I’m not a fan
If you are attacked by someone intent on killing you, and that vile scum is armed, you really, really, really need a gun and nothing else substitutes. Not your Tai Chi moves; not your vote in favor of that gun controlling senator; not your folding lock-blade knife; not your fists. Not 9-1-1.
One thing that is even easier to deploy is situational awareness and a stare that says I see you and figure you’re up to no good. Knock it off. You’d be surprised at the effectiveness of that.
December 11th, 2012 at 6:59 pm
Yup, that stare saved my ass a few times while I still lived in an urban area. Haven’t had to use it since I moved to BFE, doesn’t mean I don’t keep looking though.
December 12th, 2012 at 1:16 am
Used the ‘look’ today as a bum was hustling across the street to hit me up…he changed his mind.
December 12th, 2012 at 10:34 am
The stare is nice. It is probably the most used defensive technique and responsible for the majority of crimes prevented by the victim being armed. How you might say? Well, it is far easier to deploy the stare in a convincing manner if you have a firearm to deal with the crazies who have the opposite reaction to the stare.
I used the stare and a calm but prepared demeanor to discourage a bum in San Diego who was offering to stab me. It worked, he moved on after a conversation. But I can tell you, I would have loved to have had something besides my good looks to fall back on had he chosen make a pointed argument.
December 12th, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Stare doesn’t work when the perp’s mind is set to “kill”. We had a good example of that yestiddy, right here in Stumptown, in our largest suburban shopping mall. Mall is not a gun-free zone, there are plenty of CCW permits out, especially in that County, but of the 10K shoppers in the mall, no one challenged the shooter. He fired 15-60 rounds, hit only 3 people, so only his bad shooting kept the toll low.
My take from this event is: CARRY IT! If you’re licenced and you don’t carry all the time, you are an IDIOT.
December 12th, 2012 at 3:28 pm
The thing is, Rivrdog, is that for an opportunistic predator, their mind isn’t set to kill until right before the attack. In the beginning, they are in victim selection mode. When violent criminals have been interviewed, a definite pattern emerges — they don’t attack people who are aware of their surroundings, and they almost never attack someone who sees them first. They want people who are initially unaware, and then once aware, avoid eye contact and show indecision. They don’t want fights — they want victims.
That doesn’t mean leave your arms at home, and it doesn’t apply to suicidal nutbars like the mall shooter. Frankly, though, those are black swan events — someone is much more likely to be knifed by a mugger than gunned down by a deranged maniac on a spree.