Self defense question
- Thread starter Millie
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A long and awesome thread. Lots of great info. My two cents is about a warning shot. I TOTALLY agree that this is NEVER a good idea but no one has mentioned that if you fire a warning and the other person is armed and shoots you their shooting is justified! After all, you fired first and placed them in mortal danger. Obviously not the outcome you expected.
Just ask yourselves how you might react if you were walking through a dark parking garage and suddenly someone near you discharged a firearm in you general vicinity? Almost all of the possible outcomes are bad for someone.
Just ask yourselves how you might react if you were walking through a dark parking garage and suddenly someone near you discharged a firearm in you general vicinity? Almost all of the possible outcomes are bad for someone.
Not read through all the posts, but:
-have a friend wait on you. If they are a friend they wont mind waiting a few minutes
-Get a flashlight. Doesnt have to be anything crazy high in lm, but something to help identify
-DO NOT FIRE INTO THE AIR.
a) you might get a charge for discharging a weapon
b) you dont know where that round is going
-have a friend wait on you. If they are a friend they wont mind waiting a few minutes
-Get a flashlight. Doesnt have to be anything crazy high in lm, but something to help identify
-DO NOT FIRE INTO THE AIR.
a) you might get a charge for discharging a weapon
b) you dont know where that round is going
OP
See, this why I ask these questions, I get really interesting answers and always learn something. I watched a part of a video posted here and heard about the lady on the balcony that died from being hit with a warning shot. (Very sad and bad.)
And I suppose you don't want to advertise that you're armed. Unless you really fear for your life, nobody has to know you've got a gun, right? I'd rather not let anyone know I even have a gun on me.
Thanks for the response.
One thing you can do is take a step back and turn sideways. This does a couple of things. It increases your field of view including to what was behind you. If you are being “interviewed” it communicates to the no do gooder that your more aware as you’re not letting them fully distract you. Just being aware will stop most attempts. In short, you need to get off the X.
In short, you need to change personal habits and avoid all this crap to begin with. If you're not in a dark parking lot at whatever time then the flashlight and all the other BS is irrelevant and you probably won't encounter a bad guy.
@Millie, I hate to say this but jacking you would be like picking an apple off the tree, easy peasy. I don't think you have it within you to get mean or mad, you'll roll over and wind up getting seriously injured. As we age a little we're supposed to become wiser, wise up and use avoidance as your best weapon...
@Millie, I hate to say this but jacking you would be like picking an apple off the tree, easy peasy. I don't think you have it within you to get mean or mad, you'll roll over and wind up getting seriously injured. As we age a little we're supposed to become wiser, wise up and use avoidance as your best weapon...
OP
First point: I won't stop being in the parking lot because It's attached to our rehearsal place. I enjoy the singing. Not giving it up.
Second point: I've been attacked before, and if there is a next time, the person will not find me an easy peasy target. I'm older now, and not willing to take a lot of shit from a man. A woman either, if it comes to that. I've also become less trusting, so anyone that rolls up on me is going to have to be careful that they don't give me a reason to have to defend myself.
I fought hard for my life after I was dx with breast cancer, and I'm not going to let some lowlife a-hole take it from me.
I might be old and fat, but I'm not going to "roll over" and let them do what they want to me.
Btw...thanks so much for the words of "encouragement"...lol.
Okay, maybe now we're seeing a true picture. In the past you have come off as being all meek and mild which isn't a good thing when you're talking about fighting for your life. Meek and mild is a victim, strong and determined is a survivor. I understand where you're coming from now and I agree, at least you've made up your mind to "Not be a victim".
I would strongly encourage you to pursue the courses mentioned up thread and basically "Refuse to become a victim"....
Still friends??? If I can help you with the NRA stuff just holler......
OP
Yes, we're still friends. I was pissy because you don't know me and just made these assumptions about me.
