They aren’t easy pushovers. I noticed two different stories about retired military thwarting robbery attempts. Here is the story of a Christian bookstore employee beating up a would be robber:

The night manager of a Christian bookstore foiled an armed robbery by slamming the man’s hand in the cash register drawer, then wrestling with him before he fled, police said. “I didn’t want to hurt him, but if I would’ve gotten a hold of him, I would’ve sent him straight to the Lord,” said manager Daniel Stanton, a 58-year-old retired aerospace engineer who served two tours in Vietnam.

Scottsdale police said the incident happened Tuesday night at the Jesus Chapel Discount Bookstore in south Scottsdale. A scruffy-looking man wearing a black hooded sweat shirt and dark pants entered about 8 p.m., and minutes later approached Stanton with his hand in his pocket, saying he had a gun and demanding money, according to a police report.

“I just backed away and said, ‘The drawer is open,’ Stanton said. “Then, when he showed both of his hands, I just went off on him.”

[…]

“The workers prayed for him,” Stanton said. “We hope he turns his life around.”

(via)

That was a smart way to make sure the guy didn’t have a gun!

And a 70 year old on vacation in Costa Rica killed an armed robber with his bare hands:

An American tourist who watched as a U.S. military veteran in his 70s used his bare hands to kill an armed assailant in Costa Rica said she thought the attempted robbery was a joke — until the masked attacker held a gun to her head.
[…]
Adams was with 12 American tourists who hired a driver to explore Costa Rica for a few hours. They were climbing out of the van to visit a Caribbean beach when three men wearing ski masks ran toward them, she said. One held a gun to her head, while the other two pulled out knives.
Suddenly, one of the tourists, a U.S. military veteran trained in self defense, jumped out of the van and put the gunman in a headlock, according to Limon police chief Luis Hernandez.
Hernandez said the American, whom he refused to identify, struggled with the robber, breaking his collarbone and eventually killing him. Police identified the dead man as Warner Segura, 20. The other two assailants fled.
[…]
“There were two shots and I heard him (Segura) try to fire more, but the gun didn’t fire. Luckily, the tourists had forced his hand up and the shots hit the roof of the bus.”