Have you ever used your sidearm in self defense?

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Many moons ago, it was decided that I should take a walk North. I met a fella who decided he wanted to come South and that I was standing directly in his path. If I didn't move he was going to blow me straight to hell.

Well, I was armed with a big ole one-shot manstopper--1911 .45 and a badass attitude to go with it. He wasn't impressed and just kept coming, coming, coming.

Taking a closer look, I noticed that was was armed with a T-34. I decided that perhaps I was slightly under gunned and it would be wise for me to get the hell out of there---FAST!

It was self preservation using the best weapon I had--my legs.

Of course the T-34 is obsolete today and you probably couldn't find one in your local gunshop.

You young fellas and non-historians might not be familiar with the T-34. Just Google T-34 and let us know what you find.

Y'all have a good day and stay safe!

Charlie
 
Once when I was 17 (totally illegal) driving down the street carload of other teen agers pulls up next to me & starts yelling at me and waving bats I pick up pistol on the seat next to me & take aim , they rapidly get off at the exit.
 
The other time I was working grave yard shift and went to the Larry's choak n puke to get some grindage.
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Reminds me of a statement a cop friend made to me about a bar...

He said its the kind where they sweep up the teeth and eyeballs at closing.


--- John
 
Yes , twice, one resulted in a BG being arrested tried and sentenced. The other resulted with a crackhead never entering an altercation with a knife when his adversary had not one but two guns.In that one I fired one warning shot about 5" from his ear, that was sufficient to change his attitude and stop him in his tracks and turn tail and run!
 
I was threatened on the street once with a knife. The idiot was a little drunk and showing off to his grilfriend. I went back in my house and was going to invite him in and hold him for the police with my Ithica Model 37, but my wife talked me out of it.
 
Wow, I'm really glad I started this thread. I appreciate everyone sharing their stories. A lot of responsible gun owners who look to avoid trouble and use their gun only as a last resort.
 
First of all, thanks cowssurf for starting this thread, and thanks everyone for sharing your stories. Its nice to hear a lot of stories about justifiable brandishing/use of a firearm actually keeping a tragedy from happening, or stopping a crime in progress. I wish some "antis" would read this thread.

Second, although I (thank God) do not have a personal story, my mom and dad have one. They were a newly married couple staying at another couple's cabin in a rural area outside of town somewhere in California. During the evening, the 2 couples went into town and had some drinks at the bar. There were 4 or 5 local hoodlums at this bar making all sorts of comments about my mom and the other woman. My dad and his buddy confronted them and the situation cooled off, but as my parents and the other couple were leaving, they heard these guys say something like, "We know where they're staying. We'll get em tonight..."

So my dad and his buddy waited up all night at the cabin with a few hunting rifles. Sure enough, in the middle of the night, they heard a truck coming up the dirt road toward the cabin. All my dad and his buddy had to do was stand in the beam of the headlights holding their rifles and the truck turned right around and left. This story always gave me hope that the sight of a calm, determined man with a loaded firearm can often dissuade drunken locals bent on doing evil.
 
my dad has had a few incidences. he never actually brandished (drew from holster), just a hint of the grip and a very stern "BACK OFF".

the only time i ever had to defend myself was against two pitbulls who charged me in my front yard. not sure if it counts, but very scary.
 
You young fellas and non-historians might not be familiar with the T-34. Just Google T-34 and let us know what you find.
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That's a good one, Oldphart (and I love the handle!). You had me going. I think it was Casey Stengal who said: "Ya could look it up!"
 
twice I had to pull a knife to defend myself and others, Once I had to show that I had a pistol and was ready to draw when the aggressor moved back and appologized. never had to actually use either firearem or blade, thank God
 
Aha! I was pretty sure you were talking about the tank! (had a guide to "modern" tanks and fighting vehicles I studied to death when I was a kid)

I don't know if this counts or not, but when I was 18 this bonehead I knew knocked on my apartment door while I was in my room with a girl, roomate's girlfriend answered the doorwhile I was getting up to investigate the pounding noise, I had just barely gotten my USP into my waistband when him and four of his friends rushed in looking stupid. I successfully negotiated that situation without revealing my readiness to not get the s**t kicked out of me by five dudes bigger than me. I let him know the gravity of his actions a couple days later when he came over to apologize.
 
Another leading question, gents.
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In what way? He asked a question and got an answer. A leading question is typically one where the question is asked in a manner to gain a preconvieced answer. I didn't see such in the manner or syntax of the OP question.


-- John
 
No. I thought about shooting a dog once that was acting aggresively towards my kids, but I kicked it in the face instead.
 
I have always been told "if you're gonna pull, you better shoot".
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I think it is more accurate to say: "If you're gonna pull, you better be prepared to shoot."

