Let's talk about self-inflicted injuries in real life defense scenarios.

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Every now and again I read about people defending themselves with a firearm (usually a handgun) who end up inadvertently shooting themselves in the process (usually in the extremities, and often through the off-hand).

Does anybody here have any anecdotes or experiences of this to share?

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The old saying goes, "If you shoot yourself in a gunfight, you're still shot and it still hurts."

Unfortunately we see some self inflicted gunshot wounds in force on force training. Under stress people's trigger finger discipline and muzzle awareness degrade and they end up shooting themselves. Slow fire sessions at static targets 15 yards away on the square range aren’t going to help much when someone is trying to bash your skull in with a brick on the street. The more someone trains for realistic defensive shooting the less likely they are to crumble under pressure.
 
While I'm sure it happens, most of the evidence I've seen points to people hurting themselves/causing themselves to get hurt a lot more when they use forms of self defense such as knives, martial arts, and flying bananas (those things turn on anything that breathes).
 
It's statistically unlikely any particular one of us will ever have to fire a handgun in a self defense situation. It's even less likely that situation will occur in contact with the assailant(s). But if it does, we are in a great big stinkin' heap'o'trouble.

I know a couple of instructors who teach contact distance gunfighting for those situations when 'your awareness fails' as one of them puts it. It is good training, both are the real deal though with differing backgrounds, experiences and techniques. If this is something you are genuinely concerned about (and you should be), you don't need conversation- you need training and practice.

http://www.insightstraining.com/view_course.asp?courseID=23&categoryID=4

http://www.shivworks.com/pdf/ECQC Course overview .pdf

lpl/nc (used to work with John at USAJFKSWCS, met S'narc at the Snubby Summit this past weekend)
 
On THR

I think that it was on THR that a member posted a picture of somone who had a ND and destroyed his off hand. He had just posted the night that he had the ND. he even took pictures and described the pain that he felt and the loss of the use of his hand (a good portion of it anyway.) I think that his last post was that it was going to be a lot of operations to try to restore his hand. Anyway, if you can, check some of the archives.

Otherwise, knock on wood. :banghead: I don't know anyone who has shot him/herself.
 
I think in car defense may pose some hazards. I read in the news about some guy who shot himself in the leg while sitting in his car. Not a lot of room to manuever in some vehicles.
 
mbs357 said:
While I'm sure it happens, most of the evidence I've seen points to people hurting themselves/causing themselves to get hurt a lot more when they use forms of self defense such as knives, martial arts, and flying bananas (those things turn on anything that breathes).
Click to expand...
I'm pretty well trained in hand-to-hand (Aikido, Tae Kwon Do), and I can tell you from what I've experienced and heard from others: in close quarters fighting, you will get hurt. I still have a misshapen lump on the back of my skull to prove that. I don't care what you've seen in the movies, if you're within arm's length, this is gonna hurt. Training and poise can give you the edge over desperation and substance abuse, but only so far.

I had previously regarded guns as somehow lacking "finesse" and "grace" as a form of self-defense (go ahead and laugh, I won't grumble, I was young...), but I learned the hard way. Fortunately, I lived long enough to learn from it. Many folks don't.

As far as self-inflicted gun injuries, that's pretty rare, and the hubbub smells like the old "you'll shoot your eye out" argument. I know several people, myself included, who have needed to use a gun in self-defense, but nobody's ever been hurt. Whether or not it's fired, the gun (for me) is there to stop it before it starts.
 
I suggest that if you shoot yourself in a gunfight you immediately jump up and point out the wound to to your opponent yelling at him that you just shot yourself so can he just imagine what you'll do to HIM?

Anyone moronic enough to shoot themselves in a gunfight should really try to bluff their opponent into running because the odds are he will not fair well in the fight.
 
Self-defense shootings are COMBAT situations. I've seen numerous self-inflicted wounds caused by panic and fear. All of the training and range time went down the tubes when the "rubber met the road" in real situations. Remember, combat is altogether different than shooting at paper targets that don't shoot back!

One of my old partners was a "distinguished expert" at the police range. His first shooting in a real life situation NEARLY cost him his right foot! He fire a total of six rounds, with only two of those rounds striking the bad guy who was shooting back.
His first round hit the ground just a couple of inches in front of his own right foot, after he had drawn and fired. The second round went between the legs of the bad guy. His third round nearly "circumcized" the bad guy, but merely went through his trousers. Fourth round was in the lower abdomen, and the fifth round was in the "10 ring".
Round #6 was a "flyer", probably over the bad guys shoulder. Fortunately, #5 round was a mortal strike, plus it knocked the bad guy off-balance.

Distance of that shoot-out? Within 6 feet! The bad guy fired three rounds, all to the right! The coroner stated that the bad guy probably fired #3 round due to the "death grip".
 
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