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Got in a fight while carrying

17K views 123 replies 83 participants last post by  Two Tone Everything  
#1 ·
Was short and sweet, but I was totally unprepared for the snap decision I'd have to make. I was approached by a guy I knew (and knew he didn't like me for something that happend years ago) I thought things had cooled down, but when took a swing at me, I realized that they haddn't (in his mind at least). Here's how it went down... I saw this guy (haddn't seen him in 8 or so years) outside a Pep Boys. He said "Hey Man" and started to walk toward me. Recognizing him, I said "dude, long time no see" and no ssoner did he get about 6 feet from me, he lunged out and took a big swing. I leaned back, he missed and re-cocked his right arm for another swing as he cursed at me. I backed up a bit and he lunged again and took a swing. This time I leaned back again as to avoid his punch and as the right side of his body turned with the momentum from the follow through, I jumped at him and delivered a devistating knee to his ribs. I have no fight training at all, but I watch a lot of UFC! Anyway, he went down immediately for about 30 seconds rolling in pain. I went back into the store and called the police. Now that this is all over I start thinking about how very bad this could have gone had he beaten me up or my gun became exposed. What do you do in a situation where your own gun could be taken or come out during a fight that doesn't call for deadly force at the time it begins? I mean, you can't just pull out your gun to avoid a fist fight, right? Comments...
 
#44 ·
In my martial arts training as a kid the mantra drilled into us was, the best defence is to attack fast enough, hard enough, but also know when to run. You are the only one that knows how you can respond to a threat.

I'm disabled, I cant run, I will meet any threat with as much force as I can apply to the situation.

He caught you off guard. It happens. I belive you did well in handling it hand to hand. After his second swing personally I belive you would have been absolutly in your rights to draw and fire if necessary. However I wouldn't be on your jury most likely.

Stop, I'm scared, bang bang bang. I say it alot. Diffuse, back away, apply force if necessary. I might feel bad, but i'm not going to spend time in a hospital over an old grudge.
 
#45 ·
Weapons retention is a serious matter, you are far more likely to be in a fist fight than a gun fight and many gun people (as some on this thread) assumes you can just shoot people, well gang you legally can't.

I suggest you take a SouthNarc Class, the Extreme Close Quarters Concepts 1 and 2 is an eye opener. It deals strictly with 0 to 5 feet and just what happened to you.

Be very careful as to what you read and and believe here on the internet.
 
#47 ·
The way I see it, some people just can't be saved from themselves.

Personally I am kind of surprised at the amount of people who think it is okey dokey to shoot unarmed people with no consequence. Well to each their own I guess.

Elderly, disabled people, force on numbers... I don't have a problem with that.

Regular, otherwise healthy, non-disabled people against a single person without a weapon, and you're gonna shoot them because in your mind, anyone who wants to fight is treatening your life, or because you could be killed by a single punch. Well good luck.

As stated in the original post, this guy just carried a grudge from something over eight years prior and wanted to slug him for it. He didn't say, "I'm gonna kill you" or "I'm gonna mess you up beyond all recognition" or any lethal threats... Basically he wanted to sucker punch him for some sort of retribution for some percieved wrong eight years ago.

Anyone ever watch COPS? How often do you see them fighting on the ground with someone who took a swing at them?

Why don't they just shoot every unarmed person who throws a punch or takes a swing at them?

By some peoples logic, they would be totally justified.

The cops don't shoot them because they know better! They know they aren't justified in just shooting a person who wants to fight. For whatever reason.

Well, why don't they just say: "But as a cop, I'm carrying a gun in plain view, I shot him because if he hit me and I got dizzy, they could have disarmed me and get my gun so I had to shoot him before that happened."

They don't say that, because they know it won't fly in court.

While the police are allowed to use the necessary amount of force to effect an arrest. They are still bound like the rest of us to only use deadly force under the same circumstances as the rest of us are. Which is in an immediate and otherwise unavoidable threat of death or crippling injury.