There are plenty of instances, as evidenced in this thread, stories by Ayoob, and many others, where the display of a drawn gun provided an effective, non-lethal deterrent to violence. Potentially lethal – yes - but if an attacker stops at the sight of your firearm, you no longer have license to kill the guy. That doesn’t mean the threat wasn’t real, and it doesn’t mean you had no reason to pull your weapon.

It isn't illegal to "brandish" a weapon in the face of an imminent threat – but shooting a man that is no longer attacking you is. You can hold them for the police if you think you can safely do so, or you may have to let them walk away. In either case you didn’t break the law, you didn’t die, and you didn’t kill anyone.
 
I think there's a fine line between a defensive display and illegally "brandishing a weapon" .

I carry for self defense not because I want to shoot some one.

I think most people that post here would exhaust every reasonable option short of actually pulling the trigger. in 42 years I have presented once. Had that one time gone a step further I would have shot. but when the BGs backed down I was more than willing to let it go. As for calling the cops , sooooo not gonna happen I don't go one step closer to a cop than I absolutely have to
 
marinepilot,

I hope I retain presence of mind and act as these other men have.
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It's very hard, or nearly impossible to tell over the internet if this line is laced with sarcasm. It *almost* seems like you're calling participants in this thread internet rambos or something. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you meant it sincerely. Regardless, after reading your earlier posts about illegal brandishing versus legal shooting, I'd like to elaborate on the two times I had to draw.

I posted earlier that I've drawn twice. I'll describe the second time first. A disgruntled gentleman was asked to leave the place of business where I worked. He returned, raising hell, screaming at the top of his lungs at our female staff up front. When I appeared at the reception area, he started screaming at me, reached under his shirt, and started yelling "you want some? you want some?" I drew. His hand came out from under his shirt empty, and even staring down the barrel of a glock he continued to shout threats and insults. But then he left. Swearing threats the whole way out the door. Was that illegal brandishing? Should I have shot him?

The second time would take a bit more time than I'm willing to take to describe the step-by-step. But it was a much more intense situation. This was very early in Virginia's shall-issue times. The officers didn't really know how to handle it when they arrived (I called). So, the shift commander decided to temporarily take my pistol until he could talk to a judge. He said I could pick it up the following Monday. He was true to his word, and I picked up my pistol at one of the detachments the following Monday, just as promised. He relayed the judge's words to me after reading the police report and eye-witness reports. The judge said "I would've shot the sonofa#####."

I very nearly did shoot the sonofa#####. I can't adequately relay how close I was to pulling the trigger. Just thinking about it right now as I type is causing my stomach to roll as I remember it. It sucked. But the guy stopped, literally at his last fraction of a second on this earth if he'd continued. Based on the judge's words, I could have shot that guy and walked. But even though I was completely justified, I'm glad that I didn't. I promise you I would have, but I'm glad I didn't have to. And not just because of the legal headaches that would've lead to my eventual acquittal or case dismissal. But because I value human life. And I'm glad I didn't take one that day.
 
One night I went out for a walk on a cold Feb. evening.I was all bundled up and I was walking past a school where there are only a few houses near.A car with 5-6 males in their late teens yelled some crap out the windows as they were passing.The car then backed upabout 50 yds and the driver yelled out "hey old man". I was about 35 at the time.I kept walking and the driver yelled"Hey old man I am talking to you"'At this time they all got out of the car walking towards me.Three of them had baseball bats.At this time I pulled my Browning Hi Power and I yelled to them"OK who wants to die?"They ran back to the car and left burning rubber.This was before cell phones.There is no doubt in my mind that if I was not armed I would have probably taken my last walk.
 
