http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpDXHo6rPtM&feature=plcp

You’d think Ruger would have enough money to invest in a set of decent hubcaps. Maybe even Ruger-branded hubcaps. Luckily, Ruger’s invested in some major league gun gurus. In this episode of how-to-itude, Dave Spaulding advises gun owners to let slip the dogs of war, when canine relinquishing is the order of the day. Dave reckons “confidence in your skills” is the key to unleashing your inner Chuck Norris. I’m not so sure. Fighting is mainly instinct, automatic (if trained) responses and op fam (operational familiarity). Truth be told, I worry that I won’t be up to the task of instant-on maximum violence. One of the reasons I like carrying a gun. What about you? Are you ready to get it on like Donkey Kong? [PS Always make sure your gun is loaded before carrying.]

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82 COMMENTS

      • like.

        The one thing that I always consider is whether we are
        close enough to the door to exercise our Right to
        evacuate, rather than to have to put that bad dog down.

        There can be repurcussions, to our valid actions, such
        as the involvement of lawmen, or, lawyers. And, the
        Sheriff’s sale of that perp’s property to satisfy our
        huge legal award… Yeah, when I walk away, it is
        for the benefit of some anti-social stupid cretin.

  2. Three things win a fight: Speed. Surprise. Violence of Action. Get inside his OODA loop and cause mayhem until the threat is stopped, either when he retreats, you get the opportunity to retreat or one or more of you is no longer able to continue the fight. Survival is a primal instinct that separates animals from rocks. Act like it.

    • It is the will to engage (to commit completely) to do the things you mentioned (speed, surprise, violent action). To decide to fight or not to fight is what separates because that indecision will affect the speed, surprise, and the lack of violent action.

  3. Yes.

    What, you want more of an answer than that?

    You should always be old-school courteous, considerate, and polite; even to rude people. ….Right up until your safety and health (or that of those under your care) is threatened. As soon as that happens, all consideration for the attacking individual goes away and you *end* the threat. Period. That’s all there is too it.

    The instant the threat is ended, you go back to the previous behavior – up to and including first aid for your former-attacker, assuming such is still needed and can be delivered without reintroducing the threat (some not-insignificant caveats).

  5. Of the people that answer yes can you please date the last time you were in a non weapon based fight. A lot claim to have that warrior ethos, but an overwhelming number of adults have not been in a violent confrontation since elementary school.

    • The last time I used hands on violence against another human being, note I specified human, I fractured his skull and broke several other bones in his body. I was not charged with a crime nor was I sued. He survived and beat feet as soon as he was released from the hospital. I will not go into more specifics than that.

      But to answer the question, yes I will fight and fight dirty to protect me and mine.

    • Fair question Jamaal; what started me in carrying a weapon was when a human predator tryed to mug me by faking having a gun in his pocket; we ended up fighting. I’d had years of martial art training as well as extensive weight training; he was a good street fighter; I won bearly. If I had had a gun; I definitely would have used it because he was seriously trying to hurt if not kill me. I was pretty bruised and my nose was fractured.
      I found that my training really kicked in during the fight without thinking about it; I have no doubt my firearm training would kick in if I was in another self-defense situation.

    • As a man well trained in hand to hand self defense, I concur with this gentleman 100%. I’ve been in 2 very close calls in the past 10 years (not so much lately as I don’t frequent bars as much anymore). Had either one of these situations continued down the road it was headed, there’s no doubt in my mind how they would have ended.
      I believe that both situations were diffused (thankfully) by my opponents understanding that although I was not at all anxious to get into a fight, I had ABSOLUTELY NO fear or hesitation. As the man said, confidence in your training is crucial. Confidence in your reflexes.
      When you train, you’ll not only get more proficient at what it is you’re doing, but you’ll also learn to trust yourself and your ability to do whatever it is you training for. BTW, this applies to any field of study, whether it’s h2h, weapons, or baking cookies.

      It’s all about practice people. Intense, intelligent practice.

      bugs

    • Yea I can. 8 yrs ago a drink in Wal Mart didn’t like the fact that my 16 yr old son had a ponytail. I asked he gentleman 3 times to leave us alone. We paid for our stuff and not knowing the police had been called he grabbed my son by his ponytail and yanked him backwards.
      I swung a bag full of tomato paste cans at him striking him in the side of the head. He let go and I put 2 roundhouse kicks into his ribs and 2 in the side of his knee. He was in hospital for 3 weeks recovering from the surgery to put pins in his knee and a plate in his skull.
      I regret having to use that level of violence but you don’t mess with my family. And before you ask yes I was legally carrying but wasn’t going to use it in that store front unless it was the last recourse.
      He survived and got 15 yrs for assault and battery, attempting to cause grevious bodily harm and injury to a minor.
      No parole because of the severity of his crime.

