The headline above comes from reader Ryan C in response to this [via nytimes.com]: “When the first shots of automatic gunfire burst out, Raju, a member of a local gun club, was waiting in line in a bank at the Westgate shopping mall.
He crouched down, pulled out his phone and feverishly pecked out a text message: ‘I am inside and I can confirm this is not a robbery.’ Within minutes, his fellow gun club members, neighborhood watch volunteers, off-duty police officers and other armed Samaritans rushed to the mall.
They found no command center, no SWAT team — in short, no coordinated government response as heavily armed Islamist militants shot civilians at will.
Waiting for the police is a viable, indeed desirable strategy during a violent attack. Grab friendlies, hole-up in a safe space, assume a defensive position and wait for the cavalry to show up. If that’s doable, do it. It’s a lot better self-defense strategy than engaging the bad guy(s) and risking life and limb.
Provided it is. And even if it is, a defensive strategy has an expiry date. At some point, something will happen. The bad guys will go away, pretend to go away or attack—perhaps before help arrives. Cops can take a lifetime to arrive. They can go to the wrong address. They can go to the right address, look around and leave.
In a defensive gun use, in a defensive position, you need a plan B. What do I do next? When do I do it? How do I do it? What should other people with me (where applicable) do? More than that, you need to revise your plan constantly, in accordance with what’s going on around you. Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. Repeat. Even when “acting” means waiting.
One more thing: don’t assume the good guys will win. A cop or cops can show up and lose a gunfight with the bad guys. Then what? Then the stakes are even higher. What are YOU going to do?
The rebellious daughters of Moms Demand Action inadvertently brought about the safest school in the world.
Wait, Congress wasn’t passing budgets very often back in the mid-90s either. I like the idea of a partial shutdown, gets rid of all the things that aren’t needed. Cut the fat off the meat.
When defending yourself against a GIANT be sure to aim for the noggin’ or the nuts! Now let’s practice class.
Yes, the classic gun-gear-head question that drives traffic.
Next it will be about .40 vs .45 vs. 9m. Oh wait that was last week.
The real answer is:
Whatever you PRACTICE with enough to hit where you aim, including the mental rehearsal and practice of all the steps leading up to pulling the trigger.
Like the guy with the first time shooters- yes, the smaller person not going to do well with an 870. But that begs the question- that is NOT the “you”, implied here-
The “you” is the AI, responsible enough to practice enough to be able to hit what you aim at, after:
FIRST considered the elements of legal use of force, and when to shoot-
AND making the 911 call,
AND issued the warning- I am armed and will shoot unless you leave immediately.
AND practiced enough to move thru the house, with lights on, or weapon light, to ID the target, so you dont shoot:
your drunken teenager sneaking in late from their first kegger,
or
your kids buddies on a sleep-over, after toilet-papering friends house…
or
the neighbors kid sneaking in to steal an Ipod –
cops say 70 percent of residential burglaries are those…
AND you have ‘gamed’ your movement thru the house to clear rooms,
and where to shoot, so you DONT find yourself shooting thru the wall where
wife and kids are in bedroom other side,
or
neighbors across the apartment hall,
or
the family 40′ away in next lot of the suburban stick-built with drywall tract house.
AND put in the range time to hit 10 out of 10 in the pie plate at the max range indoors,
then the relatively minor differences between pistol, shotgun, and rifle come into play.
Well I must be one of the lucky ones then. Just bought a SIG1911 (TacPac) manufactured this past June. I have only experienced two FTLs in 500 rounds fired. Three types of ammo and four brands of mags were used. I purposely let the pistol get very dirty to test reliability. No issues. If it truly is a crap shoot with SIG, I won big on this one. It runs and is more accurate than my other 1911, and all this despite the flat spring and external extractor. No “jamomatic” here. Great pistol worth the price.
I purchased this pistol for my wife. She
said it was to big for her hands. I ended up buying her a Bersa UC 9mm Pro.
I inherited the S&W SD9VE. I liked it so much I bought another and call them the twins. 🙂 excellent review.
since this is about the UK…
It must be a Sex Pistol