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Was almost forced to draw in self defense today
14 years ago
General
Caedere and I were out doing some errands when we were accosted by a belligerent and seemingly intoxicated person. He attempted to sell us a pair of sunglasses, then switched to asking for money when I told him we weren't interested. When he didn't get results, he started in invade our personal space while ranting about what he needed the money for. I circled around to put more open parking lot to my back, turned my torso sideways to him, held my holstered CCW by the grip, and started backing away from him while asserting that we still weren't interested.Fortunately, he lost interest and went off to bother someone else. He wasn't an immediate threat, but he was acting unstable, and situations like that can turn badly very, very quickly. Had he continued to crowd us, I would have had to make a scene with verbal commands while attempting to leave the encounter, and my command voice is very loud. Had he pulled a weapon or otherwise escalated the situation further, things wouldn't have worked out well for anybody.
We went into the restaurant and ate while I dealt with the post-adrenaline shakes.
Anyway, everything turned out okay. I just needed to write that out before I could get on with the rest of my day. Hearts for all of you guys! <3
Sorta goes with that rule "If a robber breaks into your house, shoot to kill. Dead robbers can't tell stories"
But damn...glad you didn't have to draw, but glad your instincts were to be prepared. S'why I wanna move to the US (Carry permits allowed, concealed, open, restricted) Here, we can only carry in a locked case to and from the range, if caught with the weapon off a normal route to or from the range, or while not locked, we're in big shit.
(On a funny note, I thought you meant you had to "Draw artistically" in self defense today. I thought, "I wanna hear about this")
*big hugs* If I was there I'd've just been all big and told the guy to fuck off for yah.
Trust me, though, I was just about to tell the guy right where he had to go. I'm a big guy, over six foot, and I have a deep voice. When I have to get shouty and use my command voice, he'd have know exactly what was up. It didn't quite come to that, but it was right on the edge.
Thanks for the thoughts, though! :D
Glad you're all okay ^=^
Straight-up assault i can deal with, because that's black-and-white, clear-cut self-defense. But accosted by a drunk... Our society loves to make excuses for people who choose not to control themselves. Things which would be considered reasonable action against a person who is of sound mind suddenly become bad against someone who is intoxicated.
I hear the words "it's not his fault, he was drunk" used, far, far too often these days... I actually had an argument with a co-worker about this exact subject:
"well, what if someone attacks you while they are drunk, would you still shoot them?"
"are they an immediate threat to my continued well-being? if so, yes."
"But they're drunk! they can't control themselves!"
"then they should not have got drunk"
"but they can't help it"
"if they can't help getting drunk, then they shouldn't take the first drink. deliberately putting oneself into a state where one is likely to make terminally poor choices does not excuse one from the consequences of those choices"
</rant> anyway, glad to hear it worked out okay for you :)
Anyway, thanks for the support! :D My experience today getting a little blown out of proportion by all the attention, but it was still the closest I've come to being forced to draw in self defense, so I thought I'd share.
I believe that mental preparedness and training go hand in hand when it comes to self-defense. I've spent a huge amount of time on the range practicing self-defense drills and failure/malfunction drills, so I have a high degree of confidence that if the situation ever calls for deadly force in defense of myself or someone else, all the necessary motions will be on automatic.
The mental side is every bit as important, though. I believe that before you go anywhere with a CCW, you need to sit down and have a long and honest conversation with yourself about if you are willing to potentially take a life in defense of your own. I certainly know my answer! I will allow my life to be placed in the hands of a criminal. If he brings it down to him or me, I'm going down shooting.
Aaaaanyway, listen to me babble! Thanks for the well wishes.