      • Don’t believe it. This is the kind of BS that gets told to wide eyed karate students so the instructor can trick their parents into thinking their $120 a month tuition costs is teaching their kids real fighting skillz omg.

        Real fighting stories don’t play out like scenes from the Karate Kid.

      • I smell a ‘rat’ in your story. You are talking about five ‘death’ blows, each one ending the fight (somebody would have to be holding the dude up while you continued your ninja moves). You would be in jail for such a barrage because pulling a ponytail aint a life or death thing. And then you say they gave him 15 years? No parole for the severity of the crime? You deserve 6 months house arrest for such a tall (pony) tail.

      • Was your son seriously harmed? If not, you’re basically describing simple assault, simple battery, and harassment. Because a minor was involved, you may be able to go to aggravated assault / battery, depending on state law, which tend to be felonies.

        Unless he’s a person with a history of violent felonies, I don’t see a 15 year sentence for ANY combination of those.

        I’m also suspect about your wonder technique. I’m not saying it’s not possible, but I am saying that fights rarely go that well and end that one-sided.

    • Date? Not a chance. I’ll set the stage for you, though. A guy (pretty drunk) was lighting off his mouth in an on-base bar I was at. Tossing around all kinds of, shall we say, racially-charged terms. Someone let him know, “Hey, Moonshine’s wife is [racial expletive deleted]. You might wanna keep your voice down.” He saunters (stumbles) over to me. Gets in my face, too, hollering “Hey! I heard you’re a [racial expletive deleted]-lover! That true?!” I calmly replied that my wife was, indeed, a mongoloid. “Well, whatcha gonna do about it?” I sighed and set down my beer. He charged me and missed with two wonderfully sweeping punches. I put my elbow into his jawbone, maybe a bit too hard. He spent a night getting his jaw wired back together and six weeks eating through a straw. I got a Letter of Reprimand (see: Toilet Paper). I’m only telling this story because you asked; I have no desire to play the “whose e-dick is bigger” game.

      • +1

        I’m in an interracial relationship and if someone referred to my fiancee that way I would not be a pleasant person.

        • Please don’t misunderstand. I can take verbal abuse all day, all night, and into the next morning. I know; I’ve seen me do it. Do not mistake an abundance of patience for an unwillingness to defend myself or my family, though.

      • You didnt hit the dude a bit too hard…..you did not hit him hard enough. He almost sounds like a cartoon character. Who the hell talks that way to somebody they dont even know? Did you and he have some kind of history before the incident?

        • No history. As I said, he was pretty drunk. I heard later on via word-of-mouth (incidentally, the best way to get info on a military base so long as you verify the source) that he’d had a bad time of it with his off-base girlfriend earlier in the evening.

        • His girlfriend became the least of his problems after 6 weeks of sucking you food through a straw. All is well that ends well.

  6. I’m ready to commit violence if need be. I’ve helped train people in the legal application of force, criminal apprehension, and self defense.

    I’m not so ready to get sued – especially wrongfully sued. Life definitely sucks that way. The Zimmerman incident comes to mind as a realistic worst – case scenario. Still, you can only prepare for death threats if you are still alive.

  8. This is one of the reasons why I carry concealed with one in the chamber ready to go as well as keeping a gun handy in every room of my home.

    It is hard to train for every type of DGU you may run into and most gun ranges only allow slow-fire, static-upright-shooting.

    No kneeling, no prone position, no running or movement of any kind while on the firing line.

    It is understandable because of the lawsuit-happy people out there gun ranges try to limit their losses, but it sure makes training hard for those of us that do not have the square acreage needed to practice with gun-n-run, shoot houses, and broken terrain movement.

  9. “And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy My brothers.”

  10. Without a doubt yes! As so many have said before me I have down this road before. I too carry legal concealed and use as a last resort. when it comes to me and my family, nothing will stop me from protecting them!

  11. I know that it’s pretty cliche at this point but I’ll say it anyway; If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck.

