Gratuitous "Shoot your lawyer" photo.
Posted on 11/09/2003 9:08:06 PM PST by WoofDog123
Choose The Right Gun
If you saw the recent video of "Old Mr. Grump" shooting the "Lucky Lawyer" in Los Angeles, you can learn a valuable lesson about which firearm to choose for self-defense.
The press rarely reports what kinds of guns are used in crimes, and usually gets it wrong when it tries. Nevertheless, I have concluded Mr. Grump used a .22-caliber pistol. Otherwise, the Lucky Lawyer would not have remained on his feet for so long.
Now, a .22, a .25 and a .32 will kill you, provided the bullet strikes a vital organ. Sometimes the person will bleed to death if the wounds are not treated promptly. But in a self-defense situation, you will not be comforted by the fact that your assailant bled to death an hour after he cut your throat or blew your brains out. And, as Mr. Grump demonstrated on camera, hitting a vital organ is not that easy for an untrained pistolero.
By the way, the numbers used to describe bullets refer to the diameter of the bullet. We use the English system, the Europeans use the metric system, but the diameters are the same.
Most people who know anything about guns recommend as a minimum the .38 special, preferably the .38 Plus P with hollow-point bullets, for self-defense. I have always personally favored the .45, either the .45 ACP or the .45 Long Colt. Of course, the .40, the .357 Magnum, the .41 Magnum, the .44 special and .44 Magnum will also more than do the job, but there are disadvantages to those weapons.
Firing a .44 Magnum in a close room is likely to make your ears ring for weeks. There is also the danger that the bullet will pass through the assailant, through a wall and into some innocent person. After all, most of us no longer live in stone castles, but in places built with cheap wood and plasterboard.
I am not recommending that you run out and buy a hog leg for self-defense. That's too important a decision to be made on the basis of a newspaper column. If you are, however, thinking about it and you are not familiar with firearms, you must first do three things.
One, you have to prepare yourself psychologically to take a human life. It's one thing that can't be undone. As my father said repeatedly when he was teaching me to shoot, "After you kill somebody, it's too late to be sorry." And so it is. In a life-and-death confrontation, you can't afford to conduct a debate on whether to pull the trigger or not. So, if you can't visualize yourself killing a human being and then living with it, you're better off buying a can of pepper spray.
Two, you must learn the laws in your state regarding self-defense. They are both easy and tricky. It's easy in that the law states that if you, as a reasonable person, believe that you and/or another person are in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm, you can use whatever force is necessary to defend yourself. If you are inside your own home, you do not have to retreat.
Now the tricky part. Outside your home or place of business, if there is an escape route, you must take it. Even if someone walks up to you and spits in your face, slaps you or even punches you, you cannot whip out your gun and shoot the person. Killing for the sake of honor is no longer allowed in our decadent society — more's the pity, as it would greatly improve manners. Nor can you claim self-defense if you initiate the confrontation. For example, if you start a fistfight and your opponent whips out a knife or gun and you shoot him, that's not self-defense. Even in your own home or business, if the assailant turns tail, you cannot shoot him in the back and claim self-defense. If you plan to use a firearm for self-defense, you had better know the law, or you'll see the inside of a prison.
Third, you have to buy your gun and then practice diligently to become really proficient in its use, so proficient that you can use it in the dark when you're scared and caught by surprise.
And finally, a politically incorrect word of advice passed along to me years ago by a veteran cop: If you have to shoot somebody, make sure the judge will hear only your version of what happened. In other words, kill; otherwise, your assailant will probably sue you.
Gratuitous "Shoot your lawyer" photo.
If I had bought my Colt 1911A1 first, I would have a dozen fewer guns. I rarely even take the others to the range, any more. I used to think they were cult items.."What's the fuss about?".
Well, the fuss was about them being a classic, foolproof design combining accuracy, perfect functioning, and effectiveness.
This is actually a good article. I teach personal defense and will use this piece as one more item of information for my students.
These threads follow a pattern of becoming personal preferences per weapons best suited for self-defense. There is so often little realism in comments by gun enthusiasts who typically have no experience in confrontations and/or no meaningful training.
I like and shoot a 1911 A-1 in 45 ACP as much as the next enthusiast but I don't carry it concealed. Remember, the gun you have with you is worth far more than the 45 ACP you left at home.
Pick a small, lightweight gun and carry it concealed all the time. If you are on the street much, you WILL be glad for that 32 or 380! Also be sure you learn to use the gun you do carry.
This sounds good but rarely works out. Your attacker isn't likely to just stand there while you draw and fire. Based on work with students in self-defense situations where they face a moving opponent, few get any hits at all, let alone head shots.
If you haven't been through a demanding pistol training program, do so at your earliest convenience. I recommend Gunsite in Paulden, Arizona. Go, learn and increase your chance of surviving a confrontation unharmed.
In other words, kill; otherwise, your assailant will probably sue you.
What is left out is that it is not unheard of for the dead assailant's relatives to sue you.
And for goodness sake, never tell the police that you intended to kill your attacker. You only shot to stop him. Hopefully, none of us has blood lust.
Generally I agree with you. However, even with a "minor" caliber I would first fire two shots to center-of-mass to be sure I've gotten hits. Either of the initial two shots may clip an artery or get the heart, in which case my attacker will go down pretty quickly.
Only after the first two center-of-mass shots would I go for head shots, hoping for the eyes. Stress, time and movement of my attacker make any head shot pretty iffy, in my experience.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.