Dave “No Relation” Sauer reckons there are two kinds of gunfights: proactive and reactive. Chances are you’re not going to go out to hunt down some poor bastard and shoot them. So, basically, there’s only one kind of armed conflict. The one where someone tries to kill you and you react to the attack. Much has been written (here and elsewhere) on just how bad it sucks to be the good guy, tactically speaking. I don’t know about you but the only curve I want to be behind belongs to Adi Himelbloy (or similar). Dave adds his voice to the chorus of gun gurus advising students to move first, draw second. Or move draw and move. Question: where are you going? Even if you don’t sit with your back to the door mafiosi style, it’s important to know where the door is. Where all the doors are. “No exit” are not the last words you want to see, unless you’re a Sartre fan. And maybe not even then.
“…it sucks to be the good guy, strategically speaking.”
It sucks to be the good guy, *tactically* speaking. Strategically, it sucks to be the bad guy.
Fair comment. Text amended.
No, it doesn’t suck to be the good guy. Beats the fvck out of the alternative.
There’s a third scenario: impending or occurring violence, but you’re not the immediate target.
It’s funny, I was thinking about this exact topic when I was out for lunch with the kids today. Crowded salad-buffet restaurant, no choice of table — had to sit at the first one available. Best I could do was put a bench partition at my back and face towards the aisle with all the foot traffic — but that still put me with my back to all of the doors. That’s when keeping your ears open and scanning your front 180 degrees becomes extra important.
It’s a good thing the greatest threats I faced today were a Chinese grandma elbowing me out of the way to get to the fresh blueberry muffins, and an Indian guy almost slopping hot coffee on me at the beverage stand.
Thumb up for the ‘Where Eagles Dare” clip.
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