    It can’t be overstated; surprise, speed and violence of action. If it’s go time, you have to go for broke. Playing pat-a-cake could well get you and/or yours maimed or killed. If you can evade or escape, all the better. If you can’t, give it everything you’ve got as quickly as possible, then create distance and assess. You owe your assailant absolutely nothing; not compassion, not pity, not humanity, not sympathy or empathy, and certainly not the benefit of the doubt. If someone so egregiously violates the human compact so as to do you grievous harm through no fault of your own, it is your duty to make sure that they will never again be able to victimize another soul.

    • “surprise, speed and violence of action”
      “If it’s go time, you have to go for broke”
      “You owe your assailant absolutely nothing; not compassion, not pity, not humanity, not sympathy or empathy, and certainly not the benefit of the doubt”
      “it is your duty to make sure that they will never again be able to victimize another soul”

      Yes to all you said. Been there, done that, it was sad, and I didn’t even get the t-shirt. Everything you said is absolutely true – and it’s not about being “ruthless” enough. It’s about living. Thank you.

    • “If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck.”

      I experienced that yesterday afternoon at marshal arts training. We geared up for sparring to develop certain techniques that we just reviewed and practiced in class. Thus there were “fair fight” rules to make sure we focused on those techniques.

      Of course I was dumb enough to participate according to those artificially imposed “fair fight” rules — which of course the other guys didn’t observe. I won’t make that mistake again.

      That demonstrated two big lessons. First of all, if you use “fair fight” rules, you lose. Second, it is a bad idea to reinforce “fair fight” muscle memory because that is probably what will come out in a fight.

      Oh, and I also learned to take glasses off before fighting!

  12. “A man can’t stand, he can’t fight.
    A man can’t breathe, he can’t fight.
    A man can’t see, he can’t fight. “

  13. Guys, please don’t ever try the RBSD face rake/throat punch/groin punch stuff, it doesn’t work. Go to a Jiu Jitsu gym or a boxing gym or a Muay Thai gym or a wrestling gym or ANYTHING that is competitive where you can actually test your stuff against other resisting human beings and learn how to actually fight.

    I’m not saying you can’t attack the eyes and throat, but the face-to-face eye rake and throat punch bullcrap doesn’t work and it will end up getting you killed. Please learn something real.

    Find a friend willing to let you try to hit him in the throat or rake his face while he tries to grab you. He’ll get ahold of you every time. And that’s just your buddy in a non-life threatening situation. Now imagine it’s your attacker trying to kill you, you think he’ll be deterred by something your friend can resist in training? Nope.

    The guy in the OP video is being very irresponsible suggesting people try these techniques. He’s going to get someone killed.

    • I think I understand what you’re trying to say. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

      Here’s what I think you’re saying: Martial arts training is legitimate, but you ain’t gonna get it from a short video. REAL training is a different world.

    • He’s suggesting this stuff as a distracting tactic while you pull your gun and then shoot them in the guts.

      Open palm striking an attacker in the face, drawing from your pocket, and then shooting them is pretty sound advice IMO.

  14. If a person raises hand or weapon with the intent of assault against me and my family , I’ll snatch the life out of them.

    Lets put aside the PC terms. Forget “neutralizing” the threat. If a fight pops off, the other person WILL be going to the ICU or the morgue.

    I have been in a self-defense incident before, and my attitude was the same then.

  15. Are You Ruthless Enough to Win a Gunfight?

    We all are. In fact, you don’t need to be ruthless to win a gunfight. A fistfight, maybe. A knife fight, for sure. But a total p^$$y can win a gunfight, if he or she can shoot straight and not give a sh!t about the consequences. Not caring about the consequences, that’s the key. Because if you’re thinking about the consequences, you’re not winning the fight.

    • I agree with the essence of your comment, though experience leads me to put a different spin on the “not caring about the consequences.” Isn’t it very important to have a clear trained interpretation of your own “rules of engagement” ? We need to know what actions, sights, will lead us to instantly conclude the bastard needs to be shot and fast. Evidence teaches that allowing an apparent aggression to become an emotional tit-for-tat, in essence a fight and not a defense, is disastrous. Trying to stop an aggressor with a punch when you’ve got a gun makes no sense. Just go cold and shoot. He made the choice. You made the defense. Then call 911. Perhaps “going cold” is the result of experience for me, but it’s a fact. Above all, pray you didn’t join in an escalation of insults and shoving or exchanging punches before you pulled your gun, because then you’re in a fight, not a defense, and your lethal force is probably not justifiable at a bench trial: It is difficult to defend in court when you’ve pulled a lethal weapon to win a fist fight. That’s the flip side of all the martial arts talk. If you start trading punches you’ve put your gun out of reach in many states. This, of course, can change if your aggressor manages to make retreat impossible after an exchange of blows by holding you down (Zimmerman) or baring the door. –that was an awfully winding way to say I agree, eh? Laugh.

