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ripnbst wrote:

Jumping Frog wrote:

ripnbst wrote:This type of response sounds to me like it's a little hasty to escalate things in a grocery store parking lot. If I'm suspicious I'll get my hand on my grip with finger along slide at roughly ten feet,

If you let me get 10 feet away with a knife hidden in my hand, I can gut you from groin to sternum and slice your throat before you have finished drawing your handgun. That is WAY too close.

Tueller was an optimist.

That sounds like a challenge I'm willing to accept. Airsoft vs. plastic knife of course. A hit on target before contact equates to a win for me. I am not making the statement I can halt your attack form ten feet. Historically there is proof you'd have a heck of a time stopping an attacker at 5x that distance with only a handgun. Drugs and adrenaline and all that.

I don't think you appreciate close quarters combat and the science behind how action beats reaction. It isn't about you accepting a "challenge" with airsoft and rubber knives for an anecdotal case of one. Even if you end up shooting an attacker, getting sliced to ribbons while doing so counts as a loss.

That said, there are already many scientific use of force studies that have proven action beats reaction and at 10 feet you'd have no chance of reaction before being sliced and diced. Spend some time browsing the articles on reaction time at the Force Science Institute.

Another example of action beating reaction is illustrative: you can stand there pointing a gun directly at someone with your finger on the trigger and ready to fire. It is proven science that an average bad guy can pull a gun from his waistband and shoot you before you can react to what he is doing and fire. Every time. Of course, you will eventually react and likely shoot the bad guy too, but you are still dealing with getting shot!

Here are a couple of links to different posts that link some of these studies.

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viewtopic.php?f=23&t=68724&p=853127#p853127" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


That is why I start challenging someone who sets off the internal gong at 30 feet or more.

ripnbst wrote:This type of response sounds to me like it's a little hasty to escalate things in a grocery store parking lot. If I'm suspicious I'll get my hand on my grip with finger along slide at roughly ten feet,

If you let me get 10 feet away with a knife hidden in my hand, I can gut you from groin to sternum and slice your throat before you have finished drawing your handgun. That is WAY too close.

Tueller was an optimist.

houserco wrote:Legal teams from the ACLU to Defense lawyers to even DA's will tell you that there is legal precedent from other states where a person lawfully defended themselves on paper but were charged because they picked one day to carry over others and ended up using their weapon. Now, we all know that most will not even use their weapon even when they should... however the prosecution doesn't care. They will do their best to try and charge and convict you no matter what the situation is.

Meh. I throw the baloney flag on this one.

I am well aware of instances of prosecutorial fixation on trying to charge a legitimate DGU, with political viewpoints infecting the justice system. Harold Fish being just one example.

However, I do not believe choosing to carry some days and not others has been a commonly occurring factor resulting in charges for shootings that are otherwise lawful. If you want to continue to assert this, I'd like to see data.

Also, I do not agree a blanket statement that "They (prosecutors) will do their best to try and charge and convict you no matter what the situation is" is accurate. I am well aware of many, many DGU's where the prosecutor has been supportive of the law-abiding citizen. As I write this, I am reminded of one county prosecutor, Joe Deters, whose money quote in the paper was, "Our office believes that a person who makes the decision to rob another person has given up the right to not get shot."

mulfjohn wrote:I would like to use your line of I don't do interviews if it happens again. Funny stuff.

That was my comment here, but that isn't how I actually handle it.

When someone is heading my way, I put my left hand up in a "STOP" gesture, and say "No thanks". If I don't get that started before they reach 30 feet, I'll mentally chide myself afterwards in situational awareness.

If they take another step or two, I'll re-emphasize the stop gesture and state more emphatically, "STOP RIGHT THERE, I said I am not interested".

If they keep coming after that, I conclude they do not have benign intent. Now I am yelling "STOP RIGHT THERE, DO NOT COME ANY CLOSER" while I am reaching for my gun.

I haven't had to actually draw (yet). Hope I never have to, but am prepared should that time come.

Guy never would have approached me and started a conversation in the first place. I don't do "interviews".

Glad it worked out for you this time. Hope that is all the lesson required.