They may be fighting with a guy on the ground for 10 minutes but they are not gonna shoot the guy until the guy actually makes an attempt to go for the officers gun and get it from his holster or they in some other fashion disables the officer or starts to deliver blows that could render them unconscious.

As civilians, under law... we are not allowed to use necessary force to make an arrest. We are only allowed to use "equal force" for fend off an attack. Therefore if the person attacking you is not using deadly force against you, you are not allowed to use deadly force to repel the attack.

The law and the courts generally feel that an unarmed fight is not a lethal weapon. Now situations may change during the course of the fight to change the dynamics.... but until that happens... you are still in a fist fight with an unarmed person, generally considered as non-lethal.

You go into court and say I shot him because one time my uncle joes best friend was killed in a bar fight and he was only hit one time in the head isn't going to work in your defense.

The fact that it is remotely possible for someone to kill you with one punch is not enough reason for the courts to allow you to make the leap to assume it is going to happen to you if someone wants to fight you.

If your rational is something like: I've never been in a fight in my life, or I haven't been in a fight since high school and I don't want to fight someone and I'm afraid that a black eye may kill me, then I say good luck.

I hope things work out ok for you. I really do! Trust me... any ccw holder who shoots someone, I really do hope things work out for them! I mean that with all seriousness.

I just feel you may... and I say "MAY" be in for a surprise.

Good Luck, Stay Safe, and avoid situations where you can.
 
#49 ·
Good point bark'n....
I always run through in my mind what I would do in a situation like that..
Is it better to just turn and run? Or engage in a fist fight and hope your weapon doesn't come out? Or use verbal skills to try to diffuse the situation? So many options and variables and when I am out and about I usually have my 5 little ones with me and that just complicates things too since running away is no good and engaging in a fight w/a 2yr old in a back pack carrier is not gonna be pretty...
Love the running knee! THat is very Wanderlie Silva-esque.
 
#50 ·
Tough place to be in. First you knew the guy and the attack was unexpected and unprovoked. I think you acted accordingly. Hindsight is always 20/20. The issue of shoot or don't shoot is dependant on whether you thought your life was in danger. There are lots of brawlers out there that can knock a person out with one punch. A punch can kill. Doesn't matter if your in top condition or poor health. You did what you had to do. Glad you didn't get hurt or worse.
 
#51 ·
Bad situation to be in, and it could go either way. My friend just got back from jury duty in a case in which a man shot his brother in law who was beating his son with an aluminum bat. This guy was charged with attempted murder because according to the DA a metal bat can't hurt you that badly. Some of the jurors agreed that being beat with a bat is no big deal. I can personally attest otherwise. Although the guy was found not guilty, any time you have to use a weapon expect the worst. You may live to prove what your innocence in court. (As a side note the attacker who got shot, a convicted felon was given immunity to testify against the man who shot him)
 
#52 ·
I mean, you can't just pull out your gun to avoid a fist fight, right? Comments...
Who says it's "just" a fist fight? Just? Most things start differently than they end up, and simply because someone takes a swing hardly means that person is otherwise unarmed, or not jacked on some viscious drug, or doesn't have some deadly designs on his mind (for you).

Laws generally don't demand you take it "like a man" simply because the first volley of the felonious attack is apparently non-lethal. Rather, they afford you the choice to decide when the threat is legitimate and to be feared, in your eyes, as justification for denying the attack. Only seeing and hearing what you do, in the heat of that moment, can it be judged that the risk has now crossed that ugly line to a lethal encounter. Of course, you'll need to justify it to the district attorney, the Grand Jury and possibly a jury of your "peers." Review the use-of-force laws that apply to you in your state.
 
#54 ·
I carry OC spray, although i think you ended up doing very well :)
 
#55 ·
When I was in Berlin I saw a guy diffuse a fight really quickly. This was different than your situation bc he wasn't attacked first. He knew it was going to happen.

Three guys have one guy cornered to a wall outside of a bar. Obviously angry at him etc. They're speaking German (which I don't) and he's speaking English (which most any German their age will speak quite well).

