The definition of “cheating” is “lying and stealing.” If a violent criminal threatens you with death, it isn’t cheating for you to respond with “threat in kind” (which I would consider to be “fulfilling your duty to warn”), or even for you to unleash deadly force if the totality of the circumstances warranted it.
Over the years, sometimes as a police officer and sometimes as an armed citizen, I’ve had occasion to draw a gun on dozens of people. I never got in trouble over it because each time, what the person on the other side of the gun was doing absolutely warranted my lawful defensive actions.
The problem is, the attacker is the actor; the defender is the reactor; and action beats reaction.
I dominated those encounters by getting my gun out and on the Bad Guys before they could take control of the action.
My friend Greg Ellifritz is a retired career cop and a master instructor in multiple forms of self-defense. He has an excellent blog I’d recommend you all subscribe to at here. Greg does a weekly segment I consider a “must read” in which he does a “Reader’s Digest” sort of compendium of articles relevant to personal safety and self-defense. He recently included one of my articles titled “The Way of the Weasel.”
You can find that article separately here.
The point in question is that if you perceive yourself or your loved ones to be about to be facing deadly danger, getting ready to defend yourself at the first beginning of that unforgiving threat can make the difference between life and death.
As our friends at the Calibre Press/ Officer Survival Seminars were fond of saying, “It’s preparation, not paranoia.”
Good introduction to the issue. Particularly, “It’s preparation, not paranoia.”
One thing that troubles me about the discussion and literature on self-defense is – what seems to me – to be a preoccupation to be ahead of the cycle of violence. To remain in “Yellow” mode, and the like.
I absolutely see that this is appropriate for soldiers, security guards on-duty, and cops whether on-duty, off-time or retired. All of these professionals are sitting ducks for an attack to take the initiative with extreme prejudice. They must be in “Yellow” mode at all times when they are not in a safe-zone such as in the home or a convention of cops.
But I think of myself as a semi-serious amateur. And, I see our audience as never striving to achieve even semi-serious amateur status. If we are to win the war with gun-controlers, we need to identify with and cater to the sensibilities of this audience. How do we do this?
It’s not going to be preaching to the choir. To address the devout who go to mass daily; or, at least every Sunday. I.e., we can’t address this audience as though we admonish them to practice at least monthly for the rest of their lives. As though they need to take a training course every couple of years to keep their skills fresh.
We certainly do NOT want to tell them that they CAN BE CONFIDENT that they will prevail if they take just a single course such as NRA’s Personal Self-Defense Outside the Home.
Instead, we need to tell them what they can do to anticipate the scenarios they will MOST LIKELY face, if any at all. That’s probably not a bush-wack scenario. It is more likely an “interview” scenario that they can reasonably expect to see developing if they are just a little bit aware of the signs and signals.
And, then, how best to respond. What sort of carry holster and clothing will enable them to present arms quickly enough to “fail” the interview. How to get a gun out of a purse and into a pocket in time to be ready if the person they see in a parking lot is really intent on assault.
We need to remember that most – the vast majority of – gun self-defense scenarios end successfully without a shot being fired. They end at about the point of presenting arms. Therefore, most of what we talk about in training and practice isn’t the thing that is critical to this audience of the non-serious amature. What is important is to bring a gun to the assault.
And, getting this ought to be our objective. To deliver a message to the masses of non-gun-owners and non-serious gun owners to bring a gun to the assault. And then these will then be with us in the fight to defend the 2A.
My sensei’s spirit animal is a weasel.
On an entirely unrelated matter, I have found that two tungsten AR buffer weights taped together (with or without a 1616 battery to provide a few minutes of power) fit in the same space as a CR123A battery in some weapon lights, adding 3 ounces of recoil resistance to the underside of a railed handgun. But for the record I did NOT employ that device for my Quad Speed Pistol Qualification run of 296/300 in June. Perhaps I should’ve done so. T’was the one-handed rapid fire that was my undoing.
Back on topic: Mas makes a point that rings home with me. Spot the indicators of impending attack and then take action—prep or even start your counter move. I learned during simulation training that I was, in the interest of not appearing to be the aggressor, waiting longer than advisable to get my hand on my gun when faced with an aggressor who was clearly working himself up into a violent frenzy. Also, remember to move to cover or at least change your position, especially if he looks away from you before he draws a weapon. It complicates his targeting solution.
