Hello, James
That was an excellent article by H.H. (Situational Awareness, Instincts and “Wargaming”.) I would like to add to his points one additional. Many people who carry for protection don’t get taught one of the golden rules of self defense tactics. That golden rule is this: Picture yourself having squared off with a would be assailant. You get to the point of having pulled your firearm out and aligned in the threat’s direction. If the would-be assailant moves, you move. He takes 4 steps to your right, you take some steps in the opposite direction. By moving if he moves, you accomplish several things:
1. You maintain that safe gap / reaction time to do what is necessary;
2. You maintain equal footing by not letting it dictate the the terms. If he’s trained in criminal ways, you just told him you know how to handle this situation. He might back off or seriously hesitate at this point. Consider the other article posted on SurvivalBlog re: criminal gang members getting free training from Uncle Sam’s military, by the LEO in Chicago. Your assailant just might have some excellent training under his belt.
3. You don’t allow the subject to gain an advantage by assaulting you from the direction he chooses. Imagine him circling to get the sun in your eyes, circling to get your back to his associates, moving in a way to put him in between you and your kids / wife / fill in the blank. A quick assessment of the situation will provide you with instant feedback of your planned route. If said subject moves in a direction of your kids and you move to that gap to block him and he chooses to get danger close, he made that decision, not you. Articulating in court that you feared for your kids’ life is part of the justification to use that firearm.
4. You avoid falling prey to the Folsom roll. Get training on how to aim that firearm. Don’t be so focused on that front sight so much that if he makes a quick duck down and sprint at you from an angle, you lose the subject momentarily. He is coming at you fast. How long does it take to get that front sight back on target? The answer to that depends on your level of training / ability. For the un-trained, 21 feet is all he needs and by then he’s on top of you. Being tactically sound / aligning your sights properly for the situation takes training. You must look over the firearms’ front sight to keep an eye out on what the target is doing. LEOs are trained in this, and so should you. For any nonbelievers, think about this: when I was younger, I could do a 40-yard sprint from a stand still position in about 4.8 seconds, and even faster going down hill. (That’s not a joke, an assailant could attack from higher ground, see point #3). That’s not fast by athletic standards but it is in this situation. How fast can a motivated physically capable assailant cover 21 feet? Pretty quickly. It’ll seem even quicker if it’s night time. This leads to teh question: Which self defense tool do you have? A handgun? this is not an easy shot. Shotgun? it’s an easier shot but then again it depends on barrel length, semi auto / single shot, type ammo (00 buck, slugs, other) and your level of training. Rifle? There are too many rifles to cover. You get the idea.
H.H.’s scenario involved a small caliber handgun. If his scenario ended up with pulling the trigger with his first gun, it may not have stopped the guy. That 9mm may not have stopped him either. It would depend on shot placement and type of rounds used. The smaller the caliber the more critical shot placement becomes. But a miss with any caliber is still a miss. I don’t know of any U.S. police departments that still issue 9 millimeter [chambered pistols]. There is a reason for this. They are not dependable man stoppers. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be shot by a 9mm or anything else, but I do intend to fight to win. Winning a gun fight means you don’t get a scratch. Not tht other guy lost but that you still took some lumps and survived. Possibly serious lumps.
Good luck, I hope this helps. – Flhspete