Will You Use Your CCW If You Are Attacked?

[Gunnchic]

Hello all, here is today's article posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled “Will You Use Your CCW If You Are Attacked?” and can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/will-you-use-your-ccw-when-attacked/.

That's why we practice practice practice!! Dry drawing your firearm at home, at the range and take tactical classes. Especially being female, get COMFORTABLE with your gun, it may just save your life. Carry it away from home and at home...Be safe Be aware

 

[Bassbob]

Dunno if I agree. I live in Chicago and was attacked. I shot him twice with very little thought and no hesitation. He did survive and served 3 out of 6 years but the VINE system recently notified me that he's in an Illinois prison again (no details on his new charges).

Articles like this would be nice to have perspective from people that have actually shot someone so that they are more well rounded in their opinion m

Aqua Teen fan too. Nice.

 

[Mr. Untactical]

I’m a Marine Veteran. What I’ve learned while Serving my Country is that you have to be Violent. Not just “A Little Bit Violent”!
What I’m Saying is This.
When someone Attacks you, you need to Return Violence at a 10!
Right Away!
Violence can be Measured from 1-10.
Once I’ve decided to become Violent…I go STRAIGHT TO TEN. Anything less and you have a Good Chance of being Taken Out of The Fight.

I like this. I don't get involved in physical altercations anymore (and rarely did when I was fit). But when I did, I absolutely went to 10 immediately. I was never a good "fighter" so my only chance was to overcome my opponent quickly. It also brings to mind advice I've heard recently, "Don't go anywhere with a gun that you wouldn't go without one." In other words, I go out of my way to stay out of sketchy areas, regardless of whether I'm carrying or not (and I usually am). But the OP's quote from the Shootist resonates with me. I thought long and hard about this before beginning my concealed carry life. Honestly, I still don't know how I will react if I am ever compelled to draw my firearm in self defense. I hope that 1) It's the very last resort and 2) I don't get mired in philosophical musings that could mean the difference between losing my life or going home to my wife (or successfully defending if she's with me).

 

[Mr. Untactical]

I agree totally. In the Army Infantry we were taught something similar called “violence of action.” When facing a threat and the enemy fight to win. Anything less is…well a total loss.

Getting into a gunfight is no laughing matter, but this GIF sure seems like it would be true in the event it becomes necessary. I just pray I've done a good job of cementing the mental aspects ahead of time, if that time ever comes (and man, I sure pray it never does).

 

[nmedge]

If i had to i would go from 0-60 in the blink of an eye! Take no prisoners.

 

[Palm Coast Bill]

I am retired in FL after 35 years on the job in NY and MA. I always carried up there in more violent areas than down here in Palm Coast, FL. But, times are changing everywhere and I would never want to ever have a regret if I wasn't carrying when the need arose. Remember, life does not usually offer "do overs", especially when violent situations occur! Please carry everywhere as if your life depends on it, because it could!

 

[Bassbob]

I like this. I don't get involved in physical altercations anymore (and rarely did when I was fit). But when I did, I absolutely went to 10 immediately. I was never a good "fighter" so my only chance was to overcome my opponent quickly. It also brings to mind advice I've heard recently, "Don't go anywhere with a gun that you wouldn't go without one." In other words, I go out of my way to stay out of sketchy areas, regardless of whether I'm carrying or not (and I usually am). But the OP's quote from the Shootist resonates with me. I thought long and hard about this before beginning my concealed carry life. Honestly, I still don't know how I will react if I am ever compelled to draw my firearm in self defense. I hope that 1) It's the very last resort and 2) I don't get mired in philosophical musings that could mean the difference between losing my life or going home to my wife (or successfully defending if she's with me).

The older we get the more important this is. Historically I’ve never went out of my way to avoid a fight. When we were young we did it for sport. And I was always good at it. These days I do avoid confrontation. And in the event it cannot be avoided I figure I have about 60 seconds before I start getting winded. So I will be very brutal from the outset. It’s no longer something I look at as sport.