      • Short version: The Ruger fellow is half right. You may need to ward off or block as you draw your pocket pistol. His “no breath as a stopper” assumes the aggressor is unarmed. As for blinding moves, more than a few WWI trench soldiers shot in complete darkness at a sound…and found a dead German the next morning. But you won’t get a chance for more than a quick block. After all, you’re fighting with one hand at that point! The FBI has concluded from urban shootings of LEO’s that generally the first guy with his hand on his gun survives. So keep your hand in your pocket when things look sketchy.

        • Isn’t it very important to have a clear trained interpretation of your own “rules of engagement” ?

          Absolutely critical — and once a course of action has been decided upon, looking back or second guessing yourself during the action can be fatal.

  16. I think I am. But you never know. No shame in running away, if you have to. BUT do NOT underestimate your opponent. Prisons and jails are practically gladiator academies, and a fight for your life is nothing like a boxing match or a karate tournement. My best words of advice: Hit first and hit hard with what ever weapon you can. That, and theres no such thing as a gun fight. There are just fights, and sometimes people use guns in them.

  17. As the old saying goes, be aggressive enough fast enough.

    In most situations the odds are not in your favor, as you’re likely to be thinking about consequences rather than killing the other guy. Pro tip: The other guy is only thinking about killing you. Be like the other guy, then be about 10% worse, and you’ll win.

    If it hits the fan, nothing is off the table. Bang until click, stab until pavement, strike until you’re out of bones.

  18. While were on the subject, though, if you carry, you need to be MORE trained with unarmed techniques. If you cant stop some one from taking your gun and beating/stabbing/shooting you, you need a wake up call. Because taking a gun from some one, or even moving in fast enough to club your head in with a rock is not very hard. Action beats reaction. That all said, most self defense gurus are full of crap. They watch to many action movies. Few real fights stay off the ground for very long. Most people would rather stab you than punch you. And although its a dying art, some people know how to use them still. And one of the basic tenants of that is never letting the victim see you have knife untill its too late. And another thing: Beating some one to the point they aernt a threat can sometimes be very, very hard. Especially when drugs/booze are involved. So in other words, when you run your gun out of ammo, or it jams, or you lose it, you are going to get messed up. Youre gona be figting long odds against an enemy who is ruthless and more experenced. So train accordingly.

  19. I have had childhood fights that I slugged out to the conclusion and I have had to take up a defensive position under indirect fire but I have never had to defend myself in an adult life or death situation. So, I have no idea whether I could react fast enough to an immediate life or death threat. Anybody who has not face that situation does not know how they will react. Any other answer is braggadocio.

  20. I’ve been in several infantry fights. I’ve been chased down a hill, and run up the hill, I even stopped half way down a hill once. I once did what they now call CQB inside a building. Every time I went through the same desire to crawl back into the womb.
    My personality split in combat, one side was the animal that refused to be defeated and the other was a pants soiling, drooling, gibbering, tunnel vision idiot.
    A fighter’s #1 enemy is what is going on inside his head where everything he has ever been taught about violence comes out and either turns him to jelly or revs him-up for the win.
    If momma did not tell you to fight to win then Forget what momma taught you. The only way to get past this stage of infantile regression(before it occurs in an extreme situation) is to train it out of your psyche. Train to win, fight to win and forget everything else.

  21. I do understand the validity of this question for lots of folks, but I’m kind of a freak. I was taught violence is bad and uncivilized and all that, and took a lot of abuse trying to toe that ideal. But when I couldn’t (or just lost patience) I was consistently several steps beyond brutal, and worse: really, really enjoyed it. I spent many years tempering this in martial arts training, but I’m still worried my response to a DGU (or unarmed lethal conflict) is going to make the Terminator look G-rated. By experience, usually I can control myself (dealing with physical violence is part of my job), so have kept out of legal trouble, but I am a bit of a monster (something I’d rather my kids not see if I had to protect them, but hey: if Hannibal Lecter is all you’ve got on your team, he’ll do–and I don’t think my kids would be as completely shocked as the family in “A History of Violence”).