I'm a pretty nice person...until someone tries to mess with me. I've asked lots of questions here and posted some things that made people assume not all my dogs are barking, but I assure you I'm not a pushover. I'm just trying to plan for the situation before it happens, so I'm not totally freaked out. Isn't that better than just going about my business as if everyone I see is on the up and up?
I do plan to take many more classes of many different types, as long as I can physically do them...Lol...I might be the 90 year old lady taking a class, who knows.
As always..."Here"....is free.
Nothing wrong with being pissy, I almost make a living doing it!! The point I was presenting is situation awareness and avoidance will get you out of more tight spots through life than will a firearm. The firearm is the absolute last resort when all else has failed. Use the awareness to change the things that can be changed and make them safer for yourself.
I think the good thing we are seeing is that Millie is "opening her eyes" to many different situations that many people just refuse to see, or willingly blind themselves to.
This is an example of that. We, as gun carriers, need to take the time to consider things a little bit more than "sheep" as they say, because every action we take becomes a bit more critical as they can end up with a life being taken and possible our own being ruined.
To answer your question Millie, I will just reiterate what others have said:
Do your best to avoid situations where you are vulnerable.
Carry multiple levels of defense, a firearm is just one level.
A high lumen flashlight to the face can be a good deterrent at best, initiative grabber at worst.
Warning shots are a no go. We can only fire our weapons if we are in fear of our lives and are attempting to stop an imminent threat.
This is an example of that. We, as gun carriers, need to take the time to consider things a little bit more than "sheep" as they say, because every action we take becomes a bit more critical as they can end up with a life being taken and possible our own being ruined.
To answer your question Millie, I will just reiterate what others have said:
Do your best to avoid situations where you are vulnerable.
Carry multiple levels of defense, a firearm is just one level.
A high lumen flashlight to the face can be a good deterrent at best, initiative grabber at worst.
Warning shots are a no go. We can only fire our weapons if we are in fear of our lives and are attempting to stop an imminent threat.
One of the self defense / situational awareness concepts that I've learned is that bad stuff usually happens in transitional spaces. You're parking lot is such a space with you being in transition between two safe zones. Last year a coworker and I were in The People's Republic of Baltimore-istan. We went from the hotel to a restaurant and that was when we encounters some fools whose dogs really weren't barking. Again it was that transitional space.
You might like the YouTube channel Active Self Protection. He foes video shorts of real world situations and then analyzes how to handle them better.
OP
I'll check those videos out...it's nice that you said they're short because I sometimes lose focus on longer ones...LOL...I have to watch long ones in sections.
I really am trying to be aware of things going on around me. It's better than cowering in the house and changing my entire life so I don't get attacked. I want to live my life, while being aware of the people around me and what their intentions might be. Thanks for pointing out these videos.
The Hackathorn Triad of Survival consists of...at the Top of the triangle AWARENESS..to either side at the bottom A PLAN...to the other side of the triangle is A WEAPON.
He always stresses that the ONE thing you can do without on the Triangle is....the weapon.
He always stresses that the ONE thing you can do without on the Triangle is....the weapon.
Having had the pleasure of meeting and shooting with Millie, I can say that I have no doubt
she will release the honey badger that rests inside should the need arise.
she will release the honey badger that rests inside should the need arise.
georgel
Behind Every Blade of Grass
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Hmmm... Not sure I completely agree with that perspective, but who am I? I'm not a famous gunslinger.
Millie, another myth to consider, is shooting to wound. Got in a heated debate with someone about shooting to wound. I told him he would be attempting to use a lethal weapon to inflict a non-lethal wound. What if he missed and killed the guy? (If he could hit him at all.) Now, you've got manslaughter. And the prosecutor would run with that. "Surely, Mr. X, you really didn't MEAN to kill him, right?"
He ran of logic and resorted to personal attacks.
No, you can't just blast away. What you can do is try and determine what is going on. Keep the car, or some obstacles, between you and the other. Then, when you have determined that the other wants to close the space when you don't want them to, stop them.
