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Mugging at the point of a gun that's protruding skywards (8,2)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sticking up

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'mugging' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with ownership as well as being present participle verbs.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'the point of a gun that's protruding skywards' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
'point' could be 's' (South) and 's' is present in the answer.
an anagram of 'gun' is 'ngu' which is within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'at' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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