Voltaire said it best when he claimed, “Common sense is not so common.” That quote is quite evident when it comes to certain self-defense myths.
Just because something may sound like a good idea doesn’t mean it is.
Here are five common self-defense myths, why they are not recommended, and what you should do instead.
1. Self-Defense is Only About Fighting
Self-defense is any countermeasure that prevents you from harm. Acquiring physical skills to defend yourself is important, but self-defense should also include mental skills. Situational Awareness and Avoidance skills should be first in your self-defense toolbox. Knowing what to watch for, what to avoid, and how to handle yourself in varying environments should be your first line of defense.
The goal should be never having to go to a self-defense weapon or any type of hand-to-hand combat. Educating yourself with situational awareness and avoidance skill sets keeps you in an offensive position rather than a defensive one. Mental countermeasures are just as important as physical countermeasures.
2. Just Shoot Them in the Leg
This is called “shoot to wound”. In theory, this sounds like a great idea. Disable the attacker then get away. First and foremost, you should ONLY pull the trigger if you are certain it is a life-or-death situation. If it is, shooting to wound is a bad idea. Hitting a small moving target such as a leg or an arm while under stress is much more difficult than aiming for center mass. The odds of hitting that small target are unlikely and now you have a stray bullet heading somewhere else.
Additionally, there is no guarantee you will disable the threat. Attackers who are shot in a non-physical stop area can and will keep going. If the shot does not neutralize the threat, they will only stop if they choose to. If you are in a life-or-death situation, shooting to wound is a poor decision that will only put your life at greater risk.
3. Fire a Warning Shot into the Air
This is an incredibly irresponsible option to deter a threat. You are responsible for every shot you fire. Firing without an identified target means you have no idea where that bullet is going, where it will land, or what it could potentially hit. If the goal is to show a threat that you are serious and ready to defend, keeping your firearm at a low ready would be far more responsible.
4. Just Rack Your Gun, They’ll Run
The idea is that the sound will scare off an attacker or intruder. This is an extremely popular concept for shotgun lovers. Yes, there is no doubt it is an intimidating sound, but unless you have a timid group of unarmed juveniles, this is a terrible idea. You cannot predict the behavior of a person with ill intent. They do not think the way we do.
These are people with a total disregard for the law, and other human beings. The assumption that the sound of your gun racking will scare them off is naive. The sound of your gun racking forces them to make one of two decisions. They will retreat, or they will charge and engage the sound – potentially with a gun if they’re armed.
5. Women Need Small Guns and Light Calibers
This could not be further from the truth. The “try this little lady” mentality does exist with some people. I don’t think this is a chauvinistic attitude. I honestly believe some people are genuinely trying to help women but they’re just lacking education. Defaulting to a tiny revolver or lighter caliber pistol seems to make sense to them. Shooting a firearm is hand-specific and based on the individual. It has nothing to do with being male or female. I have seen petite women handle firearms with better form, accuracy, and recoil management than much larger men. What everyone really needs is professional education and training with the ability to try different guns to see what works best for them.
We must be able to think beyond the situation. Actions always have consequences that will either be positive or negative. It’s important to think through our plans of action and find the areas where something could go wrong. Thinking through different “what-if” scenarios is also beneficial. Mentally go through the scenarios and ask yourself the following questions:
- Does this make sense and is it legal where I live?
- Was this information obtained from a credible source?
- What are the different ways this could backfire or go wrong?
- If I defend myself in this manner, what could I potentially be liable for after?
- Am I proficiently trained to handle these actions?
These are just a few of the self-defense “myths” that are out there. Some are obviously ridiculous and quite common, while others appear to be credible when they aren’t.
It can be difficult to filter through the information and opinions to find accurate and sound knowledge. My advice is to always find a trained professional for guidance, especially when it comes to firearms.
What Ass Clown put that stock on an M1a?
They really wanted a lego gun.
Springfield Armory. That’s the Socom 16 CQB model.
So, the same clown who cut the barrel down to 16″ on an M1A
Bad guys do not ‘ride to the sound of the guns’. They run. We see it time and again in self defense reports and videos. The little old lady in socal that caused a whole car load of armed thugs to run by firing a shot comes to mind.
It is hollywood and the profit making gun trainers that keep the myth of military level teams of bad guys alive. John McClane has to have a worthy enemy.