    Those folks I know who are not so confident they can deal with guns or knives or whatever being pointed at them usually want me around when the situation might get spooky, so I suppose I’m kind of a public service that way.

    And one note since I am seeing a number of posts about martial arts in these kind of situations: Buyer beware. A number of popular martial “arts” have been at least partially disarmed over the years, converted for sport, performance art, or just because people in power feared dangerous random citizens (or teachers feared their students). Fists and feet alone aren’t terribly sufficient in a lethal encounter (if the guy in the “Red Man” suit can take what you’re dishing, it ain’t good enough–good enough is being able to cripple the guy despite the Red Man suit). Not singling out anybody’s particular style–I usually find it’s the individual artist, not the art, that makes that person effective (or not).

    • ” I was consistently several steps beyond brutal, and worse: really, really enjoyed it.”

      Don’t feel bad about it. Humans are violent creatures. In a different age or society you’d be a warlord, chief, gladiator, master-at-arms, berserker, or something else similar. Modernity is almost anti-human in its attempt to be more human. You sound just like my friend, actually. Nicest guy in the world….until he cuts loose. Your movie reference describes him to a tee.

  22. No idea.
    Been in a few near calls in which the adrenaline dump left me raring to do something.
    It felt like I was ready to obliterate the other guy. The problem is, that’s what the adrenaline dump is there for. Take heed, you can train all you want, but your mind is physically altered by the fight or flight instinct activating.
    So it’s all well and good to say I’ve been close to the beast, but not actually having gotten in the saddle, I can’t say.
    I could quote a bunch of heroic verbiage here, but the thing is that whatever school of action hero you graduated from, going to the range and taking a few classes will only get you so far. Hopefully your training with stationary targets with optimal lighting will take over, but you can’t count on that.
    If you intend to defend yourself, then you need to train to do so in somewhat stressful and dynamic circumstances. This includes threat assessment and awareness, shoot/no shoot, single/multiple opponents, and any other variables you can throw in.
    Try paint ball or laser tag if nothing else. Sorry, I find this kind of video to be a non starter. While the theory is logically consistent, the application is lacking.
    If you are surprised your action shouldn’t be to try and get some room to grab your gun, certainly not to go for weak points on the body. You should be training to take your opponent out with whatever tools you have or run away. It takes a great deal of practice to surgically strike an enemy. It’s damned hard when they’re trying to hurt you, you’re hopped up on fight/flight, and you’re on the defensive, which is the premise of this piece.

  23. Yes. If you threaten the livelihood of me or my family then I’d have no problem pulling the trigger. I’d probably feel terrible about it afterwards but if you’re an immediate threat then expect an immediate response.

  24. I think this is an excellent QOTD. Do you have the training and testicular fortitude (apologies to female readers; you get the idea, no?) to do what it takes when that’s what it takes. I see a few folks quoting “surprise, speed, violence of action”. I agree, kind of. In my experience, the factors which determine the outcome of a fight can be broken down to these:
    1. Ability to use violence. Are you able to cause physical damage to your assailant? Do you have the strength, training or other means (e.g., a weapon) to cause damage, pain or incapacitation to your opponent to such a degree that he or she is unwilling to continue?
    2. Willingness to escalate. This is the one that gets a little hairy for some people. If you are attacked in a non-lethal manner, are you willing to break one of their bones or joints? If someone makes a play for your head or neck, are you willing to pull a blade? If your assailant is showing a blade, will you draw your gun?
    There are two reasons people don’t like number 2 in my list. One, it can end you up on the wrong side of the law. Ralph, Dirk, et al can fill you in on that. Two, it forces people to decide what their life is worth. Would I go to jail, if that was the price of my life?

  25. A question for the ages really, and one the cannot be answered unless you have personally been there. So much of the answer lies in that not very long ago historically speaking, we operated on instinct guided by experience to survive day to day. The fight or flight instinct, then there is maternal and paternal instinct as well(these are different too, tip: don’t threaten a mother unless your willing to face the full fury, adrenaline rush and the most dangerous weapon she has available). Where I work, sometimes I get to deal with upset parents, give me a upset father any day over a upset mother BTW.