So all he said was "before you do anything, I'm HIV positive"

They didn't wind up doing anything and just walked away and into another bar.
 
#56 ·
Ya' dun gud! Exactly like you should have. Just make sure you have a good holster. Maybe you should have taken him out after the first swing! but otherwise, fine job, didn't need the hardware, but by all means call LEO!

Stay safe.
Bob
 
#57 ·
My interest in carrying concealed evolved when my health began to decline. I've been big, stout, and athletic most of my life, but now, my back is totally wrecked, I have bursitis in my hip, and my shoulder pops out when I miss with a punch.

I figure the concern about having my gun taken away is one of the risks. Everyone here seems to have a shoulda, woulda..... BS line. In an unexpected attack like the one described, just how fast are you gonna get to your OC, taser, rocket launcher, etc.?

I suggest everyone contact their state, county, and city authorities to find out how much force is allowed in each situation.
 
#61 ·
I'm a fairly fit and strong 30 something, a paramedic and like others on this thread I,v been around the block. Recently while walking home from work I was challenged and nearly attacked. I backed op onto the sidewalk ware I knew I would not be hit by a car, dropped my bag and keys and prepared to fight. This was enough to give the other guy pause and things just kinda plateaued there. This kid was no bigger than I was and my have seen the confident experience i had. However I,m really no fighter and can think of hundreds of guys I have met that would really strike terror in my heart in similar situations.

If faced by a real badas that was unarmed I would (initially)not draw because of greater fear of the legal system. After reading this thread I think I need some pepper spray - and more training!
 
#64 ·
Hey guys... Just piping back in on this thread after earlier posts several pages back.

I just want to point out a couple things to consider. Just to consider.

There is absolutely NO Doubt that being hit one time can kill you! Examples are a-plenty! No denying that. If you feel you must shoot an otherwise unarmed attacker then Do What You Feel You Need To Do!

I am certainly not advocating that you are or are not able to be rightously in fear of your life if someone who is unarmed picks a fight with you.

All I want to point out is that you have to consider what the "moods of the court" feels about shooting unarmed individuals.

Just be prepared to be financially ruined, loss of your job, your retirement savings, your house, your car, cash value of any insurance policies you have acrued and quite possibly your freedom in the battle of trying to defend why you chose to shoot an unarmed person.

Hopefully you'll successfully be able to stay out of prison. Maybe your wife or girlfriend will even wait for you to be released if you are sent to the slammer.

The moods of the courts are clear. At least in my neck of the woods. They don't take kindly to those who shoot unarmed people on the street. Even if the other guy was the aggressor.

Certainly if you are "In fear of death or crippling injury", then you have to do what you have to do to survive and deal with the consequences later! No doubt about that. Does no good to be dead and then try to worry about what you should have done.

Just know going into it what you face for lack of having other options than a gun on your hip to deal with situations.

None of this is easy, and quite frankly, a lot of these "hypothetical" situations described in these types of forums border on absurd.

It is extremely rare, (not unheard of), but extremely rare, where some total stranger out of the blue, comes up and wants to pick a fight with you where the situation doesn't afford you a variety of other options to use in either avoidance, or other less lethal means of diffusing the situation where it doesn't turn into a "killing" situation.

Presenting a lot of unlikely and unrealistic "hypothetical" scenarios that are so rigid and guided that it drives people to think that all they have left to do is shoot someone, in my opinion, does little except create confusion and unrealistic set of circumstances for good people who are trying to figure out what to do.

I've said before, there are hundreds if not thousands of good people doing hard prison time simply because they made a poor decision in the heat of the moment on something they "felt" they were on solid ground when they acted.

Not only do we want to survive a potentially lethal encounter, but as the good guys, we want to stay out of prison too.

Certainly, I am not saying anyone is wrong in their thoughts, and I will not try to interject myself in anyone's encounter with a felon. You are the one on the scene, not me.