The key point is to stop them. Saying 'stop' is usless when they won't and no one is around. Change that... When no one is there to help.
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OP
I'm thinking that I'd be aiming at the biggest target on a person....and we all know what goodies are in the torso. So I'm not going to try to aim at something tiny like an arm. (Though there are goodies you can hit there too, but why take a chance on trying to hit something small, right?)Hmmm... Not sure I completely agree with that perspective, but who am I? I'm not a famous gunslinger.
Millie, another myth to consider, is shooting to wound. Got in a heated debate with someone about shooting to wound. I told him he would be attempting to use a lethal weapon to inflict a non-lethal wound. What if he missed and killed the guy? (If he could hit him at all.) Now, you've got manslaughter. And the prosecutor would run with that. "Surely, Mr. X, you really didn't MEAN to kill him, right?"
He ran of logic and resorted to personal attacks.
I think if you have to pull your gun out, you're pretty desperate and fearing for your life, and not going to be trying to just piss the attacker off. You have to make them stop.
Olivianeva
Active Member
I would not shoot ("blast") without a verbal warning that I am armed and will fire if threatened. Have to determine if I am really in imminent danger first.
Hopefully you will have time for such an action. But keep in mind:
If you are in a “home defense” situation, yelling out gives away your position and you lose initiative.
If you are surprised, you will not have time to yell anything at all.
Deciding ahead of time exactly what you will do seems like a good idea, but the truth is we have to be receptive to the fact that a self defense situation is going to be chaotic, fluid, and horrifying.
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Olivianeva
Active Member
You are correct for "home defense" situation. If I am surprised at home, it will not be pretty for the assailant or intruder. Ido sleep with two fully loaded guns on my nightstand. The scenario proposed in question was a public place. Different mind set.
Olivianeva
Active Member
Ikarus1
Avtomat Krishna-kov
Not really. You have a right to defend your life no matter where you are when threatened with great bodily harm or death. That's what castle law and stand your ground laws like we have here in NC enumerated.
My right to self defense doesn't stop when I close my front door, my car door, or anywhere else I am legally occupying. I have the same mindset at home as I do if I'm walking down a dark city street in a bad part of town. Home invasions have proven that you're not safe anywhere.
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The point I was making is that having a "mindset" is what is important. But having a script you plan to follow is unrealistic. There may be situations where you can call out a warning to whoever is attacking you or threatening you. But it isn't something I choose to plan on or even consider to heavily. From all I have seen from examples of self defense shootings, when my pistol clears leather the time for speaking has ended.
Olivianeva
Active Member
Olivianeva
Active Member
"chaotic, fluid, and horrifying" sticks with me. Thank you for the suggestions. I agree it is crucial to have a plan, which is what I consider "mind set. "
Olivianeva
Active Member
Olivianeva
Active Member
I would definitely warn that I am armed though. I would not give my position and then get my gun. One never knows how the brain will respond at a specific unexpected situation. This is why I agree it is important to plan and practice.
Olivianeva
Active Member
Olivianeva
Active Member
You are correct. I do carry a weapon with me (CC) ready to go.
Just as bright for under $20
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XRVKT3Z/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Ikarus1
Avtomat Krishna-kov
Also Revtronic. I have the 18650 800 lumens version and you can talk to other planets with it in morse code
I was pumping gas one night and got "that feeling", turned and saw two guys walking across the parking lot seemingly laser locked on me. I uncovered my pistol and put my hand back on the pump handle. They made a hard turn away from me.
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My brother had that happen. He just took the nozzle out and pumped about a half a gallon of gas on the ground. They decided they didn't want what he was willing to give them.
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I have been in a few situations like this also. Switching from cc to open carry can send a very clear nonverbal message. If someone is "laser locked" on you they cannot fail to notice your intention to defend yourself. How you are dressed and how you are carrying influence how/ if you can do this.