    Any one situation that triggers these “how to continue living and protect my own” responses, that persons life is worth beans at that point, and the person with the better weapon and position will survive that encounter. People experienced in violent encounters (thugs) do not tend to reason things out in advance, they just go! Go primal and win, worked last time, might work this time too.

    As for my self, I will always try to be at least equally armed (hopefully better) and be aware of my surroundings so when things get dicey, I can bail out (best choice if its available) or be in a advantageous position if it comes down to kill or be killed time. Most predators are looking to ambush something that isn’t aware its being hunted. Even seeing and acknowledging a possible incoming attack can be enough to prevent it, they are looking for a ambush, not a fight.

  26. Had a few grade school fights in my day. Nothing since then. A few heated arguments with kaffirs and a few road rage incidents but no fights. Internet tough talk is tough. Ya dig? But some hand-to-hand training sounds good now.

  27. Never been in a fight as an adult, and the only one I’ve heard of among my social circle involved multiple folks controlling a violent drunk. To be honest I have no idea how I’d “train” for something like that. My impression is that most violent encounters in the real world are over in seconds, weapons being whatever falls to hand at that moment. Boxing at a gym doesn’t seem very close to that. I do practice at the range: shooting one-handed, wrong-handed, not allowing enough time to aim, reload etc. Maybe that will help if I’m ever in a bad setup. But .. my primary way of surviving violence is avoiding in the first place. Stupid people in stupid places doing stupid things, etc.

  28. The deadly crux of any decision chain involving self-defense is when exactly you decide the situation requires action. Act too soon, and you risk injuring an innocent over a misunderstanding. Act too late and you risk being caught in a bad tactical position. Lot of macho being thrown about here, but some of us can confirm what Grossman says in his book, less than 20% of trained infantrymen are willing to engage a clear enemy directly in combat. That’s a best-possible case scenario for making that call, and the vast majority of human males will not choose violence. And that’s from testosterone-laden, young, trained males, the most violent demographic in the world. This is not to discourage, only to highlight the absolute imperative to train and train and train if your goal is to be competent at violence. And train your mind. Something the lads from TFTT told us was that no one rises to the occasion. They sink to the level of their training. We all like to think we’re secretly a superhero, just waiting to unleash an untapped flood of violence if provoked enough, but that’s just egoism and laziness. We are naturally peaceful and nonviolent, and must learn to implement what sociopaths understand implicitly.

    • “We are naturally peaceful and nonviolent, and must learn to implement what sociopaths understand implicitly.”

      I disagree. We are most definitely NOT “naturally peaceful and nonviolent.” We are covered with a thin veneer of civilization and socialization. The trick is to be able to rip that off and be willing to hurt another human being when necessary. That ability is in all of us, by our very nature.

      The single most important aspect of self-defense is your willingness to hurt someone when it is necessary to do so. Without that, nothing else really matters.

      • You can disagree all you like. The evidence is in, and unless you can substantiate your opinion, you’re SOL. <10% firing rates in WW1, <15% in WW2. Operant conditioning raises firing rates to over 90% by Vietnam, but still less than 20% of combat-experienced infantrymen report have actually aimed their weapon at a human being and shot them. So unless veteran infantrymen are somehow more peaceful and nonviolent than the average civilian (hint: they aren't), then your assertion is merely that. Talk is cheap, and most of us here in the States don't have anything near the experience level to opine intelligently about this sort of thing. You go ahead and believe that you're just a tiger waiting to be unleashed, and I'll go back to training. Only one of us is preparing for conflict.

    • I detest violence in all its forms. I wish nothing more than for peace amongst my fellow man.
      That being said, I experienced zero hesitance when standing from a journal entry I was writing late in the night so that I could meet whatever had just made that brushing sound outside my door with a pen through the eye, my jabbing hand cocked and ready at the side of my head.

      So does that make me a sociopath?
      Or does that make you someone who thinks you have to be a sociopath in order to defend yourself and your family?

      P.S. It was only the wind. No jabbings occurred that night.

      • It makes you a sensible human being who accepts responsibility for the defense of himself and his family. That’s why I keep a large stick by the door, a razor-sharp bowie knife and large police flashlight by the bed, and a loaded Glock in a quick-access safe in the house. To paraphrase Louis Pasteur, “Chance favors the prepared citizen.”

