[Dutchgirl]

A long (3 page article) but anyone with a CCW must read.

[Joe Brower]

This thread has just added to the FreeRepublic "bang list" (firearms interest list) by adding the keyword "banglist".

Any time a firearms-related thread is created on FreeRepublic, please be sure to add the "banglist" keyword to it so that interested FReepers don't miss it. Just a suggestion.

Let Freedom Ring,

Click the pic to go to the Gun Facts v4.1 download page!

[Just another Joe]

bump for later accessing. The corporate firewall won't let that through.

The key IS preparation.

[gridlock]

I remember hearing about a case in New York City. Four cops barged into a 12x14 bedroom and suprised a guy who picked up a gun and opened fire. Between the perp and the cops, twenty five shots were fired by the five people in the 12x14 bedroom, and nobody got hit.

[Joe Brower]

Good article.

Ultimately, it all boils down to the simple fact that in a life-and-death situation, people do not tend to rise to the occasion, but instead sink to their lowest level of training.

[2banana]

"While talking with the people that I have interviewed, I could not help but notice that the people who performed the best (and could also remember the best) were the ones who were able to keep control of him or her self. Many remember getting control of their breathing and using this to fuel their inner drive. Those who could get control and overcome the startle response were able to handle the situation. Many of these folks reported that they were not surprised, but were angered by the audacity of the person trying to attack them. It appears that those who became angered were able to channel the chemicals flowing into their system into fight instead of flight or freeze. Many advised that they had taken the time to think about what they would do in the event they were attacked and had even played out scenarios in their head. It is clear that this role-playing or visualization prepared them to take action with little lag time. For years this has been called if/then thinking. For my students, I tell the to think of it as when/then thinking."

Train hard and get mad!

[Badeye]

Thanks for posting this, even if you’ve read similiar articles and trained for such an event, a review is always a good thing.

Very few things are as serious as this. Treat it accordingly.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

George Bemis . . . wore in his belt an old original “Allen” revolver, such as irreverent people called a “pepper-box.”
Simply drawing the trigger back, cocked and fired the pistol.
As the trigger came back, the hammer would begin to rise and the barrel to turn over, and presently down would drop the hammer, and away would speed the ball.
To aim along the turning barrel and hit the thing aimed at was a feat which was probably never done with an “Allen” in the world.
But George’s was a reliable weapon, nevertheless, because, as one of the stage-drivers afterward said, “If she didn’t get what she went after, she would fetch something else.”
And so she did.
She went after a deuce of spades nailed against a tree, once, and fetched a mule standing about thirty yards to the left of it.
Bemis did not want the mule; but the owner came out with a double-barreled shotgun and persuaded him to buy it, anyhow.
It was a cheerful weapon—the “Allen.” Sometimes all its six barrels would go off at once, and then there was no safe place in all the region round about, but behind it.

- Roughing It MARK TWAIN

[siunevada]

Good article.

Practice, practice, practice!

[Al Gator]

There is one more component to this mix.

Please don’t ask me to remember where I found this, it was several years ago while I was plundering a trove of stuff from a military surplus store. I read in some War College military thinking piece that in WWI, WWII and Korea, the “hit” factor was way low. In other words, 100 soldiers firing at human targets only produced some 15 to 20% hits.

It was noted they trained on paper targets.

In Vietnam, the “hit” factor improved dramatically. I forget the percentage.

It was noted that the military switched to human profile targets.

Their conclusion was that most humans have a natural aversion to actually shooting another person, and that by using human outlines, they were able to desensitize the troops considerably.

I always thought that it was an interesting observation, and one that should probably be considered in any kind of crisis training.

[the crow]

bump for later. thanks for the post.

[RightWhale]

Sometimes the confrontation is in bad or no light. Try shooting in darkness. There might be some surprises if you have never done this.

[mcshot]

Bump for “must read”.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Thank you...bump to read later...

[SampleMan]

A common thread from the American West was that the men that won gunfights were not faster, but rather simply willing to kill, fixated on it. They didn’t hesitate, nor did they panic and rush. They just did it.

Many soldiers have shared the same story.

[fso301]

My CCW instructor kept getting angry with me because in his opinion, I took too long to fire. I already knew that one second was a looong time and five seconds was a really looong time. I was actually concentrating on my mental estimation of time and firing well placed shots.

Following one 5 second, 5 shot drill, he barked at me for taking so long and I replied that if he wanted me to fire faster, he should have given me less time. I then remarked about my group compared with the other students groups.

[Smokin' Joe]

Good read. Thanks for posting it.

[hattend]

BTTT

[Jasper]

Thanks Dutchgirl.

I'm emailing this article to all my 'gunny friends'.

BTTT

/jasper

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

bookmark

[ninenot]

He makes a very good point about the “3-dot” systems being hard to see quickly.

Especially when those are not luminous dots, but just painted on.