Having to draw or fire on an acquaintance?

[INHUMAN]

I am from a very small community of around 800 people, although I now live in the city. I got to thinking about what my reaction might be, or how slow, or actually non existent if I may have had to draw on someone who was a long time acquaintance or even a friend. I cringe to imagine having to even fire on a bad guy I have never met here in the city. But hell, what if i went to high school with this person or something? For me, I think it could be a situation where I couldnt bring myself to fire on someone like that. Maybe only if it were me threatened by a major weapon or a firearm. Im not presenting any specific hypothetical, just a general thought on the situation.
I read a thread earlier where a guy had to shoot another through a door while he was attempting to break and enter. They were former acquaintances.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Mr B]

Nobody wants to ever fire on a friend or acquaintance, but if for some reason that friend or acquaintance turns on you in a life threatening way then you would have to decide at that moment if the use of force (or deadly force) needs to be used to protect your self. It totally depends on the situation.

[Caertaker]

That's pretty much a nightmare scenario. I would hope if presented with such a situation training would take over and I would do what needed to be done. I imagine once the adrenaline subsided the additional complexity would play a large role. Isn't this the stuff of zombie movies...?

[INHUMAN]

That's pretty much a nightmare scenario. I would hope if presented with such a situation training would take over and I would do what needed to be done. I imagine once the adrenaline subsided the additional complexity would play a large role. Isn't this the stuff of zombie movies...?

It is a nightmare situation, or worse. I think it happens quite often though, or at least more than you would think. I hope I'm never part of a shooting though. Ever.

[Bark'n]

When you pretty much consider that a majority of homicides are perpetrated by a person who knew the victim, I'm not going to lose any sleep over shooting someone I may have went to school with or known as an acquaintance.

People do crazy things for all sorts of reasons. The number of people I really trust is a very small number. Everyone else, it's not outside the realm of possibility that they could or would hurt me, or perpetrate a crime against me.

Whether it's a total stranger, someone I knew 20 years ago, or someone I've been socializing with for the last year, I will defend myself, and if necessary, would employ lethal force if called for.

Someone comes back into your life after an extended absence, I'm suspicious of their intentions. Someone I've been actively associating with starts acting weird, I show the appropriate amount of caution and at no time do I discount the possibility of a deadly encounter.

For over thirty years I've dealt with the dark side of human behavior. I know what people are capable of and sometimes there's no rhyme or reason to their actions. I also know full well that desperate people do desperate things.

[RoadRunner71]

Yep! What Bark'n said.

Would it be "harder" to draw on someone I know? Possibly. Look at it this way. If you have known that person for years, you most likely know how there are, stable, erratic, violent, or all mouth. You use that knowledge in your threat assessment. Be prepared to be wrong, but utilize the information you have.

If you are not prepared to defend your family from ANYONE who threatens them, you need to analyze your priorities in regard to self defense. Know your boundaries and be willing to engage ANYONE who crosses them, whoever they may be. Trying to consider your feelings toward a particular individual IN THE MOMENT OF ACTION is likely to be fatal.

Whether the person is some one you have known all of your life or a thug off the street, THEY chose to bring violence in to your life. Now, how do you intend to deal with it?

[archer51]

I don't ever want to have to draw and fire on anyone, friend or not. However if it comes down to mine or my families safety I will. Once they cross the line and become a threat, they are no longer a friend, they are a thug and you do what you have to do.

[Bill MO]

Once you decide you need to fire you need to work on seeing only the spot you wish to hit. Take away the sight of the whole target it's not a person it's not a bullseye but a very small dot. Then practice, bring the gun to that small spot from the draw, works with both sighted and point shoot.

Bringing yourself to draw on someone who you know is mindset and again you draw to the threat not the person.Mindset is just as important if not more so than accuracy.

[Hiram25]

They stop being a friend when they put your life in danger.

[suntzu]

I think the hard part be if a friend, family member, or acquaintance had a breakdown of some sort and was not being themselves. The actions that you would have to take would be most likely be the same:defend yourself and family. But the emotional aftermath would be hard.

An acquaintance does not mean friend or someone you even like. So there would be zero difference if he was threatening me or a stranger.

[dukalmighty]

You threaten me or mine,and all bets are off,If you let the fact that you might know a thug/burglar/robber and would have a hard time using deadly force,they would use that to their advantage and you would be the guy in the morgue with a toe tag.

[glockman10mm]

It's a very tough situation. Here's what happened to me;

I was helping my wife in my previous marriage to moving her mom and dad move into a new house. Crazy brother in law had words with my ex wife and pushed her. I stepped in, and he swung on me. He hit me twice. I knocked him to the ground, he got up, ran into the house and came out with a knife. I retreated to my truck, got my pistol, and told him to put the knife down. I didn't want to kill him in front of his family, so I gave him every opportunity to drop the knife.

When he refused, I decided that it was a no win situation, so I made my way to the truck, and was able to call the police. I gave them a detailed explanation of the events, who I was, and the address.

I stayed there, making sure he didn't hurt anyone, and made the decision that if he was shot, it would be by the police. When they arrived, he put the knife down and was taken into custody.
I followed the unit to the jail, and filled out the citation, charging him with assault, Wanton Endagerment.

When it's family, or someone close to you, it makes it very difficult. You have got to use your head, keep your wits about you and make sure you do everything you can to have a clear conscious.

Killing a man in self defense is one thing. Killing someone you know or a family member makes it very different.

[Badey]

I've considered this before. I have an acquaintance that I went to high school with who was committed after feeling that he wanted to harm his family (he had the presence of mind to say he needed help). I have seen him around occasionally, and I feel better being armed.

This is a bad scenario, but a statistically realistic one in self-defense situations. I hope to never have to do it, but I would if necessary.

[MattInFla]

I think one may be in more danger from a casual acquaintance than a stranger in some situations. There is a guy I went to school with who I didn't really know well, but would certainly recognize if I saw him. This particular individual went down a bad road after school and ended up doing time for armed robbery and burglary. Let's say, for sake of argument, that this individual approached me in a dark parking lot and committed a robbery. In the course of the robbery, he recognizes me and is pretty sure I recognize him.

So what happens then? Well, if we were strangers and he runs off, he has a good chance of not being caught. There's little incentive to kill the victim, since identification is comparatively unlikely. But if he knows that the victim can positively identify him, then the risk/reward equation tilts in favor of killing the victim...

[varob]

I'd recommend you stop the "what if scenarios". A threat is a threat.

Period.