When TTAG’s resident war hero and gun reviewer Jon Wayne Taylor draws a gun, finding cover or concealment aren’t his first priority. Eliminating the threat is. He gets off the proverbial X and moves towards the target. That makes sense on a bunch of different levels . . .
For one thing, the bad guy(s) are not going to expect a full-on assault. When facing a lethal threat, speed, surprise and violence of action is a highly effective strategic plan. For another, the closer you get to the target, the less likely you are to miss. (Not missing is the point of a defensive gun use.) That said, there are [at least] two caveats:
One, you’re in a situation where you have to draw your gun. Why do it if you don’t have to? In the video above, the guy on the left keeps arguing even after his enemigo draws a pistol. De-escalation should have been the dish of the day. If the eventual vic could have walked away from the situation, that would have been the optimal solution.
Two, you have time to draw your gun. If you’re about to be shot or stabbed, if the bad guy(s) already have their weapon(s) at the ready, you probably don’t have the time to effectively retrieve and deploy your gun. That time that could be better spent doing other, more effective things. Specifically, attacking or running.
Gun threat
If you’re unarmed — by which I mean you don’t have a firearm in your hand — and facing a gun threat, well, you can’t outrun a bullet, can you? So you have to attack, to buy time to get to your gun. You have to strike the bad guy(s) while not getting shot, then draw your firearm (if possible) and stop the threat.
There are lots of gun disarm videos on the Intertubz. I highly recommend Krav Maga-based techniques, which emphasize simultaneous defense and attack. But keep in mind that all of these YouTube gun disarms start with a firearm within arm’s reach. If that’s not how it goes down for you, you’ll need to do something to get closer before striking. Throw your wallet, pretend to be friendly, something.
Knife threat
“All” you have to do to not get shot is push the gun’s muzzle away from your body. If you’re trying to disarm a knife-wielder, you’ve got to make the bad guy drop his edged weapon (shooting him is pretty effective), make it impossible for him to use it (breaking his arm isn’t a bad idea) or somehow get the knife out of his hands (good luck with that).
Unless you’re a tactical ninja of the first order or you’re with friendlies you can’t abandon, your first priority when facing a knife threat is to GTFO. The good news: most bad guys are not knife throwers. And adrenalin makes you fast as F. So chances are you can successfully run away from a knife.
Again, distraction is an excellent strategy. If you have to strike, strike. And if you stop the threat, don’t forget to check yourself for injuries. And know how to use a tourniquet and or pressure to stop bleeding. But that’s a post for another day . . .