Yes, I've been prepared to use a gun 3 times, and have used one twice.
The first time, I was building a sign at a Church in Memphis in a questionable part of town. I had just pulled up on the job and was doing some paperwork. Two guys walked up on me from behind; one on either side of my van. The guy on my side showed me a knife; I showed him my SA 1911. When he scrammed yelling "RUN", the guy on the passenger side did too. No shots fired and no cops called.
The second time, I was vacationing at my Gramma's place in the woods in the UP of Michigan. The neighbor's place about 1/4 mile away had been broken into repeatedly over the previous 2 years. When I saw headlights at their place knowing that there shouldn't be anyone there, I hopped into my truck and went over there with my Win 94, parked my truck in a bend (leaving the lights on bright), and jumped out in the inside of the bend and waited for them. They couldn't see me or my rifle. Turned out that they were distant relatives (at nearly 2am) drunk, and looking to not have to drive back to town. So they spent the night in a trailer on our property.
The third time, I was in a bad part of Memphis to pick up a load of Cherry lumber for a carpentry job. My order wasn't ready yet, so I went to a nearby McDonalds for lunch and to kill an hour. I went through the drive through and ordered a couple of cheeseburgers and fries, got my order, and pulled into the first available parking space to eat and listen to Rush Limbaugh. I have an AMT Backup 45 in my pocket and a SA 45 1911 chamber empty, muzzle back between my legs, and a yellow cheeseburger wrapper on my lap, burger in my face when a Black guy jumps in the passenger side door and plops his happy ass into the seat and puts his Raven or Davis chromy .25 in his lap and says "Gimme some money!". I slowly lowered the burger into my lap, yanked out my 1911, racked the slide, and pointed it at his chest. I know we were both wide-eyed. I told him that if he'd get out of my van, and be REAL careful how he picked up his gun, that I wouldn't kill him. It was just like TV or a movie, he picked up his pistol very carefully between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, and gingerly backed his ass out of my van; showing the gun at all times. He ran south down the street at high speed. I was cool up til this time. Once he was gone, my knees went to rattling and I was a wreck. I left almost immediately; my right toe vibrating on the gas pedal. Everyone got to go home. The downside is that I'll bet he never jumped in someone else's vehicle without pointing his gun at the occupant. I've had a lot of people tell me that I should have taken his gun; held him for the cops, whatever. I was and am satisfied that I didn't get shot, and that I didn't have to shoot him. I know that I would have; twice in the chest, if he'd done ANYTHING other than what he'd did. I didn't have a ccp at the time even though it had been passed, so naturally, I again didn't call the Police.
A couple of months later, I took my 18 month old son to the nearby train crossing to watch a train near his bedtime. We'd heard the horn some minutes earlier. I got him out of his carseat and we waited for the train. It came. It honked. It passed. We loved it. I had just locked him back into his carseat and was walking back around to the driver's side when Memphis PD showed up; 2 cars; one in front of me and the other behind. The Lady asks me what I'm doing and I explain that my kiddo and I like trains. The guycop takes me back to his car and asks me if there is anyone that will verify my sanity? I asked ***? He explained to me that someone driving by had called them thinking that I might throw my boy under the train. So I gave them my Wife's name and work-number (even though we were seperated). He wants me to get in the back of his car. I do a full spread against his car and tell him that I have a tiny 45acp in my pocket with a round in the chamber. He takes it from me and clears it, and puts me in the back of his car. He asks me why the hell I'm "packing". I said "For the same reason you are... to see to the safety of my family, myself, and to take care of them tomorrow too. (I wasn't legal then). My wife (now ex) shows up some minutes later and gives them a lotta crap... "They like trains!" The Guy comes back, lets me out, gives me my gun back, and Kiddo and I go back home. Oh, by the way, My kiddo's memory of this event amounts to "the nice Police Lady who sang a song with me", and gave him some coloring books.
 
Before tonight, I was in the "pull and shoot mindset" because of the "if you didn't shoot, there must not have been a real threat" legal scenario.
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I think we all are learning something here about the high-stakes, life-and-death decisions that some of us have had to make, and others may have to make someday. That is why I keep coming back to THR.

I apologize for drifting off thread a little here, since the following incident from a couple years ago did not involve a firearm. It did, however finally break through my fog and convince me to CCW.

I was walking my dog one afternoon and almost home when I heard a crash, followed by some loud belligerent swearing. When I rounded the corner I saw two guys and a van. The driver was swearing as he picked up his passenger side mirror and got back behind the wheel.

I stopped in my driveway to grab the mail. A few seconds later, the van went flying down the road past me at a very high rate of speed. I turned and gave him the hand-signal for “slow down” (pumping one hand, palm down - not the one-finger salute). He slid to a stop about 150 yards away, slammed into reverse, and sped back up the street to where I was standing with my wolf-dog.

By his speech and his manner, I concluded he was probably very high and/or nuts. From his seat he yelled, “What did you say &@#$%?!” I replied “I didn’t say anything.” He growled, “You better not, #*@$%*!” - and roared back down the street.

It seemed very likely at that moment that had I said or looked the wrong way, he and his buddy might have jumped out of the van with a tire iron, or a busted mirror, and beat me senseless. Wolf-dog or not, I’d have probably been screwed.

Had I been armed, it probably would have ended just the way it did. There is no point in my narrative that I would have drawn my gun. I would still have attempted to verbally diffuse the situation as I did. But a snubby in the pocket sure would have been a comfort if the door of that van had started to open.
 
32winspl said:
The downside is that I'll bet he never jumped in someone else's vehicle without pointing his gun at the occupant. I've had a lot of people tell me that I should have taken his gun.
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So I guess there is no point in reiterating that suggestion. It would just be after-the-fact, I-wasn't-there, second-guessing anyway.
 
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