How many people here have used a gun to defuse a situation?

[Vincent Vash]

I am not asking how many people have shot somebody else in self defense, but I am curious to hear real stories from members where they used a gun in a manner to deescalate/diffuse a volatile situation. I remember reading an article several months back about a couple who helped save a women who was being beaten by drawing on the assailant and telling him to essential "****". Does anyone have a similar experience to share? I think part of promoting gun ownership is proving that having a gun can save lives, not just by quoting news stories and statistics.

Thanks to all who share.

 

[mbt2001]

Faulty logic.

Guns do not de-escalate anything. They intimidate and coerce. If someone is breaking into my home, I produce a gun and he runs off; the situation was not de-escalated, it was in fact escalated to the point of a deadly encounter and the perp fled.

You are looking for bona fide self defense stories, minus the actual gun shot.

 

[Skribs]

They are used to indimidate and coerce, they don't do it by themselves.
I would argue that if you prevented any violence by scaring the perp off, then you de-escalated the situation.

OP: most people who have used it probably aren't going to answer here. There are some other sources you can view (The Armed Citizen I believe is one of them) for this information. Personally, I haven't, although I have used rubber band guns on spiders.

 

[Vincent Vash]

They are used to indimidate and coerce, they don't do it by themselves.
I would argue that if you prevented any violence by scaring the perp off, then you de-escalated the situation.

OP: most people who have used it probably aren't going to answer here. There are some other sources you can view (The Armed Citizen I believe is one of them) for this information. Personally, I haven't, although I have used rubber band guns on spiders.

It's funny you mention The Armed Citizen, I think that's where the article I saw came from..

 

[HorseSoldier]

As an LEO and as a soldier, I've certainly used the firearms I carried (or the threat implied by them) to gain compliance. Have never been in a situation in civilian life where I had a firearm handy when it might have been of use in doing something similar.

 

[Trent]

I have, exactly once. Guy was jumping the counter at my computer shop. I backed off several steps and brandished a firearm - he stopped mid-hop, and hastily left the premises.

Cops DID get involved - he went to the police station and filed a complaint - the detectives investigated and cleared me, since I didn't POINT the gun at him. (I won't point a gun at someone unless I'm going to shoot them, and I wasn't ready for that.)

 

[Powderman]

Cops DID get involved - he went to the police station and filed a complaint - the detectives investigated and cleared me, since I didn't POINT the gun at him. (I won't point a gun at someone unless I'm going to shoot them, and I wasn't ready for that.)

Please don't take this as a bash...

...but if you weren't ready to shoot, why did you draw your firearm?

When you make the decision to carry or keep a firearm for self defense, you must be mentally ready to inflict serious bodily harm--or death--upon another human being. You MUST make that decision before you carry or keep your guns for self defense.

Also, be well advised that in many States (including Washington State) the act of placing your hand on your holstered firearm can be considered a use of deadly force.

And yes--I've used my firearms to de-escalate situations twice, while not acting as an LEO.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Please don't take this as a bash...

...but if you weren't ready to shoot, why did you draw your firearm?

When you make the decision to carry or keep a firearm for self defense, you must be mentally ready to inflict serious bodily harm--or death--upon another human being. You MUST make that decision before you carry or keep your guns for self defense.

Also, be well advised that in many States (including Washington State) the act of placing your hand on your holstered firearm can be considered a use of deadly force.

And yes--I've used my firearms to de-escalate situations twice, while not acting as an LEO.

From what I gather from some time ago, it was (is?) common policy for the LAPD to have a drawn weapon behind their leg when asking you nicely for your license and registration. "Use of deadly force?".. who died in this case or the one you alluded to?

 

[scaatylobo]

Three times off duty

3 times off duty and a few dozen times as LEO did I AIM my weapon at another with full intent to fire,in fact the DA trigger on the .357 was more than 3/4 the way back when he complied and dropped the gun.

Off duty it saved my butt and I was very happy to be armed and do not go out with out proper tools ,in case I need them.

 

[Trent]

Please don't take this as a bash...

...but if you weren't ready to shoot, why did you draw your firearm?

When you make the decision to carry or keep a firearm for self defense, you must be mentally ready to inflict serious bodily harm--or death--upon another human being. You MUST make that decision before you carry or keep your guns for self defense.

Also, be well advised that in many States (including Washington State) the act of placing your hand on your holstered firearm can be considered a use of deadly force.

And yes--I've used my firearms to de-escalate situations twice, while not acting as an LEO.

The firearm was in a holster secured UNDER THE COUNTER, not on my person.

If I had backed off WITHOUT grabbing the gun, I would have ended up with (a very large, bodybuilder) bad guy between me and my weapon.

As soon as he put his hands on the counter and moved to jump over it, I grabbed the gun and backed up several steps, putting space between us. Muzzle was pointed at the floor, never at a person.

