Defensive Carry banner

Have you ever had to draw or shoot your weapon in self-defense?

Have You Ever Had To Draw Your Firearm In Self Defense? - Have You Had To Fire It?

425K views 613 replies 455 participants last post by  robertelachance185 
#1 ·
If you are a CCW holder:

Have you ever had to draw and/or shoot your weapon in self-defense?
 
#135 ·
I have to change my previous post in this thread, and change my vote now
drawn numerous times on duty

...now its 6 times being a split second from pulling trigger on a human
....and I had to draw and fire on duty to get a pit bull off my leg as it attacked me in the middle of a foot chase after an armed suspect, was not fun, but I'll detail it and another story here in a few weeks....(teaser lol)
 
#138 · (Edited)
When I was an undergrad (many years ago) I managed a small outdoor gear shop in ABQ NM near the University. I closed the place all the time and usually had about 1k in cash to lock up or take to the bank so I carried a small Ruger SP101 when I was going to and from the store. When I was in my truck I'd put the pistol in a pocket that was on the right hand side of the drivers seat. I was driving home one evening on a residential street and honestly was zoned out after a long day when an Impala low-rider stopped quickly in front of me. I managed to keep from rear-ending the guy but it was close. Three hispanic men jumped out of the car, two had bats, one looked unarmed. I put my small truck in reverse and looked backward over my right shoulder but there was a second car pulled up right behind me, an old Ford truck lowrider, and two guys were getting out of that vehicle. I looked left and saw a guy punching towards my driver side window. Much to my surprise the window shattered and his fist (with brass knuckles on it) hit me in the side of my face shattering my glass lense sunglasses. I heard one of the guys yell "pull him out!" Lucky for me my right hand had dropped onto the grip of my SP101 in the pocket of the drivers seat. I raised the gun across the front of my body with my right hand and fired point blank range at the guy who was at the drivers door and amazingly missed him. It was, however, enough of a show of force to scatter the dirtbags with cries of "he's got a gun!". They took off and I called the cops who were nice enough to take me to the ER to get the glass out my eye and stiches. A week later a group of hispanic gang members beat a college student to death in the same neighborhood as part of an initiation rite. Lessons I will never forget from this experience:
1. Situational awareness matters! If I had been paying attention I probably could have avoided this or been in a better situation to respond.
2. You never know when random violence will visit you, carrying a gun can save your life.
3. I happens really fast and you can miss from 24 inches away.
4. Never wear glass sunglasses!

Edit: After reading other posts I thought I'd add a few more pieces of info:
- Never found out where the bullet went, I fired at an upward angle from around my sternum so I probably shot above the guys head.
- The ABQ cops were great about the whole thing. It helped that I knew two of them who frequented our store. I didn't have a CHL but it was legal to carry a gun in the car so they didn't give me a hard time or take the gun.
 
#142 ·
I don't know that I ever saw him again since it was dark and I didn't see his face clearly. He was in his teens or early 20s and he was scared for his life when he saw my pistol. He ran out the door that he came through. If he'd came any closer I'd have shot him but I'm glad that it didn't come to that. It bothered me for many days after the incident about what might've drove him to resort to robbery since I kept replaying the event in my head over and over again.
 
#144 ·
Snake self-defense: I was having a nice little hike in this semi-remote area last Friday afternoon. One of those parks that are really just desert paths with a couple of signs up. About 10 miles west of Tucson. No one around at all. Pretty varied dense terrain. Hills and scrub brush and cactus. So I'm back on the regular trail at a good solid pace, and I hear this weird sound, close and low! Five feet away here's this rattlesnake coiled up. Kept moving in the same direction past him, turned, drew, fired my big CZ-75 pistol. Blam! Looked like a good chunk of his head was missing and a large splat of blood where he was too! Thought the best thing would be to leave him there so the next person is left kind of wary. A five foot dead snake on the trail is going to be hard to miss. Bugger the snake shot!

Also I do CC with the CZ-75. It's not just for the trail hikes.
 
#145 ·
Ive worked the last two decades in a large county jail, and BGs are way more afraid of being shot by a citizen than they are of a LE. For a cop to shoot them they have to be caught in the act, and that almost never happens. But being shot by a person they were trying to rob, that's a constant possibility. They avoid people that are aware of there surroundings. and seek out those that are distracted. When their eyes meet yours they are deciding if you would shoot them or not.

Ive never had to draw on a person, but have had to defend myself twice from packs of dogs. Once with a shovel and once with a 22 pistol. Its amassing that when the shovel cut into the pack of dogs the first time they all realized that they had turned from predators to prey! I think that instinct runs in most BGs also.
 
#147 ·
At the time I write this, it's "100, draw without shooting" and "41 draw and shoot". I was going to try to ball park how often Americans drew without shooting in a defense against humans situation from that, but the number of times people shoot snakes, dogs, etc really skews the percentages. Snakes and dogs don't take off running just because you pulled a gun.

