OK: Pistol as Impact Weapon worked; with Unintentional Discharge

Gun Watch ^ | 16 January, 2015 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Jerry Pierson, burglary and assault suspect

Guns are built to take punishment.  Pistols are most often dense and hard, with a convenient handle.   They make fairly good improvised impact weapons.

That is what happened in Oklahoma recently.   A home invader who is a suspect in several other burglaries in the Ardmore area, was caught in the act by James Collins and his father-in-law.

The suspect, Pierson, had a knife, and had already used it to stab the father-in-law when Collins arrived on the scene.  From kxii.com:

"I didn't know he'd been stabbed when I came out. So my first instinct was just to protect him," said James Collins.

Police say suspect, Jerry Pierson, had a knife, and at this point, had already used it on Collin's father in law. Collin's had a gun, and used it to hit Pierson, repeatedly, but says Pierson wasn't giving up.

"No matter what I did he kept trying to get away, trying to crawl away, trying to get away, telling me he's going to kill me, stab me. I mean, he was just out of his mind, it was, it was crazy," said Collins.

Pierson is lucky that he was not killed.  With the knife, the stabbing, and the threats, Collins would likely have been justified in shooting him.  Instead, he chose to use the pistol as an improvised club.   It could still be deadly, especially if applied to the head.   Pierson ended up in the hospital.

One problem with using a pistol as a club is that you have to get really close to the attacker.   Another is that it is not uncommon to have an unintentional discharge while using a pistol as an impact weapon.   That is what happened in this case:

Collins says he had accidentally fired a shot into the ground while hitting Pierson with the pistol.

Collins was fortunate that the shot did not hit anyone or anything that he did not wish to be hit.

It is obvious that Collins was trying to avoid having to kill Jerry Pierson.  Maybe one day, Pierson will thank him for it.  It is unlikely, but it could happen.

If you must use a pistol as a club, keep your finger off the trigger.

 ©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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[marktwain]

Using a pistol as an impact weapon is *not* recommended. The pistol can be damaged and malfunction.

[CGASMIA68]

many..and now very many years ago uncle had a Colt police positive 38 special with YPD stamped on the butt of the frame.Grips were wood and at the base it was full of indentations that indicated the pistol was used to hammer in nails and bang on all types of stuff.I am sure a few perps heads.
Wonder if the PD’s handy man ever shot his foot

[SWAMPSNIPER]

No way Jose! Blood will absolutely destroy a perfect job of blueing!

[LegendHasIt]

Gee, and I used to laugh at those old tv and movie westerns where the sheriff or deputy, or whoever used their revolver to hammer in nails for the ‘wanted’ poster. I though, even as a child; “What the hell!?, No one would do that with a pistol.”

I guess I was wrong. But I bet that anyone who did had it issued, not purchased out of their own money.

[LibWhacker]

In my opinion, Collins is just a guy who hasn’t reconciled himself with the possible necessity of having to shoot and kill someone someday who is posing a mortal threat to him or his loved ones. That’s understandable. It probably makes him a better person than me since I don’t think I would hesitate personally, but... it could also get him killed and he should seriously consider that and get some training to help him come to grips with it.

[trebb]

If you must use a pistol as a club, keep your finger off the trigger.

If I'm in a situation where using a firearm as a club seems "logical", I'm pretty sure that pointing and shooting will seem even more logical.

[Pollster1]

I’d disagree on who is a better person. The thug in this crime will probably stab someone else again. Solving that problem and dealing with the aftermath makes you the better person.

[LibWhacker]

Good point, thanks... And I didn’t mean to imply that anyone else who would not hesitate isn’t the better person. I may have come off like that. Sorry, didn’t mean to. I was just thinking about me alone. Knowing myself well, I’m not going to go in for a lot of introspection at a time like that, even though a human life is involved. Shoot first, self-examination later, lol.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

“What the hell!?, No one would do that with a pistol.”

How true. The Colt handle is held on by three small screws. Wan to strip them out by using it as a hammer?

[DesertRhino]

In my opinion, Collins was very pissed off. When the pistol is in your hand and you -could- shoot, but something inside makes you want to BEAT the sob with that piece of steel, that’s rage. Pure home defense rage.

He done good.

[Charles Martel]

Collins is also one lucky man. You don’t get close enough to pistol-whip someone if they’re holding a knife.

[DesertRhino]

I’m thinking the lucky one was the one with the knife. As he was crawling away and doing everything he could to escape according to the story.
Collins clearly had the advantage of righteous aggression. More than anything else, that is what carries the day.

[marktwain]

There is the rare situation where it would make sense, but you would not want to shoot.

There is also the situation where you are out of ammo, but still confronting an immediate assailant.

[DesertRhino]

And today, this guy woke up, made his coffee, and is likely having an ok day. He isn’t facing a homicide investigation, and hoping the DA sees it his way. Clearly something told him he could handle it this way and quickly had the bad guy on the run.

That really is the difference between us and the murderers. We do it when it really is unavoidable, not when we can simply justify it.

[schurmann]

“... The Colt handle is held on by three small screws. Wan to strip them out by using it as a hammer?”

RDdB’s caution is very cogent, but I cannot be sure which model of Colt he has in mind.

The Colt Single Action Army has a trigger guard and grip frame made in two pieces; the backstrap is attached to the frame by two screws. The trigger guard is attached to the frame by three screws. Backstrap and trigger guard are held together at the lower front corner of the grip frame by another screw. A somewhat antiquated configuration dating to the first Colt percussion models (1830s).

Remington’s percussion revolvers had the grip frame forged and machined in a single piece, along with the frame: more complex to manufacture, far stronger in use.

Double action revolvers have almost always been made with the grip strap integral with the frame. Often the trigger guard too.

Ruger’s single action revolvers have a grip frame and trigger guard made in one piece, attached to the frame with five screws.

Whatever the configuration, revolvers are not as stout as hammers and will not survive much misuse, if used for hammering. Also, don’t fan single actions, don’t spin their cylinders, and don’t flip the cylinder closed on swingout-cylinder models (double or single action); the repair bucks you save may be your own. Not to mention one’s life, in an encounter.

[Polynikes]

“uncle had a Colt police positive 38 special with YPD stamped on the butt of the frame.Grips were wood and at the base it was full of indentations that indicated the pistol was used to hammer in nails and bang on all types of stuff.I am sure a few perps heads.”

We have a friend who is a surgeon,now retired. I was talking to him at a party one night and he related he did his residency in a NC hospital near Camp LeJeune. He said the NC State Troopers would bring in drunk Marines on a regular basis to the ER for medical treatment prior to booking for DUI.

The reason being the drunk Marines sometimes got belligerent and ended up hauled out of the car usually through the window and had attitude corrections administered with the butt of the troopers service revolver.

Our friend said it was really hard to stitch up 24 U shaped cuts in a drunks head.

[School of Rational Thought]

If you cannot pull the trigger don’t have the gun. This guy is very lucky he was not killed.

[arthurus]

H could have done society a service, saving tax money , if he had just shot the perp. He would also have prevented future violence as the perp would not get out of prison after a few years and go back to work.

[arthurus]

If you cannot pull the trigger, carry a hammer, instead. You don’ t need a permit for a hammer, except in England, of course.