LarryP wrote:Gunfight Rules
In a gunfight, the most important rule...HAVE A GUN
Most important rule...DON'T GET IN ONE
A -- Guns have only two enemies: rust and politicians.
Divorce lawyer, thieves, etc. Lots of things threaten your gun ownership. At the very least lock them up.
B -- It's always better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.
I'd rather be dead than go to prison. I also don't really trust modern society to think critically or intelligently anymore. Call me a pessimist... Not saying I wouldn't shoot if I had to, but when I do there will be no doubt.
C -- Cops carry guns to protect themselves, not you.
No, it's both. Police have on numerous occasions shot suspects to preserve the life of others. Active shooters, hostage takers, domestic terrorists, etc. Comments like this attempt to make people cognizant of their own responsibility to protect themselves, but they serve to expand the rift between police and citizens. You might as well just say "cops don't care about you", which is very much inaccurate.
D -- Never let someone or something that threatens you get inside arm's length.
I won't beat the reactionary distance horse, as it's a subjectively applicable concept. All I will say is that in MN you have a duty to retreat. Be careful about how you react before you make a visible concerted effort to back away or "retreat". A defensive shove could be the straw that breaks the camel's back for the assailant, and you likely have no idea who you are going to be fighting. Having a mentality that you will stand your ground will also get you hurt if you don't have the skills or abilities to back it up.
E -- Never say "I've got a gun". If you need to use deadly force, the first sound they hear should be the safety clicking off.
Imagine if a witness was being interviewed after you shot some thug. The witness says to the investigator, "I heard the guy with the gun yell loudly 'get away, I have a gun! I don't want to shoot you!' and the other guy just kept coming at him". I'm sure that would look much better in front of a jury than the witness saying "I saw the guy with gun just pull out his gun and shoot the other guy. The other guys was just standing there."
F -- The average response time of a 911 call is 23 minutes; the response time of a .357 magnum is 1400 feet per second.
Assuming it's legal to shoot. Average response time is also dependent upon the situation and the jurisdiction. You also have to consider whether you are intending to call 911 after retreating, or intending to call 911 while foolishly holding your ground. Sometimes perhaps exercising the better part of valor and retreating is the ideal THIRD OPTION that nobody talks about.
G -- The most important rule in a gunfight is: Always win. A gunfight is a deadly struggle.
There is no such thing as a fair fight, so cheat if necessary.
Jeff Cooper was very well known for saying that if you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck. He also said this to the FBI during a shooting event where he embarassed their better shooters. He was pointing out that winning a gunfight required the winner to be willing to do whatever is necessary to get hits on target while not getting hit themselves. Jeff Cooper was also a very big advocate of conflict avoidance and situational awareness, and how the most important thing was not getting into a gunfight.
H -- Make your attacker advance through a wall of bullets. You may get killed with your
own gun, but he'll have to beat you to death with it, because it will be empty.
I very much agree with this, but not because people should be doing magdumps. People tend to have a "square range" mentality they will serve up a couple shots and then take themselves out of the fight to assess the target and admire their shots. The ideal response is to shoot until the threat stops, and to use an adequate load that will do what you want it too. You can lay down a wall of bullets, but if you're shooting .25ACP at someone who is wearing body armor, it's time to stop shooting harder and try shooting smarter. You should know concepts like failure drills and non-standard response shooting.
I -- If you're in a gun fight: If you're not shooting, you should be loading. If you're not
loading, you should be moving. If you're not moving, you're dead.
Agreed, but make sure that you can shoot while moving. Most people practice shooting on the move from slow pace. How many actually practice it at the speed they'd likely be moving?
J -- In a life and death situation, do something. It may be wrong, but do something!
Don't be the guy that didn't plan ahead. Have a plan to react to every situation. Know where every exit is, know who are the regulars in an area and how appears out of place, know what your own capabilities and limitations are. Put yourself into a position where you can react based on pre-developed mindset or knowledge. If you do enough learning, you can quickly and effectively think your way through all situations by putting similar concepts together to form a working strategy. Understand that if you are willing to do something wrong, you haven't been doing enough planning and preparation.
K -- If you carry a gun, people may call you paranoid. Nonsense! If you have a gun, what
do you have to be paranoid about?
Unknown dangers. You can't defend yourself against unknown/unseen dangers. a gun doesn't make you invincible.
L -- You can say 'stop' or any other word, but a large bore muzzle pointed at someone's
head is pretty much a universal language.
What about when you don't have the legal ability to shoot them?
M -- Never leave an enemy behind. If you have to shoot, shoot to kill. If you end up in
court, yours will be the only testimony.
What about in today's world of cell phone video and public and private serveillance video systems? Good luck explaining your story if it doesn't match exactly 100% to the video, even if that video is only a snippet that didn't capture the whole incident.
N -- You cannot save the planet, but you may be able to save yourself and your family.
If you have to be told to save your family, you're a lost cause. That said, saving your life or familiy is a far better mindset to have than standing your ground to a bad guy for reasons of bravado.