If an unarmed individual threatens to harm you , while your carrying a side arm, how would you handle the situation?
Would you show him that your armed and hope that he backs off? Would you draw out your weapon the moment the guy threatens you?
What if he attacks you? Would it be legal to shoot him? If you don’t use your gun, I would imagine that the attacker might get a hold of it and use it against you.
What is the best way to handle this type of situation?
If an unarmed individual threatens to harm you , while your carrying a side arm, how would you handle the situation?
Would you show him that your armed and hope that he backs off? Would you draw out your weapon the moment the guy threatens you?
You walk away. Keep an eye on the threat, but walk away.
What if he attacks you? Would it be legal to shoot him?
At such time you feel there is a clear and present danger to life or limb, you kill the attacker.
What is the best way to handle this type of situation?
The best way to handle such a problem as this is to have the situational awareness to not get in it in the first place. But every situation is different, so there is nothing like a blanket “correct” answer.
I’m not really a “gun carrying Doper” (i.e. I know a fair amount about firearms but I’m not an “enthusiast”) but I’ve handled tactical firearms pretty extensively and trained in armed (firearms, edged weapons, staff and bo) and unarmed (various Oriental and Occidental martial arts).
Would you show him that your armed and hope that he backs off? Would you draw out your weapon the moment the guy threatens you?
Brandishing a weapon (i.e. displaying without sufficient cause) is a crime in many jurisdictions. It may also have the effect of exacerbating a situation, i.e. causes your opponent to then draw a weapon in response. While the Gary Kleck studies indicate that displaying a firearm is often sufficient to deter an attack, I would not recommend displaying a firearm until you are prepared and justified in using it. This means keeping the weapon holstered, or in hand but concealed until attack is imminent.
What if he attacks you? Would it be legal to shoot him? If you don’t use your gun, I would imagine that the attacker might get a hold of it and use it against you.
A defender is generally not justified in using a weapon for defense against an unarmed attacker unless some kind of aggravating circumstance (size disparity, the attacker is drunk or drugged, et cetera) is in play. The specifics depend on jurisdictional statute and case law regarding the use of force for self-defense, with which a responsible gun owner will be at least passingly familiar. If the weapon is well-concealed (and secured to one’s person, not in a handbag or the like) a random attacker shouldn’t know that it is there unless displayed (see above).
In such a situation I would turn side-on to the attacker to keep the weapon away from reach as best possible, and use unarmed or nonlethal defensive methods if escape or verbal talkdown is not possible. If the weapon is in hand but I’m not justified in shooting, I would use it as a blunt striking instrument, held in the shooting position with the finger off of the trigger and striking at points that will temporarily disable the attacker (i.e. solar plexus, floating ribs, groin, et cetera) such that I can make an escape. If the attacker attempted to gain control of the gun, I would then feel my life to be under armed threat and act accordingly, i.e. hold onto the gun for dear life and, if necessary, discharge it at him. (Obviously, such a situation is prone to confusion and escalation, not to mention the threat of having the gun disabled or taken away, which argues per above that one should not display the weapon to begin with unless there is sufficient reason to use it.)
It should be noted that Hollywood tactics like “shooting to wound,” “winging the bad guy,” “shoot the hostage,” are silver screen fantasies. When you drop the hammer on a person you have to take responsibility for the likelihood of permanent debilitating injury or death, even if you just shoot him in the shoulder or leg. Hence, this tactic is generally inadvisable and also, for anyone who has actually fired a handgun under stress, quite difficult. If the decision to fire the weapon at a person is made, it should be done with the intent of firing as few rounds as necessary into areas of the body most effective at stopping the threat reliably, i.e. into the upper-mid torso or the head. There is no “shoot to wound” or “shoot to kill” in such a circumstance; only"shoot to stop."
What is the best way to handle this type of situation?
In order of precedence, avoid it, defuse it verbally, escape from it, dissuade by threat of force, application of non-lethal force, application of lethal force. Obviously, in the real world circumstances might dictate jumping over a few steps; if some three-hundred pound wild-eyed meth head is charging at me I’m not going to bother talking him down, and I’m pretty much going to assume that unarmed methods are going to be questionable at best. On the other hand, the likelihood of the above scenario is so remote (for me) that it really isn’t a credible situation that I would expect to be in; if I were, the circumstances would be so extreme that the use of force would be justified.
It may, as the saw goes, better to be tried by twelve than carried by six, but on the whole I’d rather be drinking in the corner of a quiet bar with a nice glass of Bushnells 10 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey and a book of David Foster Wallace essays than being tried or carried. It’s not always an option, I know, but much preferred when one does have the choice.
Stranger
If an unarmed individual threatens to harm you , while your carrying a side arm, how would you handle the situation?
I’ve handled many unarmed individuals without ever coming to conflict. I see no need to use a firearm to handle a lesser threat.
Would you show him that your armed and hope that he backs off? Would you draw out your weapon the moment the guy threatens you?
This would constitute “Brandishing” and get me into trouble. You don’t flash your weapon, and you NEVER draw it unless you intend to use it or unless there is a serious threat to your safety so imminent that it justifies having that weapon in your hand.
What if he attacks you? Would it be legal to shoot him?