The breakdowns of the drawstroke are great to think about. One apsect I’ve not seen mentioned is about the draw itself. I don’t pretend to know anything worth teaching, but it occurred to me years ago, the act of the removal of the pistol from holster once purchase of the hand on the grip is sound, generally elicits a “shoulder hunch” as the larger deltoids of the arm get their way. I have found that intentionally blading the body slightly which moves the gun around to the back slightly allows the actual draw and arm movement to be hidden by the torso. That’s certainly not a new idea, but using only the arm (bicep?)to lift the pistol while concentrating on keeping the shoulder static creates a little more visual magic than hunching the shoulder upward to draw. It’s the removal of a small visual clue to the perpetrator which could buy prescious micro seconds until presentaion became apparent. Practice in a mirror clearly shows how “weaselly” this detail can be. Just never seen it discussed before. As usual, slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
That’s a great observation and good advice on technique: practice the “bladed” surreptitious drawstroke, without hunching the shoulder, if you want to avoid appearing threatening while getting gun in hand. This would be good to use when the pre-attack indicators are ambiguous, that is, suspicious but not conclusively indicative of attack.
But, your choice to use this method depends upon circumstance: there may be a time when you want to send a clear signal that you are prepared to respond strongly to any attack. I recall Jeff Cooper’s tale of adopting the Hollywood gunfighter’s stance once when, unarmed himself at the moment and in a foreign country, he faced a group of young men who were eying him in a predatory manner. They turned and fled.
After several right shoulder surgeries and radiation treatment to same, my orthopedic surgeon (a shooter himself), suggested cross-draw to me due to reduced mobility to draw cleanly from 4:00 waist.
When drawing from cross-draw waist carry, I blade my left side to the attack which lets me get my pistol out and pointed at the threat under the covering garment while I bring it up to sight line.
I use a Wild Bill’s paddle for waist carry, they are designed for strong side, but work quite well for cross-draw.
Have one for almost every pistol I own.
I also like shoulder holster carry, especially for large frame handguns, as more comfortable, with better balanced weight distribution.
I have a Galco VHS for 1911 and revolvers, and an old old old Jerry Ahern nylon shoulder rig for BHP and smaller.
One old guy I knew recommended carrying two “sleeve guns.” Obviously requires long sleeves & probably derringers or other small handguns. Admittedly pretty quick, all right.
When carrying one larger handgun, I prefer being able to draw with either hand, in case the other is disabled or otherwise out of the fight. Outdoors or in the car I often carry pistol or revolver in a WWII tanker holster, not really a perfect draw with the weak hand, but I can still reach the gun. Reloading a revolver is generally a better one-hand operation than with a semiauto. Tanker is a back-friendly way to tote, removing lateral pressure from the lumbar spine. Also good for wearing safely in one’s sleep, if appropriate. I will sometimes carry a short, spur-less revolver at the very quick middle index position. Semi-auto at index I avoid for trigger safety reasons. I also may resort to cavalry-carry cross-draw, especially with a rider in the front passenger seat. Front trouser pocket tote is maybe the most secure, but often not the fastest draw. Sometimes I will wear one empty extra holster for a ready alternative. I would like to point out that I have survived so far, knock on wood! By the way, have you checked your safeties and loading today? Did you not forget to bring your handgun (s)?
The Way of the Weasel is the way to go!
You must have lived in a bad area.
Cousin was a Co state trooper 26 years. Only once pulled his gun out on anyone. Never fired a shot either.
Cheers!
As an armed citizen, I have drawn a gun 3 times. All involved large dangerous furry things. No shots fired. Which is good because two were protected species and the 3rd was out of season. Came close a couple of times with 2-legged predators but never actually drew. Being a weasel. I think body language and situational awareness were the deterrent.
George D, research has shown that most peace officers never shoot anybody. Other officers will initiate an OIS on their first day of duty. You might call it the luck of the draw! If I were an LEO in certain areas, I would bypass relying on fast draw in favor of carrying my bullpup full-auto AR firmly in hand like a sneaky weasel, behind a large, armored Smoky/Teddy Bear doubling as a sighting platform. In an OIS, I would prefer to shoot first & survive to ask questions later. I would also make sure to carry a cold offensive device to add generously to the scene of a crime in case of a temporary shortage. My trusty body camera would also have a confidential blackout switch connected in series to everybody else’s “all-seeing eye.”
GeorgeLD,
Years ago I remember reading that only 10% of American LEOs even so much as pull their guns out of their holsters during their 20 year careers. OIS are even less frequent.
The “10% ever draw their guns” is bunk. It’s true that probably less than 10% ever actually fire in the line of duty.
Quote of the Day:
“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.”
From ‘The Art of War’ by Sun Tzu
Someone please explain the concept of “duty to warn.” I don’t know where the author lives, but in Texas there is no duty to warn in a self defense situation.
Ross, duty to warn is an ethical principle. For example, if you see someone about to dive into a swimming pool you know is empty, society expects you to shout “Don’t jump! The pool is empty!” Where it applies for armed citizens is when you capture a criminal at gunpoint and the criminal’s lawyer asks you in cross-examination at his trial “So, you admitted you threatened my client with a deadly weapon,” you can honestly respond “Counsel, I fulfilled my duty to warn your client that if he continued his life-threatening behavior I would have to shoot him.”
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