In my case I have used a racking shotgun to scare an intruder out of our home. Do not tell me it does not work.
I disarmed a knife carrying street thug by showing him a snubby .38. My ex wife stopped an intruder at the back door with a .22 pistol. No shots fired in either case.
You are not fighting the NVA or Warsaw pact. Your enemies are scavengers that do not want a fight.
I would guess 9/10 or more would run as expected/experienced but there is always one asshole that doesn’t for whatever reason. So long as you are positioned and prepared to shoot after racking it is largely a non-issue.
I had one individual tell me , “Go ahead and shoot me MF, I ain’t afraid of dying” pointing the handgun at his genitals I said , ” Oh I’m not going to kill you, I’m going to blow your balls off.”
His attitude changed and he dropped the crowbar.
He must have valued propagating his species more then he valued his life?
cool specious, bra.
“…you are positioned and prepared to shoot…”
The point that I frequently try to put forth.
This is not necessarily a binary choice.
Life comes at you fast and there is a lot going on. Ultimately do the best you can with what you got and improve whenever and wherever you can. 40’s experience may only be 1 in a thousand but shit happens. For me it’s multiple pistols and potentially longarms because NY sucks for capacity. Sometimes though it’s whatever I can get away with because of metal detectors or dress clothes.
If you are fearing for your life and your assailant is displaying Ability, Opportunity and your life is in Jeopardy, then you are within your legal right to apply deadly force. If, at the time you display your firearm, rack the slide, whatever, the assailant then flees, so much the better.
I would assume that Ms. Hunter’s advice is to NOT RELY on racking, brandishing, etc. to stop the attack. If it does, great! But you need to be prepared, mentally and tactically, to pull the trigger, and be legally within your rights to do so.
Nice article Karen! I hope we see more from you. This group of yahoos here will chew up anything that anyone has to offer, so keep a thick skin!
“In my case I have used a racking shotgun to scare an intruder out of our home. Do not tell me it does not work.”
It might work, sometimes. Often though it doesn’t work.
Its better to not use it as a main ‘reliable’ defense thing because of its very subjective and unpredictable effect to make the bad guys run off – and that’s outlined in the article.
If the racking sound doesn’t work I’m pretty sure the next sound will have more effect…BOOM
I don’t rely on anything. I can just relate my own life experience. Had small kids and no gun safe. Kept the gun high in the closet with a full mag and empty chamber.
The sound of breaking glass downstairs got my wife fetching the little one back to our room while I posted up at the top of the stairs. Once there I racked a round in the chamber and the dude or dudes left.
How do you qualify ‘often it doesn’t work’.
I can only imagine when the bad guy shoots first and the police report is a home invasion murder vs defensive shooting. Good luck getting data on that scenario for a bunch of reasons but from guessing it seems such a scenario is relatively rare compared to what you (and others) experience.
“Once there I racked a round in the chamber and the dude or dudes left.
How do you qualify ‘often it doesn’t work’.”
that right there. them running off could have been they weren’t armed…but as recently seen with the recent case of the mom defending, she had a gun and yelled out for them to leave or she would shoot them and they were armed and immediately began engaging her and she was wounded. fortunately she was able to return fire and they left.
but her mistake was similar to the shotgun thing – she gave them the advantage of a warning and they seized on that and started firing first and luckily though she was only wounded and the baby on her hip wasn’t hit even thoughshe was hit in that same hip.
you don’t know if they are armed or not or how dedicated they are or not or if they will run off or not, start firing and dont depend on the ‘movie shotgun sound’ or verbal warning. They have broken into your home without warning and placed you in danger so why do you want to give them some kind of warning advantage to add to their already gained ‘element of surprise’? Their actions got them to this point, so let them reap the result of their intentionally violent actions by you not giving them an advantage to get you first.
“Does this make sense and is it legal where I live?”
There should be no patchwork of legalities across our nation when it comes to the BoR. It still chaps my hide every time I return to CA from neighboring NV or AZ and have to switch to a different rulebook just so I don’t get arrested for what was fully legal only a few miles behind me.
My wife’s favorite rifle caliber is 30-06.
Some of the handguns I believe kick hard she doesn’t. ” As long as it fits my hand and balances right” she says.
Shoot to wound.