Remember, your best weapon is your brain. The time to second guess yourself is here and before you have a situation. Not during the moment of truth.

http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=30503

Be aware, and Beware! Stay Safe! and Be Prepared!

-regards friends.
 
#65 ·
In my case I'm pretty well chewed up with Rheumatoid Arthritis and don't run too well from feet being screwed up from it. Shooting the .45 is a pain since the right hand is bolloxed up as well. I have the disabled permitting for close in parking.

One occasion a punk had me partially blocked in one of these disable parking slots at the local market street United. I mentioned that I needed out and he commenced to yapping about me taking this parking spot with the addendum from other more crippled folks and other discriptives about why folks like me should be hung with a new rope. He ended it with that he called the police and wanted to see them ticket me for the assumed mistake.

Yes I was packing at the time, and retreated to a point where I can be safe from him and to wait for police arrival. I kept my mouth shut so's not to escalate the issue.

Police arrived and miscreant started the mouthing off right away with cop. Policeman asked for ID which I presented both CCP and DL. Policeman had a noticable pause and said I sure kept my cool about it. Coming back from car told me that yes the disable permit was in fact mine and said he could handle this in a number of ways and asked me what I wished done.

I told him to embassass the crap out of him.

Policeman came up to grinning miscreant and placed him under arrest for endangering a disabled and told him it could be escalated to a hate crime charge since he targeted a specific protected group.
The onlookers from the store applauded when cop cuffed him.

H&H towing came out and removed offending vehicle.

A federal DA called in the next week asking if I wished to pursue charges, since the man spent the weekend eating fried baloney and biskets and gravy. (Punishment enough in my book.) I declined and they released him for him to retreave his car out of impoundment.

Never seen the miscreant again and hope not to.
 
#66 ·
katipo, that was great!I too have a disabled parking permit but I rarely use it...I try to let some of our "more disabled" folks have those spots...once in a while when I have trouble walking,I'll use it to try to park closer to the store or wherever....yea I get the stinkeye when I do,but I know those youngsters may be like me someday!
 
#68 ·
Since when does a Man or Woman, armed with two hands and two feet and one head (I'll get to that in a minute) become "unarmed". They all have their body as a weapon.

We recently had a case here in Greenville were a young gay man was killed with one blow as he was leaving a bar. It made national news because it was argued it was a hate crime. The assailant reportedly made some comment as to his sexual persuasion as he swung. The victim went down in a heap with one blow striking his head against the curb and died of severe head injury from the strike to the concrete. Was that perp unarmed?

Just yesterday a woman in Greenville SC stabbed her long time live in boy friend in the neck. He died. It was determined she acted in self defense. What was the weapon he had? His head. He repeatedly head butted her until she was able to grab a knife from the kitchen drawer and stab him in the neck. He was attacking her with his head. A deadly weapon if used correctly.

Not so simple an answer for a complicated question...
 
#72 ·
Not so simple an answer for a complicated question...
The point being, in the end it really is simple: everyone is armed, at all times, merely by still breathing and keeping one's wits. To someone either trained well enough or motivated enough, a great degree of damage can be caused by the head, hands, fingers, elbows, knees, feet, plus hard surfaces around you that can be used, plus any sharp or pointy objects you can find, plus ...
 
#70 ·
Katipo... Great story, great laugh and you handled yourself incredibly well. :congrats:

cphilip... absolutely correct! No simple answers for complicated situations.

Which is why I stress, your legal education, tactical training and learning any other methods of defense you can, in order to add tools to your defensive toolbox is critical, and everybit as important, if not more so than to have a nice expensive gun and great gunhandling skills to the neglect of a sound mind and good tactics.
 
