Between gun stores and the internet, gun owners both new and old can learn a lot. Great information is widely available about gun ownership, maintaining firearms and their use in competition, recreation and self-defense. Unfortunately, the quality of that information can vary widely.
Some bits of advice and information that are often repeated are particularly bad. Some of these can cost your life, liberty and or pursuit of happiness.
As a relative newcomer, I’ve been into guns for only about four decades and an instructor for half that. I strive to impart the best and latest information. However, I keep running into a few terrible nuggets of Fool’s Gold that keep getting repeated. These “gems” include:
All you need is one shot.
A handgun fires a peanut-sized projectile at modest velocities. Hollywood accurately depict the real world.
Keep shooting until the threat to innocent life has ended. Then look around you as you “scan and assess” for additional threats.
As my cop friends say, “There is no additional paperwork for firing at least twice if you have to shoot.” In fact, typical training has officers firing at least a controlled pair anytime they discharge their handguns.
Birdshot is all you need for home defense.
Birdshot is great…for hunting birds. If a killer crow attacks you, then yes, use birdshot. On the other hand, for home defense against Mongo the Mauler who has pumped iron in prison for the last ten years? Not so much. Ditto for Mongo’s little brother who couldn’t do a dozen push ups.
Yes, at point-blank range, birdshot works with devastating results. I personally don’t want a bad guy anywhere near that close though. You probably don’t either.
Remember, a bad guy can easily cover 21 feet in 1.5 seconds. Most can cover six feet faster than a person can react, so maintain that reactionary gap.
Distance is your friend. Buckshot (or slugs) will work wonderfully at room-length (and greater) distances, where birdshot will not. Bad guys who take a 12- or 20-gauge load of buckshot or a rifled slug to the chest typically go to the morgue, not the ER.
Soil yourself to show you feared for your life – or to make yourself less attractive as a victim.
Yes, you may lose bowel and bladder control during or shortly after a personal defense encounter. But relying on that to save your life is a crappy plan, pun intended.
Not that long ago, the Illinois State Police under Democrat Governor Pat Quinn recommended women gag themselves and vomit on their attacker. If that isn’t bad enough advice, it also suggested women tell an attacker they had VD or AIDS. (The original ISP website advice has long since been stricken, but is discussed here.)
Illinois gun rights advocates had a little fun with this back in the day:
The sound of a shotgun racking is all you need to scare the bad guys away.
Sure, some describe the sound of a pump action shotgun racking as the “universal sound of peace.” Hollywood has taught everyone world-wide what a shotgun racking sounds like.
Unfortunately, it also telegraphs your possession of a shotgun – and your location to the opposition. Yes, admittedly, more than one miscreant has been “dissuaded” from their unholy acts in this manner. However, this tactic can backfire. Better to retain the element of surprise than give it away.
For safety, don’t carry a gun with a round in the chamber.
Some call this “Israeli” carry. Deadly force encounters usually happen very quickly. Even the best practitioners need a minimum of 1.5 seconds or more to draw from concealment from a cold start. Do you really want to add in another second to rack the slide?
Even eighty-year-old men with bad joints can cover 21 feet in 1.5 seconds. How long will the 17-year-old hoodlum take when he’s charging you with a knife, club or other weapon? Ditto for the snarling pit bull or rottweiler with bad breath and an even worse demeanor.
You may not even have a spare hand with which to rack your slide if you’re dragging your beloved wife or daughter out of a bad situation and need that gun at the same time. Then there’s the noise of racking the slide, announcing to the world that you have a gun and have just loaded it.
It makes for good Hollywood drama, but not good tactics. If you can’t keep your cotton pickin’ finger off the bang switch, then get more training.
A .22 LR bullet will “bounce around” inside a bad guy.
Yes, the venerable .22 LR round is a classic. It’s outlawed by the Geneva Convention as too deadly, some have told me. Why? Because a .22 bounces around inside a human body/skull, inflicting horrific damage.
If you believe that, I’d like to introduce you to my Uncle Joe for more great firearms advice…
Anything Joe Biden says
Joe Biden served in the role of useful idiot for his eight years as Vice President during which he dispensed sage self-defense advice like — “Ladies, get a double barrel shotgun.”
Slow Joe famously suggested firing a shotgun through a door to keep people away. He also advocated firing a couple of rounds off the balcony to scare off intruders.
Don’t be like Joe.
You don’t even have to aim a shotgun.
This one is true…if you don’t care what you hit. A shotgun blast at personal defense distances isn’t nearly as big as most people think.
If you discharge that shotgun in self-defense, you stand liable for each and every one of those pellets. It would behoove you to aim carefully. Know your target and what is beyond it is one of the four rules of gun safety.
Shoot the bad guy in the leg or arm.
Or shoot the gun out of their hand! Once more, Hollywood has infected the minds of a lot of good people. The Lone Ranger could shoot the gun out of a bad guy’s hand without even aiming. You can’t. Nor should you try.
The A-Team got themselves out of trouble by simply shooting in the general direction of bad actors without ever hitting anyone. (Some say that’s because of the sometimes notorious inaccuracy of their Mini-14 rifles, but that’s another post entirely.)
Aim for the center of the exposed mass of the target. That’s the largest, easiest target when you’re under stress. Shoot until the threat has ended.
If the bad guy falls outside the door or window, drag them back inside.
Really? You think today’s crime scene investigators or prosecutors (or members of a jury) are going to buy that? Tampering with a crime scene will make you look very guilty.
If it’s too dark for you to see the sights, it’s too dark for you to identify the target.
This is why we install luminous night sights on our defensive firearms (including long guns). People move and lighting changes in dynamic situations. Have a plan and be prepared for whatever conditions you might find yourself in.
And perhaps the “best” (worst?) for last . . .
We have cops to protect us, you don’t need a gun.
Okay, TTAG readers, what are some of the worst tips you have encountered in the wild?
This post was originally published in 2017.