I was advised by a detective not to do that. His theory, in court there is only your side of the story and in shooting to wound I may be paying for his injuries the rest of my life.
Warning shots.
Yes warning shots do sometimes prevent a person from having to kill someone.
Same detective told me if I choose to do that at least shoot the bullets into the ground.
I have had to draw my weapon on several occasions to prevent disaster, luckily for me I had ” Gotten the drop on them” and the sight of the firearm was enough to deter their violence.
If forced to shoot someone always remember Law Enforcement is not going to give you a pat on the back with a ” Way to go, good shot.” Or ” He needed killed”.
No you will be handcuffed, interrogated for hours, perhaps even incarcerated, until the justified use of deadly force is resolved.
For those of us whom have had the misfortune, with few exceptions, to be forced to defend ourselves with a deadly weapon remember you will be treated in jail just like the scum you had to defend yourself against.
.
It appears from the first picture in the articles heading that that car must have really triggered that Karen.
Good article by the way.
✌❤
It sounds like you need to move to a civilized area.
I did.
Easier to look at and read than Senseeba…
Senseeba parked her car in the wrong place this time and just look at now, on fire and all shot full of holes.
Should have never left the mall parking lot uh huh uh huh.
grace face.
draw me one.
What about the tactical Timmy myths?
If you don’t have at least 15 rounds capacity and 3 spare mags – you’ll die!
If your revolver is not double action only – you’ll die!
If you us a lever gun instead of an AR – you’ll die!
If you’re carrying anything other than (insert favorite caliber) – you’ll die!
Plenty of myth-information out there from fudds, keyboard warriors, and self-appointed tacticians.
“Having a manual safety will get you killed!”
Tokerav knew that when he designed a JMB lookalike
Good addition.
“if you don’t have at least 15 rounds capacity and 3 spare mags – you’ll die!”
I can tell you from personal experience that if you don’t have at least 15 rounds capacity and 3 spare mags – its pretty darn well likely you could die in some situations. one such past situation is why I EDC six 15 round mags now. sure, rare occurrence, but I learned some valuable lessons that day and one of those was dont ever think “I’ll never need more than rounds”
Where in the hell do you carry them?
I carry a 92 and two spares when providing security.
Normally I carry “a gun” and one reload, plus the LCP max in my pocket.
I’d need a big ole purse to carry six mags.
“Where in the hell do you carry them?”
Basically: have a sort of shoulder holster kinda thing, a custom made thing, but for mags and not holster. Between that and belt, with one in gun, six mags. conceals very well. belt mag in easy reach as normal for most but if I need more I have them.
Back when that incident happened I was carrying a Glock 22 .40 S&W. I have since retired that gun after carrying it for 20’ish years – trusted and faithful, that gun never let me down one time over several defense incidents in my life, and especially that one day saving my wife, or in practice and training, never failed to fire, never jammed, but its time had come to be retired and it now sets in a case for display. Here’s a basic rundown of what happened that day > https://ttagstaging.wpengine.com/why-gun-absolutism-is-counterproductive-and-toxic-for-the-concealed-carry-movement/#comment-6844642
(read the link: but I had three 15 round mags, I went through all three. When the second bad guy finally went down I had three rounds left in my last mag, the bad guy still had several fully loaded mags available. If I had fired those last three rounds and the bad guy had still not gone down I was out of ammo – and my wife and I would have died that day. After that I started carrying six 15 round magazines.)
But in time my EDC situation became such that a change in gun size and carry method was needed so I switched to a Sig P365 X-Macro Tacops 9mm and still carry six mags.
Okay. I get that.
If you dodge the bullet – so to speak – you make damned sure you have a good chance to dodge it next time.
Kudos on being reactive and a survivor.
“Where in the hell do you carry them?”
Basically: have a sort of shoulder holster kinda thing, a custom made thing, but for mags and not holster. Between that and belt, with one in gun, six mags. conceals very well. belt mag in easy reach as normal for most but if I need more I have them.
