Take the shot?

[cracked butt]

Depends.

Among hunters, there's a condition known as 'Buck fever' where the stress and excitement of seeing a big deer can cause people to make bad shots or miss.
The condition is actually the fight or flight mechanism kicking in, heart races, tunnel vision, time slows down, no different than in the BG shooting situation, except the consequences are different. Some hunters deal with it very well and the fight or flight reaponse doesn't kick in until moments atfetr the shot has been taken, others whither into a puddle of jello. From the people I know who fall on either side, the ones who can hold off this response and make the shot the best are the ones who have practiced a lot, have visualized taking the shot at the trophy deer in practice, while those who fall apart at the critical moment are the ones who haven't practiced or prepared.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

At 12-15 feet, an exposed head should be a fairly easy shot. The problem comes from the amount of movement, not just lateral, but up and down and the bad guy moves with the hostage. The biggest question is whether the hostage taker is pointing the gun at me, or the hostage. If at me, I need cover. If at the hostage, I can take the shot before cover.

As with the original post, the wife and I have discussed this scenario. We don't like it, but we have also agreed that in such a scenario, the free spouse is to never give up the gun because at that point, he has 2 hostages, not one.

We practice shooting on the move with hostage targets as from MGM http://www.mgmtargets.com/hostage.htm and on shooting Shaffer Shifter targets from Evans, 3/8" thick steel, 6" diamater, hung from about 20 feet which provides considerable movement in all three axes (pan down) http://www.evanstarget.com/pages/5/index.htm .

 

[38SnubFan]

I practice head shots at 10 yards regularly, so I'm confident that at 3-5 yards, I could make the hit.

If it were my SO, family member, best friend, or other loved one; I'd take the shot.

Then again, I've never been there, never want to be, and hope I never am.

-38SnubFan

 

[DT Guy]

The scenario is more realistic if you pose the question this way-can you draw/raise your gun and fire this shot without hesitation?

I know I can do it in practice-I hope I could do it when needed-I pray I never have to find out.


Larry

 

[Hawken50]

"SHOOT THE HOSTAGE"- Speed

no, in all honesty i have no idea what i'd do. i do know i'd need more practice to even consider it.

 

[Lupinus]

Frankly the whole coperate thing is a bunch of bull IMO. If my loved one is about to be taken off by some thug you're damn right I'd take that shot. I know sexual assult victem's and they all would rather have that shot taken and miss hitting them then have to go through that agian.

Am I the best shot? No, but I'd be willing to take that chance. At the worst the hostage is hit and the second shot is a clear one at the BG. It's better then the alternative in the minds of every female I know that come to mind.

 

[goalie]

I have had the opportunity of doing this drill many, many times while a F.A.S.T. Marine back in the day.

Unfortunately, not everyone was in the Fleet Anti-terrorist Security Team while on MSG duty.

Semper-Fi

 

[walking arsenal]

If any bad guys grabbed my wife and tried to use her as a shield they'd be sol cause she'd probably only come up to his waist.

Bonus, makes it easy for me to take a COM upper torso shot.

 

[silverlance]

"only come up to waist"

"shoot through my wife she'll be fine"

 

[el44vaquero]

"I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk?"

Wife would take this as her signal to drop to the floor.

 

[dasmi]

I think I'm ready but we will never know will we?

Let's hope not.
I need to practice more. I can easily get a headshot at 15 feet when I practice, but that's not quite the same as having the head of someone I love next to the head I'm about to destroy, with my heart pounding, and my palms sweating.

 

[Ryder]

If the target is stationary it's doable but on a moving target quite the problem. A person could train to do this but without that I doubt it would end well. There's this little thing called reaction time. That is how long it takes a brain to signal a finger to fire. Realize how far a target moves at walking speed given a 1/4 second reaction time. It is enough to miss something as small as a part of a head.

My imperative to protect a family member would not be deterred in the end. Patience does have it's rewards.

 

[doc jake]

Some good ideas, but how many people have an agreed code word for the intentional faint? I work the door of a nightclub, one of the first things we do before we open each night is agree the code word for the team to move in on somebody, if we have to take him out the club. Our tactic is only one person talks to the target, trying to talk him down then on the agreed word we all move in.

 

[Sinsaba]

Head sized target at 5 yards? Can I hit it? No Problem!! I hit that size target further away all the time.

Can I hit it under the conditions described? Who the he** knows? My wife sure hopes I can because I'll take the shot (provided the target is presented to me).

 

[Double Naught Spy]

If the hostage taker had the woman from my first marriage, I would have gladly complied and given him my gun and all my cash only if he took the woman with him when he left and did not return her. Proper negotiation skills are important to bringing a happy conclusion to a bad problem. Of course, that would be a terrible thing to do to a fellow gun owner...

 

[TexasRifleman]

Don't ever let yourself or your loved ones be taken away by a BG.

Nothing good will come of it.

The situation will only get worse.

Absolutely, to avoid the hostage being taken to the secondary crime scene, which is usually a murder scene, you have to take the shot. Even if you wound the hostage they are better off than where they were headed.

Very tough call, hope it never happens to any of us.

 

[HankB]

Having to take the shot is a bad choice.

Letting the BG take your SO away is a worse choice.

There are NO good choices in this scenario.

I would talk to the bad guy and try to verbally distract him as I closed the range from 5 yards to 5 feet - that's only a couple of steps - at which point, without warning, right in the middle of a sentence - bang.

I pray my aim is true . . . as I said, there are no "good" choices in this scenario.