asked you about your personal politics, because what happened to you really isn’t political, however I am a bit curious as we get to know you a little bit, are you involved with anything political or pay much attention to politics in general?
Kris: No I honestly don’t understand a lot of politic stuff so I try my best to avoid it.
Q.25) Do you consider yourself more conservative, more liberal or somewhere in the middle?
Kris: I do not know what I would be “classified” as.
Well we here at the RightWay consider you Classified as a Hero!
I think that’s about all the questions I have for today, Thank you so much for taking the time to come and share yourself and your story with us Kris, we really appreciate it, and we appreciate what you did, even sacrificing your job, to stop that robbery.
Kris Follis is a hero, not just to us here at the RightWay, but to his friends, family and many other residents in his town and people all across the country. Please show your support for Kris and donate to his Go Fund Me Page
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