 

[Nitestik]

I like this. I don't get involved in physical altercations anymore (and rarely did when I was fit). But when I did, I absolutely went to 10 immediately. I was never a good "fighter" so my only chance was to overcome my opponent quickly. It also brings to mind advice I've heard recently, "Don't go anywhere with a gun that you wouldn't go without one." In other words, I go out of my way to stay out of sketchy areas, regardless of whether I'm carrying or not (and I usually am). But the OP's quote from the Shootist resonates with me. I thought long and hard about this before beginning my concealed carry life. Honestly, I still don't know how I will react if I am ever compelled to draw my firearm in self defense. I hope that 1) It's the very last resort and 2) I don't get mired in philosophical musings that could mean the difference between losing my life or going home to my wife (or successfully defending if she's with me).

Most confrontations with evil can be avoided by remembering the 4 S’s:

Don’t go to STUPID places with STUPID people that want to do STUPID things at STUPID times of the day. Also, pulling your firearm hoping its visible presence will stop a fight is taking a big gamble. If I am feeling my life or limb is being endangered, when I draw my sidearm I have ALREADY decided to shoot to stop the fight. There will be nothing that will deter me once leather is cleared.

 

[XD94045]

My wife and I had this conversation last week. I told her that I made up in my mind from my days in the Army and as a Police Officer, that I would be comfortable taking the life of another human being in defense of myself and my family. I added that too often, when bullies or those who would do us harm engage, they are expecting us to cower and be victims. This will not be the case for me. Practicing situational awareness, if I encounter foolishness, I will see your foolishness and raise you 10x. While violence is not my first answer, it can get to the top of the list in no time.

Be safe out there friends.

 

[CAPMARINE276]

TL/DR: As law abiding citizens we have inhibitions to overcome and legal considerations that criminals don't have.

I worked as a security guard for 15 years. I would say that probably half of that time I was working downtown and interacting with petty criminals all night long.

I've said this before here but almost every single time that I interacted with one the first words out of their mouth when they realized I was armed were

"What are you going to do, shoot me?"

A couple of them dared me to and I want to clarify that this was just walking up to them with the gun in my holster.

With the exception of clearing buildings I don't think I actually drew my handgun at work more than five times.

I remember two incidents that illustrate the point that I want to make.

The first one was the night that two guys attempted to rob me outside of my home. They did not realize that I was armed until I stepped out from behind my car door and they saw my gun belt. I put my hand on my gun and told them to GTF out of Dodge.

The important part of this is it the whole time this was going on my mind was racing. Am I justified? Can I convince the police that I'm justified? Am I going to go to jail for defending myself? What do I do if these guys don't back down?

I was more afraid of the repercussions if I was wrong then I was of getting robbed except if I had been robbed they would have taken the gun and I would have got fired for that too.

The second incident I was at a substation late one night doing a check. The substation and its parking lot were private property and they were posted "No Trespassing".

As I was getting in my car to leave a tweaker wearing war paint and a bird mask came through the parking lot on his bicycle.

At the far end of the parking lot was a 20 ft drop. So he wasn't passing through. My car was lit from the street lights and he wasn't 3 ft away from it he could not possibly have not known I was there.

I got out of the car and shined my flashlight at him. I want to clarify that it was a handheld flashlight not a WML.

He went absolutely ballistic. He threw down the bike he started screaming at me and he pulled up his shirt and he reached into his waistband and started screaming something about "Do you want to see mine? Do you want to see mine?"

Any reasonable person would have thought he was reaching for a weapon. I had my hand on my gun. I think I actually drew it. And the whole time I'm thinking that if he doesn't come out of that waistband with a gun in his hand I'm screwed. If he does come out of his waistband with a gun in his hand and I shoot him I'm still screwed.

So the main point that I'm trying to make Is both of those times I was constrained by legal considerations that the other guy didn't have.

If I shoot a bad guy in self-defense even if I am 100% justified, life as I know it is over. If the bad guy shoots me, it's just another in a long list of charges If he's even caught.

That is something that I believe most of us are going to have to overcome before we ever have to defend ourselves with a firearm.

Last story, I caught a guy trespassing on utilities private property one morning.

I'm not going to go through the whole story but he threatened to kill me with an ax. While he was looking through his shopping cart to find his ax I got on the radio and I called for police assistance and backup.