Anyhow, it really looks like that 2.5 million defensive gun uses without shooting is grossly overstated. More like 1% of that, unless we include cases of people drawing because they heard a noise and it turned out to be nothing.

(I've drawn for defense against humans twice. The first involved a group of young men closing in on my GF and me while we were parked in a nice neighborhood away from her mother's house and talking. 12 of them, I drew a tiny, .22lr revolver, one of them yelled "he has a gun" and they hauled. Bad guys don't ask what the caliber is or how many shots you can make, they just see "GUN". The other time I won't go into because I was stupid.)
 
#148 ·
When I was living in Nashville, a guy waved me down so I stopped to help. It wasn't in a nice part of town I might add. Once I rolled down the window, I could tell he was on something (drugs) and said he was being chased and was lost and said had the police on the phone. He handed me the phone to talk to the police. There was no one around and he then proceeded to open my door and get in, and I said "If you open that door, I will shoot your a$$." I had my gun drawn so he backed off and the dispatch even said to me "you do what you need to do to protect yourself or your family." I waited for the police to arrive, but I was not about to let a stranger hop in my truck without permission. That's the only time I have ever been in a situation where I had to use a weapon to diffuse a situation.
 
#153 ·
Drawn twice in nearly 40 years of carrying weapons.
First time was in Rochester NY. I was out on a night callout and this guy on drugs comes up to the open drivers window with a knife. I drew and parked the PPK against his nose. He left. I knew the gun would change his mind, one way or another....

Second time 4 years ago. 6:30 AM, country road on the way to work in a small town. in the left lane doing 5 over the speed limit. A car hits me from behind. I saw him loose control and regain it. I punched the hot key for 911, put it into speaker phone (to allow hands free) and explained the situation. I was asked if anyone was injured. My reply was "not yet" (The only thing I could think of was "smash and grab", as it wasn't exactly a "park Ave" neighborhood.
Meanwhile, brought the 9 out of the console and racked one into the chamber. The cars ocupant pulled up near me,a nd got out. I could see he had nothing in his hands, and moreover, he worked at the same company.
The LEO arrived and took the info and wrote him a ticket. Upon seeing the LEO, I put the weapon back into the console.

Side note: If ypou are going to car-jost, don't pick on an expedition with a Honda Civic. I had a torn plastic cover on the rear bumper. He had nearly $5 of damage.
 
#155 ·
Yes, I've had to draw and fire as an LEO, and fire in Vietnam. Didn't really like any of these experiences.
 
#156 ·
I was on the way home from work on a Saturday night about 2345hr. I had turned onto a two lane road with a 45mph speed limit. I was doing about 50mph, and saw headlights in the rear view mirror approaching at a pretty good clip. It was a Mustang and it passed me at probably 65-70mph. About 3 or 4 miles down the road, the Mustang was caught behind slower traffic. I finally caught up to the Mustang, which was still behind the slower moving traffic. Came up to a railroad crossing, and the Mustang braked hard and stopped. I stopped behind them and was thinking what are they doing. All of a sudden, four teenagers leaped out of the Mustang and started to approach my car. I could not backup, as there was a car behind me, and I am thinking ***. I retrieved the PPK (Stainless) from the glove box, and showed it to them by holding it up to the windshield. Reality hit, and they ran for the Mustang, jumped in and were on their way. To this day, no idea what was going on in their minds.

This is my first post, I like the forum. First CC Permit was in 1966. I have had to show the weapon a couple of other times.

Ken
Southwest PA
 
#157 ·
Ken: WELCOME!!!! Lots of great folks on here--lots of folks that have loads of real-world, practical experience. Stick around :smile:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hawkerdriver
#162 ·
No to the poll, thank God and hopefully never will.

I see a lot of the replies claiming shot placement is key. The more I read the more I wonder about the actual event itself. As stated in numerous posts, adrenelin and the speed of the encounter will not allow for careful aiming and shot placement. The distance will also render shot placement and the ability to properly aim moot. The most key element will be incoming fire.
Don`t think the BG will just stand there and make a nice easy target to shoot. Since we are the defenders we will be behind the curve and most likely drawing last. Weapon retention and getting rounds off will win or lose the encounter.

IMO the most important ingredient in any encounter is operation of your weapon from an unpracticed stance. You don`t want to extend your arms and hand your gun to the BG. Your shots will most likely need be fired from mid chest with your arm tucked against your body. Left arm and hand ready to block his grab. Your opponent will most likely be within arms reach. The encounter will probably be over by the time you can say "Holy Crap!"
Practicing tactics and shooting at the range will develop muscle memory but try to visualize a real no bs scenario when you practice. Try moving to the left of the target, ducking and shooting from 5 feet with your gun tucked in tight like someone is trying to grab it from you. Give yourself 7 seconds from draw to safety and get as many rounds on target as possible. See how your shot placement works in that scenario.