No. In fact, in regular self-defense, if someone ran up and punched you in the face and then retreated, you DO NOT have the right to go after them and attack them. The threat ended when they retreated, there is no further “defense”. The only kind of unarmed person I might be justified in shooting would be if I was being attacked by Hulk Hogan or Tito Ortiz, had already been seriously wounded and feared for my life. But by that time, drawing a weapon would probably result in it being taken away from me.
If you don’t use your gun, I would imagine that the attacker might get a hold of it and use it against you.
*Retreat to a safe distance and remove the threat. As my first and best Karate Instructor repeated endlessly, the best defense is always RUN AWAY.
Going into court and saying “I had to shoot him because I was afraid he might take my gun and use it against me” would be an idiot’s defense and I personally would vote to strip the right to own a gun from anyone that stupid.
If you’re seriously afraid that others might take your gun, then you should never carry one in the first place.*
What is the best way to handle this type of situation?
*1> Don’t carry a gun unless you have a very speficic and necessary reason to do so. The only time I have ever carried for a non-work purpose is on long-distance trips when I know I’m going to be alone in remote locations. Even then, I do not carry most of the time.
2> Learn other means of self-defense (in my case, Karate and Aikido). A gun is a poor tool for simple self-defense.*
I roll my eyes and walk away, mindful of the fact that someone who is “unarmed” may not be unarmed at all. Consider it to be something like a wary retreat, if you will.
Never. Brandishing is a crime, and without a threat to life or limb that’s exactly what it would be.
If he attacks it would indeed be legal. But by that point I wouldn’t be there anymore. If I have no other choice, meaning that the next best alternative is injury to myself, I draw my weapon.
Truthfully, the answer is to not put yourself into a position where you might have to deal with somebody acting belligerent towards you. If for some reason that is impossible, it is incumbent upon you to leave as quickly as possible if something blows up. Using a gun is an absolute last resort. You will go to jail, you will likely face charges, and you may end up in prison if you were deemed to have done something wrong, so you better be sure that you have no other choice.
My response has already been posted. . . I think four times already. Besides, if someone only threatens you (with words), a good loud:
[GySgt Hartman]KNOCK IT THE FUCK OFF, NUMBNUTS!![/GySgt Hartman]
would, in theory, solve the immediate problem whilst drawing more eyes to your situation.
But I hate getting into hypotheticals.
Tripler
The best part of “discrete carry” is the ‘discretion’.
Years ago, I was utilizing my CCW rights and a street kid came up to me, carrying a knife, and asked me for some money. I asked him if he was threatening me (he couldn’t see my pistol)…he said “No, man,” and I gave him a couple dollars and he went away. That didn’t cost much, and we were both happy.
You can take me, but you cannot take my bunghole. For I have no bunghole. I am the Great Cornholio.
Here’s a question I throw to the gun owners in the thread, as an honest interpretation. I vaguely remember hearing a story about this particular action on the radio, but I can’t recall the outcome.
I do not condone this “cowboy kind of crap”, but does pulling the shirt back to reveal a holstered weapon constitute ‘brandishing’ in your jurisdiction?
Case in point: similar situation where young punk with knife accosts a somewhat older fellow with a concealed snubnose (somewhere down in South Georgia). Young punk draws knife, and the old dude just draws his shirt back to reveal a holstered gun. Young punk runs off, but calls cops about the “grouchy old bastard with a gun threatening people”. Cops show up get to the bottom of the story, arrest young punk (assault), and then threaten to arrest old guy too (brandishing). What was at stake was whether or not the gun was A) unholstered, and B) in the old man’s hand. For the life of me, I can’t find a cite, but I can remember what I heard on the radio news.
Is there any concrete definition in what constitutes “brandishing” based on the physical status of the pistol and its container? I’m going to dig deeper into the GA Code but I can’t find any–seems its up to the police/courts to decide.
Tripler
Whilst composing this reply, I came across the “Castle” laws and “Stand Your Ground” laws too. . .
I “open carry” all the time. So the answer would be “no,” at least in my jurisdiction.
Unfortunately, the issue would be up to the police to decide whether or not to charge you, and then if they do, you have all the related hassles, especially if they decide to confiscate your gun. If you’re talking about a large and/or gun adverse city, it’s almost a given.
They’d just have to say “You pulled back your jacket to show that you were armed. You made an implied threat. That constitutes ‘brandishing’.”
I have every confidence that Minneapolis cops would do this, take your gun, and be irrational shits about the whole thing. Hell, they’d probably very deliberately lose or destroy your weapon before you could get it back. Other locals, not so much.
Here in Florida, IIRC, brandishing a gun or threatening someone with a gun, even if the gun is unloaded or inoperable, is an automatic three year state prison sentence with no parole; plus, the gun is confiscated and one’s license to carry, if you have one, is canceled and can never be renewed. There are exceptions to this rule; you may, IIRC, prevent an attack on another person or prevent a felony from taking place but you better be on very solid ground if you do. Carrying a gun is a very serious responsibility and a CCW license does not confer any police powers.
ETA: In self defense, verbal threats directed to you do not constitute sufficient grounds to use your weapon; you must have reason to believe a deadly assault is imminent.