Commands for the Civilian Self-Defender

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"Have you found Jesus ?"

I thought about that the only problem that I have with it is it that is opening a big door.

It's giving the street rat a reason to walk up to you and engage you in conversation.

It also leads to what Gavin de Becker calls forced pairing
 
Not if it is response to a specific threat. In the state where it occurred.


Something that the moderators say a lot on this forum and very specifically this sub forum is that if the incident evolves to law enforcement involvement you are not the one that's going to decide whether or not your response was justified.

If you put your hand on your gun you had better be able to articulate a very specific action on the part of the other person that would make any other reasonable person feel that getting ready to draw a weapon was an appropriate response.
 
Something that the moderators say a lot on this forum and very specifically this sub forum is that if the incident evolves to law enforcement involvement you are not the one that's going to decide whether or not your response was justified.

If you put your hand on your gun you had better be able to articulate a very specific action on the part of the other person that would make any other reasonable person feel that getting ready to draw a weapon was an appropriate response.

Correct.
 
I have put my hand on the grip and that was enough.
Very risky. That can risk criminal charges, and it could weaken destroy a self defense case should it come to violence. Oe it can lead to om;s being shot , lawfully.

That's also called "brandishing" and it's a felony. At least in some states.
More likely, aggravated assault , unless there i ra basis for legal justification.

QUOTE="roscoe, post: 11257884, member: 1417"]Not if it is response to a specific threat. In the state where it occurred.[/QUOTE]"In response to a specific threat" is not enough. There would have to be reason to believe that the act was immediately necessary to defend against an imminent threat of death or serious injury, in most states, or to defend agains an imminent threat of the unlawful use of force, in a few states.
 
Very risky. That can risk criminal charges, and it could weaken destroy a self defense case should it come to violence. Oe it can lead to om;s being shot , lawfully.

More likely, aggravated assault , unless there i ra basis for legal justification.

"roscoe, post: 11257884, member: 1417"]Not if it is response to a specific threat. In the state where it occurred."In response to a specific threat" is not enough. There would have to be reason to believe that the act was immediately necessary to defend against an imminent threat of death or serious injury, in most states, or to defend agains an imminent threat of the unlawful use of force, in a few states.

In the assessment of risk, there is legal risk to be balanced against the risk of injury/death. Between waiting to see if they would continue to move through the 10-12 feet remaining between us, versus just drawing and shooting, it was the more measured response. If you are wondering whether the threat was imminent, it was. Make no mistake, this was not someone just coming a bit close to bum a dollar, nor was it just one person.

My action wasn't necessarily intended to be presented as a threat, but as preliminary to drawing and potentially shooting. But once the hand moved to the grip, the situation ended. At any rate, since my two young daughters were with me, legal concerns were (distantly) secondary to resolving the immediate threat. I can always hire a lawyer.
 
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Three that I’ve used to good effect in a command voice are:

“That’s close enough!” Whatever response they make elicits “Get away from me!”. (OK, that makes four.)

“Are you following me!” (Not really a question, just letting them know that I know.). As I make that statement, my back is against a wall, car, end of an aisle, whatever.

“What are you doing!”. (Again, not really a question, advising them that I’m well aware of them.)

A couple of times I’ve done the chicken wing, but never raised my cover garment, exposed or grasped a handgun grip.
 
Please leave me alone.
Followed by Trust me pal— you don’t want to do this.
Has been very effective.
 
As soon as someone flaky begins to approach and opens his mouth, I don't even break stride and I throw up my hand and say curtly, "I'm not interested."
 
Just to add: the point of, as a civilian, issuing commands such as "Stop," "Get away from me," "Don't come any closer " or whatever is not necessarily that you so much expect compliance as that you are doing so for the benefit of any witnesses.
 
"You're scaring me." I'm not sure if this meets alpha or beta criteria, but it's an indirect command or really an exclamation. This doesn't necessarily make it less effective. The trainer who used it believes it helps establish evidence of reasonable fear. They used it while clearing rooms. I imagine it might also be used with a stalker in a parking garage.

Not a command at all. It's a statement.

"You are threatening. Stop."

A better way to state it.
 
Disrespect is escalating to most people. Disrespect from police officers is provocative and if hostility has already begun, it's escalating. Similarly, disrespect toward police officers will almost always result in them escalating threats or violence. It's highly unusual that it doesn't -- example: when NYPD was doused with water. Note that their chief Terence A. Monahan, said: “We don’t take that.” Restraint is the exception. I have personally witnessed accounts of police officers that responded to being cursed at with violence. I'm not going to get into the debate whether it is right or wrong for officers to show restraint when disrespected. I am just pointing out the fact that officers typically respond the same way most people, including thugs and gang members, will react when disrespected: they will consider it an escalation and increase their hostility. With some people and in some contexts there is more sensitivity to slights than others. Officers aren't exempt from reacting to what they perceive as being slighted. As that article GEM linked points out, thugs certainly have a high probability of responding to being dissed with retribution and often their "codes of conduct" are foreign to people that aren't street-wise.

The article mentions the difference between saying, “GET THE F--- AWAY FROM ME!” and screaming “GET AWAY FROM ME YOU MOTHERF---R!” My advice is to never use foul language, ever, with anyone. It can only escalate things. It escalates with cops. And if you're a cop, it escalates with the public. It escalates between civilians.
 
In Utah, you are allowed to disclose or grip a weapon DEFENSIVELY if you reasonably believe it will de-escalate a violent encounter.

I have thought about this before. I caught a video of Clint Smith training people to yell "STOP" right before they draw. Maybe that's universally appropriate for civilians. I think that for most civilians, the process of drawing and firing under attack is already challenging enough. I'm not sure it's feasible to try to make your verbal strategy complicated on top of this. I think most of the time this leads to you standing there with a gun blathering like a fool. If it's time to fight, then fight. If it's time to fight, you shouldn't be talking.
 
Someone said, that a person raised in a violence culture is not impressed by a middle or upper class looking, scared guy squeaking out nasty words. Also, as I saw in class a few times, while you are making your speech, your attention is distracted and a good time to attack you.

Saw a national instructor draw on a gun leveled at him, while nice guy was pontificating - then he shot nice guy. Sims.
 
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