Hey all, I just watched this video for the first time, he did a great job breaking down the challenges of employing a firearm, in this case a handgun, defensively. It sent me on the thought exercise of what I have done in my past life as an armed professional and currently as a civilian, and I thought I would drop some of my tips here for you folks.
So having watched the video, you will have a better understanding that a huge amount goes into the shoot/no shoot reaction- and unless you want to go to prison, you are limited to reacting. This brings us to what I find is the most important aspect of self defense, which is active planning.
What this entails is removing parts of the decision making reaction prior to the actual engagement. This should really be ongoing whenever you’re away from home, armed or not, and ramp up as your instincts start noticing the threat vector increasing. Perhaps the most important part of thinking defensively is avoiding the fight in general. That goes into how I select where I live, work, enjoy my free time etc.
In this case however, we’re talking about the final preparation as avoidance is failing. All the factors such as totality of the circumstances (can be summarized as justification for use of force), backstop, egress routes, covered positions, secondary threats, and more must be taken into account before any confrontation begins. The best way to remove this from your reaction time is to process all of these factors, and come up with your Trigger Point. The TP is the single action you are waiting for the threat to do that will launch your rapid, deliberate, automated action- in essence, a battle drill. This can work with any reaction you are planning- flight, or fight with anything from physically restraining someone, to less-lethal, to use of deadly force with a firearm.
This frontloads much of the deliberate decision making, accomplishing several things:
1. Frame of Mind: If/when you have to explain your actions to police or god forbid a jury, you can show that your actions weren’t reckless or malicious. It also helps support your actions as defensive in nature by helping illustrate the specific atmosphere that resulted in you feeling threatened, a key portion of self defense law in most states.
2. Control: Practicing this type of ongoing, active assessment keeps you in control of the situation and aware of your surroundings. This means that you can stay ahead of threats rather than playing catch up to changes in your immediate environment while danger has already escalated beyond your posture.
3. Speed: Think of this process as your pre-flight checks. They will allow you to initiate movement quicker, while also protecting you by problem solving secondary factors before they cause catastrophe. It will take vital time out of a reaction that would be dangerous to make slowly. As they say, if you have to employ a handgun in self-defense, you have the rest of your life to make that shot.
4. Skill Development: This process also allows you to get better over time by constantly practicing thinking tactically, so that god forbid you ever reach that trigger point, you will be as prepared as possible. Employment of force happens very fast and ends just as quickly, but the intellectual portion can potentially continue for years through criminal and civil litigation.
