defending against a BG who already has the drop?

[Trunk Monkey]

your response will depend on several factors, including position, type of weapon, which hand it's in, and your own training.

Med Wheeler touched on a point I wanted to bring up. Wouldn’t your response be dictated largely by your level of training?

If you were trained to respond aggressively to a threat and had practiced that response until it was muscle memory I would think that would be your response. At the other end of the spectrum if you had no training or practice I would think your response would be to freeze.

I know that I have drawn my weapon in self defense two times and both times, because of my training, I did it without conscious thought. In both cases the attacker ran away. (To be fair though I think the second case was a “friend” trying to scare me at work at night)

 

[Rail Driver]

Med Wheeler touched on a point I wanted to bring up. Wouldn’t your response be dictated largely by your level of training?

If you were trained to respond aggressively to a threat and had practiced that response until it was muscle memory I would think that would be your response. At the other end of the spectrum if you had no training or practice I would think your response would be to freeze.

I know that I have drawn my weapon in self defense two times and both times, because of my training, I did it without conscious thought. In both cases the attacker ran away. (To be fair though I think the second case was a “friend” trying to scare me at work at night)

Drawing a weapon without conscious thought is dangerous.

 

[Skribs]

The other issue with throwing your wallet is that the wallet isn't going anywhere. The BG can still get your wallet after he kills you.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Drawing a weapon without conscious thought is dangerous.

I meant it in the same sense that a vet hits the ground when they hear a car back fire

It's not like I just heard a noise and drew, in both instances I saw the "threat" coming at me.

The first time was a wannabe mugger coming out from between to cars the second was someone that jumped a fence in a dark storage yard at night.

Both times my perception was they were coming after me and I drew with out ever making the decision to do so.

 

[GRIZ22]

There is no one answer for the OP's question. Each situation is different.

 

[JERRY]

if the bad guy has the drop on you distance is your enemy unless hes really far away.

in close there are a lot of things you can do. creating a gap that doesnt allow you get cover is bad.

 

[conw]

A lot of people involved in defensive shootings don't remember what happened and don't remember making a decision to draw. I think this leads to the idea that the decision was unconscious. The thing is, consciousness is hard to precisely define, because memories are often false.

That can go both ways - people can believe they were conscious when they probaby weren't, as in "NDEs," or vice versa.

That isn't to say people who don't remember making a conscious decision to draw or even shoot are wrong and actually were conscious. It just means it's probably not productive to chastise them for saying that, at least in my opinion.