I also pulled out my OC spray with my other hand and when he turned around from his shopping cart with his ax I was standing there shaking up my OC spray and telling him to bring it.

He dropped the ax like it was on fire. it was the best result I've ever gotten drawing a "weapon" at work.

Criminals, with some justification, don't believe that you'll shoot them.

They absolutely believe that you'll spray them.

For me on the warrant squad, every day was a gun day , potential car chases( fun)

 

[The Night Rider]

For me on the warrant squad, every day was a gun day , potential car chases( fun)

OK

 

[ChanceMcCall]

Dunno if I agree. I live in Chicago and was attacked. I shot him twice with very little thought and no hesitation. He did survive and served 3 out of 6 years but the VINE system recently notified me that he's in an Illinois prison again (no details on his new charges).

Articles like this would be nice to have perspective from people that have actually shot someone so that they are more well rounded in their opinion m

The problem with this is, most people who have the experience learned a lesson from Charlie Askins. After his unfortunate mistake, almost everyone else who could have written about their personal experiences negated and mitigated their own experiences.

 

[Axperez]

A few years ago after a mass shooting in my town (EL Paso, Tx.) people started the "If I had been there with my gun I would have..." routine. To be honest I don't know if I would have frozen, covered other people's escape, shot and missed, shot and hit, peed or soiled myself, run away, vomited, some combination of the above, and I pray I never find out. I'm not sure how many self-defense shootings, cuttings, or beatings have occurred in the last year here, I'm just grateful I didn't have to use force in self defense, but the year is young.

 

[old but still kicking]

Glad the author mentioned the inevitable legal aftermath cuz it’s an aspect too often overlooked by us ‘gun toting radicals’ !! Guaranteed you WILL be placed in handcuffs or go to the police station for a ‘formal interview’ that’ll be recorded on video for your grand jury hearing or attempted murder/ unlawful discharge/ public recklessness/ unsafe conduct/ littering (the spent casing) take your pick … Now your mind is reeling from the awful choice you were forced to make, your body being in shock will make your mental decisions waaay harder to safely navigate your recall of what led to that scenario no semi well adjusted person thought would truly happen to them,all while you worry ‘am I going to jail’ &/or ‘how can I live with this now it’s really happened’ & 10,000 similar thoughts ripping through your brain cells. The words that leave your lips before, during, & after will have your future freedom weighed by 12 people who don’t know what you went & are going through. Plus, perhaps the current county DA may be looking make a point to further their future political career AT THE EXPENSE OF YOUR FREEDOM.
Massad Ayoob has phenomenal resources addressing these things and more because he has graciously shared his experiences in many gun mags, books he’s penned, and yes, even articles for Springfield Armory. Before I ran across his words, I naively assumed any right thinking person would see things like I did when I pulled the trigger. You don’t want that wake up call AFTER you’re on the wrong side of a jail cell.
I still carry a firearm ( even in sweatpants or shorts ), ..have pepper spray in my truck, .. have a Leatherman & at least one last ditch defense blade on me always so knowing all the things previously mentioned WILL happen to me & my loving family doesn’t stop me from being willing to engage in the ‘violence of action’ to protect loved ones or myself from being assaulted by younger, stronger, faster, more numerous than little old me non-do-gooders.

My very long winded point being that we responsible gun carriers need to have our eyes open to the reality that society now sees us as aberrant nonconformists who should be made an example of for daring to stand up for right & wrong, with wrong being the refusal to BE a victim. Somehow by not knuckling under to getting beat or threatened, we are wrong in our thinking. Maybe that is kinda extreme sounding but reflect how our media, social & news outlets have consistently vilified legal gun owners & manufacturers covertly & overtly. I’ve yet to see kitchen knife manufacturers & wielding users in the press or legal system. 100% agree that being on the wrong side of 50, I’ve not the capability of scrapping with teenagers/more fit thugs so that switch will flip from zero to 10when I’ve no other good option to escape impending harm.
Just be aware it WILL happen if you ‘sent it’ downrange at your perpetrator/s & take steps to mitigate the cost of not being victimized by ‘bad guys’. Just cuz you’re paranoid… doesn’t mean you’re wrong.