He saw the gun immediately when I stepped back (he was 30" away from me at the start of this), and froze. Then slowly backed off the counter and ran out the front door.

 

[hermannr]

I have, exactly once. Guy was jumping the counter at my computer shop. I backed off several steps and brandished a firearm - he stopped mid-hop, and hastily left the premises.

Cops DID get involved - he went to the police station and filed a complaint - the detectives investigated and cleared me, since I didn't POINT the gun at him. (I won't point a gun at someone unless I'm going to shoot them, and I wasn't ready for that.)

Strange story...within your place of business, or you home, you can point the gun at someone and it is still not a "display with the intent to intimidate" (even if that was your intent) as a home owner/business is exempt from that rule here. I must say, the guy had balls to report it to the police, as he could have been charged with trespass and probably a couple other things.

Maybe change the question a bit...when did the presence of a firearm stop a bad situation before it became a criminal situation. In which case, I had such an experience.

There was this young hot head kid that was yelling and screaming that he was going to beat the live stuffing out of me, until he saw my (still holstered) open carry...big 6" barreled Colt revolver. As soon as he noticed I was armed, he turned around, stopped screaming at me and left...in a hurry. The carry never left the holster.

 

[hso]

How we use terms is important.

You force compliance with a weapon, not deescalate the situation.

If you calmed someone and reduced the threat that is deescalation.

If they were menaced by the firearm you presented they were forced to break off.

Two very different things and if we mistakenly use the terms incorrectly we risk being misunderstood.

 

[Trent]

Strange story...within your place of business, or you home, you can point the gun at someone and it is still not a "display with the intent to intimidate" (even if that was your intent) as a home owner/business is exempt from that rule here. I must say, the guy had balls to report it to the police, as he could have been charged with trespass and probably a couple other things.

In Illinois, if I had pointed the gun AT him, and not fired "to prevent a felony", I would have been charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

The police were very clear on that when they investigated the incident. I must have been asked a dozen times by three different detectives in different ways if I'd pointed the gun at him.

They also offered me a bit of advice.

"If you ever HAVE to shoot someone, as soon as it's safe put the gun DOWN and make damn sure you tell the officer that arrives that you were afraid for your life. Say NOTHING more than that."

It was also VERY clear NEVER to point a weapon at someone unless your next immediate action is to pull the trigger to incapacitate them. (Never shoot to kill, shoot to incapacitate).

The police were actually quite helpful after it, although it WAS, admittedly, very nerve wracking.

 

[JTHunter]

In the late '80's, a neighbor who lived across the street, came to use my phone to call the cops (theirs was off for nonpayment). She and her live-in BF had a habit of getting a little rough with each other, esp. when he had been drinking.

While on the phone to the cops, the BF shook my screen door so hard the latch broke and he came in past the inner door. He was about 6' 2" & 270 to my 5' 7" & 220 and I was pointing my .380 at his chest. I told the dispatcher "He's here in my house! Now get out here!" It STILL took them 10 minutes to arrive.

Fortunately, the BF wasn't so drunk that he didn't see me pointing the gun at his belly and he turned and left. Because of our size difference, if he had taken one step closer, I would have had no qualms about putting one in his chest and he knew it as we used to talk about guns. So he left without a word.

He also apologized the next day after he sobered up and paid to repair the door latch.

The LEO's that responded said nothing about charging me for pointing the gun at him. And this is in one of the counties near St. Louis that have been referred to as "judicial hellholes" because of the way their court systems "work" (or rather, DON'T work).

 

[coloradokevin]

I can't count the number of times I've had to aim a gun at someone in the course of my duties in LE. Although you always need to be prepared to use deadly physical force whenever you bring a gun into a fight, the truth is that doing so is very rarely necessary.

A few times when I haven't needed to fire my weapon I've honestly believed that the situation was going to leave me with no other choice, yet the suspect in a few of these instances has still reversed course when confronted. That's the best possible outcome. Firing your weapon at another human is a last resort, but the decision to do so (when necessary) should already be made prior to presenting a weapon in a confrontation.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I've only heard it said like twelveteen times that the more you are trained/the better shot you are, the less likely you are to drop the hammer.

 

[beatledog7]

So now we're going to debate another set of terms: de-escalate vs. defuse. It's actually an easy one to sort out.

If I draw a gun, I have escalated the situation. Introducing a firearm into a confrontation is escalation, period.

If the would-be assailant then runs away or backs down, it could be said that I have defused the situation--by escalating it.

Never use a firearm to intimidate; that's a no-win situation. Drawing a firearm means the next thing you're going to do, without the need to make another decision, is fire. The firing decision has already been made; you're just waiting for the perp to do whatever you have decided will initiate the trigger pull. He either does it, or he doesn't do it, so the firing decision is now his, not yours.

To put in another way, drawing is simply a time-saving step toward execution of the shot which will be fired or not fired depending on what the perp does.