#77 ·
Well now, since this has kind of turned into a flaming post. I do post my credentials because of the business. I also have an attorney that teaches the legal sections of my classes. Yes if anyone takes a class everything we teach will be backed up with our presence in a court room if it has to be. We teach responsibility, responsibility for your actions. As for waiting and being dead, you can do everything text book perfect and still be dead, there are no guarantees in life. Everything that is legal is not necessarily right, and everything right is not necessarily legal. As you say sound judgment is required, we may not hear anything from the guy that hesitated and got killed, how ever we definitely will hear from the guy that did something stupid and is doing life or on death row because some one said :
You are obligated (IMO) to bring a quick and resolute end to any physical confrontation that you feel (legitimately) places you in grave danger. This does not mean "taking a few licks" so the guy can get his aggression out and be done with it. It means:

1. Get away as quickly as possible

or

2. End the conflict in the most certain way you can as quickly as possible

"Legitimately" is as subjective as anything else posted on the internet and will vary from every one, every DA, every juror.

So we can offer our own opinions and accept each outcome as it may be.
 
#78 ·
Well now, since this has kind of turned into a flaming post. I do post my credentials because of the business. I also have an attorney that teaches the legal sections of my classes. Yes if anyone takes a class everything we teach will be backed up with our presence in a court room if it has to be.

:danceban:You are obligated (IMO) to bring a quick and resolute end to any physical confrontation that you feel (legitimately) places you in grave danger. This does not mean "taking a few licks" so the guy can get his aggression out and be done with it. It means:

1. Get away as quickly as possible

or

2. End the conflict in the most certain way you can as quickly as possible

"Legitimately" is as subjective as anything else posted on the internet and will vary from every one, every DA, every juror.

So we can offer our own opinions and accept each outcome as it may be.
I certainly did not intend to flame you. I simply assumed that you were in a sporting mood when you pointed out my typos and didn't want to dissappoint you. :stups:

Hopefully my attempts (as unimportant as they may be) to offer you the benefit of the doubt with regard to your training courses and the type of guidance you provide were not completely lost in the post.

On one issue I agree 100% - its up to the DA or SA. I qualified my statement with the word "legitimate" because in the very few states whose statutes I have had the time to review the wording left a tremendous amount of latitude for an aggressive SA to file charges. Conversely I believe the statutes also leave a lot of latitude for a grand jury or jury to see a shoot as justified. This is why I also suggested speaking with an attorney about the matter. I don't exempt myself from th advice that no one rely on a post in a forum as canon.

No matter what though, I think we perhaps can also agree that it would be better to be alive and facing charges than it would to be dead and facing-up.
 
#79 ·
I agree better to be facing charges than dead, unless I knew that I had done something grossly wrong and have a great chance of being incarcerated for life or on death row, then I may take dead, having worked in State Corrections and having first hand knowledge about what goes on.

I still have to stand by what I said, you simply cannot go around shooting people because they hit you regardless of how in danger you felt. Lots of things come into play, disparity of force issues, lack of weapons and yes as bad as it may seem the demographics and political environment in which you are in. Your gun simply is not the answer for every situation.

The bottom line is each and everyone of us will have to accept the responsibility of our own actions. I do somethings I would never tell a student to do for liability purposes, yes liability is real today, very real. Self defense situations are fast and dynamic, you must be able to read the developing environment and see what is happening then act or react to those situations, split second decisions.
 
#84 ·
I for one want to say you did everything right.

And we all need to remember that weightier or not we used a firearm correctly will be judged later by that area’s DA. And if your use of a firearm was found in error, in Florida not only would you be a convicted felon, and never allowed to own a firearm again, but any misuse of a firearm requires a minimum of three year sentence.

Under Florida law, with exception of being on your own property, or your place of business, you only have the right to use lethal force to counter deadly force. Under all other circumstances, we are required to make “every attempt” to run away.


No two scenarios are alike and I have one for you from just last year.

After the Florida Georgia football game in Jacksonville FL a young University of Florida student was killed by a three drunk Georgia fans by just a few blows to the head.

They did not use a lethal weapon but there were three of them, and they would not let the deceased get away.

So, I have a question for this blog.

When is it acceptable to draw your weapon to defend yourself, when you advisory are only using his hands?