 

[Nitestik]

The problem with this is, most people who have the experience learned a lesson from Charlie Askins. After his unfortunate mistake, almost everyone else who could have written about their personal experiences negated and mitigated their own experiences.

“After his unfortunate mistake……..”
What mistake was that?

 

[Allen]

I was a police officer for 12 years and was in a couple shootings. The first was a chase and he as shooting at me with a shotgun as we were driving. Crazy. He stopped and I put two through the back window at this head. I thought I hit him but because he disappeared behind the sea. The shotgun flew out the window and the hands came up. He told me he felt the 230 black Talon go though his long hair. I have video and I still can’t see where my first shot missed. But I had no hesitation. And I did things so fast I could let believe it. From putting the car in park, because I could hear that on the video, taking my seat belt off and firing my first shot outside the car was 3.5 seconds. Never could duplicate it. But it shows that repetition in normal speed can carry over to high speed no thought action. My second shooting I lost and nearly or did die in an alley. Had to be resuscitated three times and lost 18 units of blood in short order. So I’ve been on both sides of the fight. I can say that mindset and stress inoculation prior to a fight is essential. I have no PTSD even though I am in excruciating pain everyday from nerve pain. It truly takes little more than what others have said. Willingness. Read and understand what can happen not only if you when the fight but also what happens if you lose which is a good possibility. We are reacting and are behind the curve from the get to. And one more thing. Be ok with life if you lose. You may have life altering injuries because bullets do nasty things. I was a corporal and it was my first week after being promoted. I’m ok with it because no one on my team had to go through this even though they were all there in the alley when my buddy said I died. So they have their demons. But I did my job and kept my team safe. So I’m good. You may have protected your family by taking the bullets. That’s your reason for doing what you did so be good with the outcome. And when the fight comes “you gotta get plumb mad dog mean”. Josie Wales.

 

[Mr. Untactical]

Most confrontations with evil can be avoided by remembering the 4 S’s:

Don’t go to STUPID places with STUPID people that want to do STUPID things at STUPID times of the day. Also, pulling your firearm hoping its visible presence will stop a fight is taking a big gamble. If I am feeling my life or limb is being endangered, when I draw my sidearm I have ALREADY decided to shoot to stop the fight. There will be nothing that will deter me once leather is cleared.

Agreed. In younger days I can point to almost every instance of being in the wrong place at the wrong time as having resulted from breaking one (or more) of those 'S' rules. My goal is to do everything possible to avoid a fight - especially a gunfight - but if there is no other alternative, I have to be 100% committed to it. That involves being prepared mentally (I think) even more than physically.

 

[Keystone19250]

When I lived in Louisville Kentucky I was targeted 3 times for an attempted car jacking, one time was in a supermarket parking lot where I drew my gun and when the morons saw I was ready to fight they took off. The other two times were at red lights and I saw them in my mirrors and was able to drive through the intersection on the red light to get away.
That being said I’m currently camping on Federal land and being very careful about being seen carrying.

 

[Keystone19250]

I’m a Marine Veteran. What I’ve learned while Serving my Country is that you have to be Violent. Not just “A Little Bit Violent”!
What I’m Saying is This.
When someone Attacks you, you need to Return Violence at a 10!
Right Away!
Violence can be Measured from 1-10.
Once I’ve decided to become Violent…I go STRAIGHT TO TEN. Anything less and you have a Good Chance of being Taken Out of The Fight.

Very well said and right to the point, when your life or those that depend on you for their safety is in jeopardy you have to go all in, nothing halfway.
Anyone that attacks you doesn’t care about you at all so you have to defend yourself with the same mindset.

 

[Bassbob]

When I lived in Louisville Kentucky I was targeted 3 times for an attempted car jacking, one time was in a supermarket parking lot where I drew my gun and when the morons saw I was ready to fight they took off. The other two times were at red lights and I saw them in my mirrors and was able to drive through the intersection on the red light to get away.
That being said I’m currently camping on Federal land and being very careful about being seen carrying.

Not a bad idea, but in case you didn't know and for your own peace of mind, state carry laws apply on federal land, just not in federal buildings.

https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/resources/federal-ccw-law/other-federal-locations/#:~:text=Yes%2C%20without%20a%20permit%20for,a%20permit%20is%20not%20required.