  29. In a confrontation, the 2 options are fight or flight. I’ve been fortunate enough to not have to deal with a full blown hands on for a number of years, but I know that my willingness to act is there. Six months ago I was in the grocery store and a guy was standing too close to my son. I politely asked him to step back. Not only did he not, he moved closer, until he was actually making contact. My son is 12. I wish I could say it was training that kicked in, but it was more instinct to protect what’s mine when I grabbed the guy by the throat and bent him backwards over the cart behind him. I held him there for about 5 seconds or so then offered him the option of walking away and he fortunately took it. I would much prefer to not go hands on, and may opt for discretion if I am alone. But I know that I have the will to act if my family is under threat.

    The key to remember (and to avoid liabilities) is to stop once the threat has been neutralized. In the last year or 2, there was a store clerk who pooped a bad guy trying to rob the store. Good shoot. Right up until he walked over to the guy, who was now on the floor bleeding, and pumped some more rounds into him. Yep, he was found guilty in court.

    • He didn’t “poop” the badguy, he shit all over him. All joking aside, your grabbing that man by the throat illustrates something I’ve done and seen done. A lot of people are bluff and bluster and for most of these you get their throat and all the fight goes out of them. Most of the time, always have a plan b.

  31. “Question of the Day: Are You Ruthless Enough to Win a Gunfight?”

    Mentally, yes, I have no doubt that I can be as ruthless as anyone on the planet mentally. Physically? I’m not so sure, I’m a pretty beat up old fart thatis 56 and has had a lot of hard miles and poor maintenance. In my favor is that I’m 6′-3″ and weight 295, and still have quick hands. The feet ain’t so quick anymore. I’ve had 2 serious confrontations as an adult, one involving a bad guy with a gun when I was 19, and one with an unarmed nitwit when I was 34. The mugger with the gun had a 1911 and pointed it at me with the hammer down, giving me just enough time to take it away from him. He got some broken fingers for his trouble. The later incident was with a girl friend’s ex husband. The adrenilin dump got me thru that one as I launched him off the porch, and and he then scurried to his car. I survived both encounters, wasn’t arrested, life was good. Today, I’m not sure I can physically kick butt and take names like I used to, so I’ve trained in using my cane, and in using whatever else I have to win. My biggest asset is that I now do my VERY BEST to avoid stupid people doing stupid things in stupid places at stupid times of the day/night. I wasn’t real good at that during my misspent youth.

  32. I think everybody has survival instincts; like the guy in the video said, it’s all about willpower and training (both physical and mental).

    I went to local martial arts (kendo) a lot as a kid… my mom figured it was a good way to keep me out of trouble, and she was right. Now that I’m older, I might not possess all the physical skills I once had, but I’m grateful for learning the “mentality” required to fight. Most of my old sensei (gruff, old school Japanese American dudes) had no qualms against matching us not only against our peers, but also against the senior students and evensparring against the sensei themselves. The valuable lesson was hammered into us that even if you’re facing overwhelming odds, you have to learn to contain your fear and face your opponent… sure, you may get your ass kicked, but you better fight back as hard as you can.

    I also admit that based on the situation, if I was just defending myself, I’d put out the bare minimum effort. Now if someone were threatening my family or my kids… it would be ruthless level x1000, doing whatever it takes to keep them safe.

  33. I was in a life and death situation, illegal automatic weapons pointed at my face. I didnt just freeze, I sadly accepted my own death. I became a passive fatalist waiting for the moment to die, trusting the whims of a criminal.

    I can promise you that unless you are in physical pain causing and instictual reaction (Zimmerman), “unlocking yout inner Chuck Norris” isn’t easy. So what did I learn from my failure? (LUCKILY they didnt shoot me)

    1. Carry a weapon. I succumbed to fate because my initial risk evaluation told me I had no chance of wrestling a gun away without being shot by the other guy 20 feet away.

    2. Detatch emotionally, and not just at the moment. Always. If I had practiced separating myself from my emotions, instead of surrenduring to fate, I would have been thinking quickly and logically every second evaluating threats and opportunities. I probably would have done exactly the same thing, but had something different happened, I would have been ready to act, rather than trust fate or God or whatever.

    3. Prepare physically and mentally as much as I can.

    Based on my experience where I was a passive victim, these are where I feel I was lacking, and why I allowed myself to have NO CONTROL whatsoever of the situation.

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