winnie_the_pooh wrote:In some situations,running away is not an option.If you have a family member who would also be in danger,you simply can not take to your heels.I would imagine that you would work out both the scenarios,one where you can put some distance between you and the assailant and two,where you stand your ground.
Also,what if the assailant is a better runner than you?
Winnie, obviously there are some situations where you cannot retreat. Pulling the handgun is a last resort. No one knows how one will react in a situation like that. It is a quandry that a law abiding citizen has to struggle over. I'm not trying to be patronizing as this is an issue I have struggled over myself. I have no desire to harm anyone else but I have an even greater desire to not be harmed myself (and I don't want my loved ones harmed either). If one's situational awareness fails and one allows oneself to get into a situation like the one in the above video, you don't have many choices left. I don't know how I would react to that situation till it happens but I can try to prepare.
All my instructors in every self defense class have suggested that you have to be alert all the time. Look around constantly, ahead and behind you and watch the sides. Keep you gun hand free and get ready when you see a possible threat. Cross the street if you feel you could get ganged up on on your side of the sidewalk. Stop or slow down so you have time to react to the threat. Many times when would be muggers see you are alert, they will change their minds.
A couple of years ago, my daughter, who knew my love for the Monty Python shows bought tickets for the two of us to see the play "Spamalot". We went to downtown Minneapolis and having some time to kill before the show, we took a walk down the street to look at the shops etc,. Minneapolis is a strange town. At times and you can go to a different block and the the nature of the neighborhood can change drastically. We were not paying much attention and all of a sudden the hair stood up on the back of my neck and I got real alert. About 25 to 30 feet away was a group of individuals dressed in rapper-like clothes and they were eyeing us (all of them) and the area was almost deserted. I got a jolt of adrenaline and everything became real sharp and slowed down. I eased my hand under my shirt and gripped the butt of my 9mm. I had my hand on my daughter'S arm and I pulled her to a stop. As soon as my eyes met the eyes of the guy in the front of the group, I could see his eyes change and he looked away. Maybe it was my imagination but they seemed to lose interest when I put my hand on the gun. Keep in mind that no one could see the gun as it was still under my shirt but they knew what the move meant. We crossed the street right there in the middle of the block and went back towards the more populated neighborhood. I have no idea what warned me but I could feel the chill when the adrenaline hit. After that I try to be a lot more alert when I am on foot, especially when I have a family member with me.
Re: My previous post about the Tueller drill; Tueller was a law enforcement Officer and his tests and results were meant for the benefit of other LEO's. They do open carry and being exposed more than the average citizen to the dregs of society are more likely to find themselves in a situation like that. However, it is still possible for a law abiding citizen to find themselves in a bad spot. It takes time to draw from concealment. Many of us will not or cannot open carry like a police officer. Trying to draw from an inside the waistband holster and fire accurately at an assailant charging at you is not easy. To do it in 1.5 seconds is very tough without practice, a lot of practice. Practice will ingrain the movements into your muscle memory. Drawing the gun is a last resort, when no other option will succeed. How do we make that determination? Only you can decide that but if you go as far as drawing, you'd better be prepared to use it.
Shoot for his legs? the chances of missing are far more than a body shot .I think this test is childish the shooter isn't moving no one carries a gun like that and fortunately at present we don't have a lot of people who run at people with knife just like that and people don't go around carrying knives in hand they also have to draw or pull a knife.having a firearm in self defense is not enough most of the times but its your fitness level that will take you long way.
You are correct. The chances of missing the legs in a situation like that is extremely easy. The test, however, is not childish. It is based on the Tueller drill and was formulated by a serving police officer based on his real life experiences. If however you do draw, you'd better be prepared to use it without hesitation.
All cops in the US, unless they are undercover or in plainclothes, carry their guns in a similar way to that shown in the video.
I have seen a man with drawn revolver getting slapped hell out of him.
In that case I would say that he wasn't prepared to use it after drawing. Do that with the intention of brandishing it to scare your opponent and you're guaranteed to get it taken away from you (by a more determined individual). Taking a gun away from an individual who is determined to use it is a different matter altogether. Anyone trying that will most likely get shot.
That reminds me of an anecdote. It is quite common for the anti-gun people to make an argument that you shouldn't carry as it will get taken away from you and then used against you. A few years ago, in one Twin Cities class, they brought in a martial arts expert who knew many ways to disarm a person with a gun. She said that if you pull a gun on her, she would take it away. The instructor replied that if it was so easy to take a gun away from someone, he would just take it right back
. Anyway, she tried and with a simunition gun, against the instructor , she got shot every time. Such is the difference between theoretical experience and practical experience.