 

[Certaindeaf]

So now we're going to debate another set of terms: de-escalate vs. defuse. It's actually an easy one to sort out.

If I draw a gun, I have escalated the situation. Introducing a firearm into a confrontation is escalation, period.

If the would-be assailant then runs away or backs down, it could be said that I have defused the situation--by escalating it.

Never use a firearm to intimidate; that's a no-win situation. Drawing a firearm means the next thing you're going to do, without the need to make another decision, is fire. The firing decision has already been made; you're just waiting for the perp to do whatever you have decided will initiate the trigger pull. He either does it, or he doesn't do it, so the firing decision is now his, not yours.

To put in another way, drawing is simply a time-saving step toward execution of the shot which will be fired or not fired depending on what the perp does.

Well, it's the same thing with/for everything. One could/can stick a key in an ignition or butterknife into a peanut butter jar in preparation of "using" it but one doesn't have to actually do the above, necessarily .

 

[clamman]

The only time I had to use a gun in self defense was from a strange dog about to attack me on my property. As the dog approached showing teeth and snarling, I unholstered my 1911 and prepared to shoot. For some unknown reason I pulled the gun away from the dog and put seven in the ground in front of his nose, six feet from me. Dog left QUICK, cops came out and gave the dog's owner a ear full.

 

[Trent]

beatledog - if someone already HAS a gun drawn you aren't escalating. You're matching the level of escalation that's already been DONE.

At least that's my take on it.

I could see some instances you'd conceivably draw without firing. But I see you covered that with the interesting take though; on the other guy making the decision.

When I drew the weapon from under the counter in my computer shop, I had every intention of using it if I had no other choice. I weighed (at the time) about 140lbs, skinny as a rail at 6'2". The guy coming over the counter was my height, but muscle bound; every bit of 240 lbs.

I'd been in martial arts, at the time, for well over 15 years. I knew I was physically out matched - not one doubt in my mind how that fight was going to turn out.

It was all over a stupid phone call too. And in hindsight, one of the dumbest reasons I'd ever heard of for a self defense scenario.

My technician had been working on this guy's computer. Left a voice mail on the guy's phone number he left for contacting him. My tech said on the voicemail something along the lines of "your computer was infected with a virus, it's clean, you can come pick it up. The virus hit when you visited {some website I can't recall the name of}"

Cause, complaint, correction all identified.

Problem was, it was a very obvious porn site title.

The guy's wife got the message before he had heard it, and it caused a big domestic row.

So he was coming down to kick my ass, my technician's ass, and anyone's ass who happened to get in the way. The moment he set foot in the door I was on the ready - because he shouted "I'm going to kill that {expletive}{expletive}".

He stalked up to the counter, I tried to calm him down, but he moved to jump over the counter.

And the rest of the story went down just like I described.

My technician, unfortunately, had enough and quit the very next day.

 

[12131]

If I draw a gun, I have escalated the situation. Introducing a firearm into a confrontation is escalation, period.

If the would-be assailant then runs away or backs down, it could be said that I have defused the situation--by escalating it.

It's just like playing poker.
You draw your firearm = going all in
If the BG runs off = he folds
If he draws his, and you run = he has called your bluff (you fold)
If he draws his, and a gunfight ensues = the person with the best hand wins

 

[W.E.G.]

Three guys tried a strong-arm robbery on me on Scott Circle in Washington DC one afternoon.

I jammed a Model 10 into the nostril of the lead guy, but without firing.

That defused the situation immediately.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Escalation, mesculation. If someone's got a gun in their hand, it might pay to realize what may well happen were you to do something just even approaching jiggy.
Every day, cops have guns pointed at folk with the command "don't move!" and or "let's see your hands!" and for whatever reason, that person, very often, later found out armed or not, is potted.

 

[beatledog7]

Well, it's the same thing with/for everything. One could/can stick a key in an ignition or butterknife into a peanut butter jar in preparation of "using" it but one doesn't have to actually do the above, necessarily .

But in your scenarios, the decision to proceed is still yours and still unmade. As I said, drawing a firearm means you're done deciding; you're just responding.

if someone already HAS a gun drawn you aren't escalating. You're matching the level of escalation that's already been DONE.

Yes, if the other guy has already drawn he escalated, and you're now faced with how to respond. If you draw, you are further escalating. If a third guy draws, he is escalating further still.

No matter who draws first, once you draw it means you've either already reached the point of firing or you've decided that you will fire based on what happens next. That next happening could occur in a split second, so quickly that the "draw now and fire if" decision and the "fire" action seem to be merged into one.

And yes, sometimes they are one, but then it's not a "draw" decision--it's a "fire" decision that simply has to be proceeded by a draw action, an action we need to be able to do without thinking "draw."

 

[Certaindeaf]

But in your scenarios, the decision to proceed is still yours and still unmade. As I said, drawing a firearm means you're done deciding; you're just responding.."

Only if you're a brainless robot. One always and can "decide/s".