I say this from reading info on lots of different articles about actual on the street encounters and have come to the conclusion in a face to face with Mr BG the above would probably be the scenario that would save your life.
What if he sneaks up behind you and knocks the crap out of you then pushes you down on the ground and starts kicking your ribs in ?
What if he has a buddy or three and they are fanned out or your attention is diverted by BG1 while BG 2&3 are behind or to the side of you?

We have too much Hollywood ingrained in our minds and threads like this prove it to a degree from some of the responses I have seen here. I watch a lot of movies too and sometimes I scare the crap out of myself visualizing my own real vs Hollywood scenario that I have just seen. Watch some of the youtube shooter videos and count off the seconds and put yourself in the position of the CHL guy as a bystander or active participant. It should be very scary.

The mental aspect of the event will prepare you just as much as the physical attributes we all ascribe to. To survive we have to dial back the testosterone and look at it from cold hard reality. Targets don`t shoot back. BG`s do. You will draw last and could very well catch some lead. Be prepared for these things to happen. Most people don`t die from gunshot wounds. People die from not being mentally prepared.
Just my thoughts.
 
#196 ·
I agree wholeheartedly. Here's what made me and my wife get a CCP. In New York, no less.

Business meeting and presentation in a bowling alley upstairs from a bar. Not a bad part of town, but bordered on one. Having gone to HS in a bad part of town, I developed some street sense. 10 O'clock pm. Needed to leave the bar, but it's lonely out there and the car is in a dark parking lot across the street, kitty-corner to the bar. Decide to wait and watch. 15 to 20 minutes go by, no one leaves the bar, no one outside, no activity. Then, one of my associates, a lady, decides to leave. She walks right to the parking lot, gets in her car and drives away. OK. I decide to try it. I leave, briefcase in hand, cross the street which is well lit, and walk to my car parked in the middle of the lot. My head is swiveling looking for danger. Nothing to see. I get to my car and reach for the door handle. From thirty feet away I hear two people running toward me, fast! Instantly I decide there is no time to get in the car and start it and even get the door locked. I bolt! I get to the front of my car and see that they are already at the back end of my car. I turn and run for the street and street lights hoping that a car will be coming down the road. They run down the row of cars with me, separated by one car length. I glance in their direction as I run and I see each of them holding a gun pointed about 45 degrees toward the ground. Big guns with long barrels. I scream every dirty word I can think of to let them know I am a predator. I get to the end of the row of cars and the street. No where to go, out of room, no cars, no people, just street lights. I hit the pavement, throw my briefcase in their direction. Guns are pointed at me now. They are jumping like crazy all around me. They are screaming something, I can't tell, but I think it's about my wallet. I reach around and toss them my wallet and shout that "I haven't seen you, can't identify you!" They take the briefcase with my computer, my wallet and run down an alley for the BG's border. As they run, I lay there and point my finger at them as if I was shooting. I'm pissed, and realize that even if I did have a gun, I couldn't shoot. My cash is still in my right front pocket. The very next week, I started the 9 month long permit process in NY.

I got lucky. Didn't get shot. Had I had a gun, I would have had cover behind a car and not much time to deploy it, let alone let them know I had one. I am thankful for a few things. First, for not getting shot. I think my screaming and actions helped to save me. Good street sense from HS. That, and just dumb luck. Second, for being in a situation where I discovered what my capabilities were under great stress. I think a lot of people don't know. I am confident in that regard. Third, for raising my situational awareness to it's highest level. That's what keeps you from getting into trouble. My SA was good, not goog enough. The gun is for when there is no recourse.

Would I have drawn the gun if I had it? Uh huh. But, it would not have been until the end of the row of cars. I simply would not have had time. It would have been on the run. Would someone have gotten hurt? Maybe. Maybe me.

Since then, I have taken self defense courses (which taught me more about predator behavior, situational awareness and how to defuse situations), handgun courses, and lately am in weekly situational BG covered defense action courses. All of this has saved us a couple of times. One time in Phili a guy was following me and my wife in broad daylight; three times we crossed the street together. I stopped, turned, stared right at him. He decided to pick on someone else. How many just don't know?

And no, I have not drawn or shot.
 
#163 ·
Draw but thankfully not fired. I was called by my youngest son telling me that our house was open and lights on. So I came home and cleared the house. It was a very tense and strange experience. Thankfully no one was there and as far as we could tell nothing was missing.
 
#167 ·
I have a female friend who left work, got into her car and had someone try to get in the drivers side as she was locking it.
He ran around the passenger side and getting ready to yank the passenger door open just as she realized it wasn't locked.
When he ducked in, he came face to face with her gun which she had time to pull. He backed away and ran off as fast as
he could.
 
Top