Back when that incident happened I was carrying a Glock 22 .40 S&W. I have since retired that gun after carrying it for 20’ish years – trusted and faithful, that gun never let me down one time over several defense incidents in my life, and especially that one day saving my wife, or in practice and training, never failed to fire, never jammed, but its time had come to be retired and it now sets in a case for display. Here’s a basic rundown of what happened that day > h ttps://ttagstaging.wpengine.com/why-gun-absolutism-is-counterproductive-and-toxic-for-the-concealed-carry-movement/#comment-6844642
(read the link: but I had three 15 round mags, I went through all three. When the second bad guy finally went down I had three rounds left in my last mag, the bad guy still had several fully loaded mags available. If I had fired those last three rounds and the bad guy had still not gone down I was out of ammo – and my wife and I would have died that day. After that I started carrying six 15 round magazines.)
But in time my EDC situation became such that a change in gun size and carry method was needed so I switched to a Sig P365 X-Macro Tacops 9mm and still carry six mags.
Real men carry .500 for self-protection. Anything less is to make hope be a plan.
Here’s a few more myths —
– revolvers are obsolete
– “stopping power” isn’t a thing
– if you’re not using a red dot you’re a fudd
– capacity is more important than performance
– 9mm rulez!
Everyone has a plan, right up to the time they get punched in the face!
Honestly one of the most valuable lessons to learn in general from both sides.
myth: “Stopping power”
myth: “Women need big guns they can’t control or shoot fast/accurately.”
A lighter handgun has more felt recoil.
Shooters with small hands will find their hands being punished by shooting a lighter handgun during range sessions.
i always heard, “common sense is anything but.”
seems like many of those “myths” contain many elements of truth. they should not be put forth as concrete but softened when encountered. not hard to educate those willing to listen.
“A lighter handgun has more felt recoil. ”
That one needs some context, because apples to apples a lighter handgun absolutely has more felt recoil. Try an airweight .357 vs a good old steel revolver in .357 and you’ll see a world of difference.
A light tiny PX-22 will have less felt recoil than a big heavy .44 magnum, yes. But that’s apples to oil filters.
Voltaire said it best when he claimed, “Common sense is not so common.”
Huh. Who knew that my online persona pays homage to Voltaire?!?!?!
“Once there I racked a round in the chamber and the dude or dudes left.
How do you qualify ‘often it doesn’t work’.”
that right there. them running off could have been they weren’t armed…but as recently seen with the recent case of the mom defending, she had a gun and yelled out for them to leave or she would shoot them and they were armed and immediately began engaging her and she was wounded. fortunately she was able to return fire and they left.
but her mistake was similar to the shotgun thing – she gave them the advantage of a warning and they seized on that and started firing first and luckily though she was only wounded and the baby on her hip wasn’t hit even thoughshe was hit in that same hip.
you don’t know if they are armed or not or how dedicated they are or not or if they will run off or not, start firing and dont depend on the ‘movie shotgun sound’ or verbal warning. They have broken into your home without warning and placed you in danger so why do you want to give them some kind of warning advantage to add to their already gained ‘element of surprise’? Their actions got them to this point, so let them reap the result of their intentionally violent actions by you not giving them an advantage to get you first.
“why do you want to give them some kind of warning”?
Because some states require the homeowner to give a warning first!
It makes no sense, as all it does is give the bad guy a chance to shoot first, but some states require a warning. My preferred form of warning wouldn’t be verbal, it would be racking a shotgun while placing the red laser dot on the bad guy’s chest. If that’s not warning enough, then his next warning would be in the form of 12ga buckshot.
Or I could just put the red dot on his chest and let my cat do the rest, LOL.
“Shoot them in the leg”. If you hit that femoral artery, he could bleed out before you find anything suitable for use as a makeshift tourniquet. And then your attorney will need to explain why you killed a guy in a scenario that wasn’t “lethal force” in nature.
If I shoot ‘em in the leg, it’s because they are wearing a vest and moving their head a lot.
Usually recommend the hip but whatever is available and works at that point. Also look into various solid copper options unless they are going with the newer hybrid vests that can stop the high velocity/hard/pointy/whatever combination that works rounds. With that said just started to see vests that stop the best performing options become somewhat available.
Now THAT’S what I want to see…helpfulness and collaboration!
;P
“Awareness and Avoidance skills should be first in your self-defense toolbox.”
And what’s the fun in that? If you don’t get a bang out of it, what’s the point?
“We the People…” should be of no doubt a person is armed and dangerous, ready to rumble at the slightest provocation. That’s what Hamilton Felix meant by, “An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.” A truism endorsed by Mr. Dubois as, “Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and their freedoms.”
At least, that is what I read on the Information Super Hiway.