Remaining Silent as a Defensive Tactic?

[dcb188]

So much for my wondering about silence in the face of savages. Good thing I did not go out and try it. I will just leave it to Mr Ruger from now on.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[dukalmighty]

I think that verbal "judo" as in stay away from me I feel threatened don't come any closer prior to having to shoot to defend yourself,would be more defensible in court if you are charged than when I felt threatened I didn't say anything and when i felt he was going to attack me i shot him

[dcb188]

You are right about that. Otherwise the shooter looks pretty cold and they almost feel sorry for the BG who had no warning in a way. Especially if it is not just you and him but there are witnesses around, saying oh he just shot that man without saying a word, officer. I can see it now.

[ICTsnub]

Silence is a tool used in my business to provoke someone to respond. I've seen it work so good so long, that I would rather shout someone down in that case.

[ArmedAviator]

I am not a tall, bulky"'don't mess with me" looking guy so posturing (silence, puffing up, etc.) is not going to work for me and would likely just get me killed or seriously injured.

I will have to take flight as my first choice and fight as the last resort. However, once my Kimber breaks leather I guess you could call that a form of posturing... (the most effective form IMO )

[dcb188]

Very interesting, all of it. A lot of angles to it, that's for sure.

[Scott]

Well if I let them get so close that I might need to speak with them, and they have threatened me, they will receive multiple non-verbal indications of my response. Comprehension is optional.

[dcb188]

Excellent point.

[Ridgeline]

I would agree with Kerbouchard ... it most likely would be construed as fear. However, I would also think that your stance, eye contact, demenor would play a big part of how you come across. Plus with a 1911 to back it up.

[dcb188]

What a thread I started, eh? Many many many considerations and angles to it. Every single viewpoint is a valid one, too.

[PaulJ]

I don't think silence will work. However, I found it important to consider the "dynamic" of your voice. Start with "forceful" but not too loud commands. You always want to be able to "kick it up a notch" in case the BG doesn't respond at first. In couple cases (again while unarmed) it helped me startle them enough to get a couple steps distance. If armed, it would have helped to get time to draw.

[JudoJake]

Interesting thought DCB. Their is a situation that I was in where I used this tactics.

One day, myself and another under cover detective, went out to eat at a fast food joint. Neither one of us looked like cops, nor were we doing any law enforcement work at the moment, so I think this counts.

I got my food and looked for a place to sit. The place was almost empty, except for one attractive female. I noticed that almost directly outside of the window, where she was sitting, two dirt bag looking guys were sitting their, staring at her and talking to each other. It was so obvious that they were harassing her that it instantly angered me. So I went and sat down so that when they looked at her, they had to look directly at me, sitting further into the room. When they stared at her, they had to stare at me, which kinda sucked for them.

I made a comment to her about the guys, and she admitted that they had been bothering her. After a little while she got up and left. The two dirt bags started talking and then one of them came into the restaurant. I told my partner to not say anything, or even look at them when he came over to the table. My plan was exactly what you stated, not to say anything or respond.

The guy come up to the table and stated, "She looked pretty good. Didn't she?" I couldn't resist, so I looked at him with my best shocked face and stated, "I thought you were checking me out." He didn't know what to say and just got a stunned look on his face.

Even though I couldn't resist the one comment, and my partner just about busted up laughing, I then looked back at my food(but still keeping him in my vision) and started eating. After a second or two, he said, "You got to admit she was hot." I said nothing and didn't look at him. He stood their for several seconds, before turning around and walking back outside to his partner. We laughed about it for hours. I don't know what he told his buddy he was going to say when he went into the restaurant and I don't know what he told his buddy he said in the restaurant, but I doubt either one was what really happened.

[dcb188]

That is absolutely beautiful. Just what I envisioned when I suggested the scenario because it will stun some people. No one but no one walks up to someone and has them either say nothing at all or just look at them. Whoever you are talking to ALWAYS says something in reply. That scenario is beautiful.
"I thought you were checking me out". Beautiful. Well done.

[DaveH]

I am not a tall, bulky"'don't mess with me" looking guy so posturing (silence, puffing up, etc.) is not going to work for me and would likely just get me killed or seriously injured.

+1

What worked for me 20-35 yoa is not going to work at 68.

OTOH, the "disparity in ...." issues in the use of deadly force justification have moved in my favor.

[JudoJake]

To be fair, I didn't consider this a serious incident, where my life was on the line.

I don't know why I thought of this at the moment the guy walked into the restaurant, but I saw it in a movie when I was a kid. The movie was Louie Lamar's "The Sacketts". In the movie some guy in a restaurant comes up to Sam Eliot and another guy. They don't respond or look at him for a while and it freaked the guy out. Some times fictions turns into reality.