Fish Springs said:
Tonight my daughter's martial arts instructor was telling me how with a knife he could kill me before I could bring a gun on target and terminate the threat--offering that from 21 feet, I could not draw and fire fast enough to stop him.
I am able to draw and put two shot on target in under 1.25 seconds--1 on a good day.
What is your experience/thinking on this?
As someone who also has extensive martial arts experience, I am always really wary when instructors begin down this road. Just as with firearms, those that love to sit and talk about who, what, and how easily they can kill someone/something tend to be the kind of people that you want to steer clear of.
That said, whether his answer is correct or pure bs depends upon the particulars of the situation. If person A has a knife and approaches an otherwise unknowing person B then sure it could happen. However, if person B has acknowledged the threat and is ready before person A begins to close the distance then the situation is wholly different.
In my unsubstantiated opinion, the best that a knife attacker could hope for by attacking someone who is both carying and aware of the threat is inflicting a moderate knife wound before they ended up dead. I would argue this would be the case for someone with an average ability with firearms.
Why? Well, in this kind of situation accuracy isn't going to play a huge factor. 21 feet in of itself isn't a huge distance, and by decreasing the distance between the shooter and himself, all the knife attacker is doing is increasing the "point and click" factor to where rapid follow-up shots are less likely to miss their mark. If you take a proficient shooter, especially someone well versed in tactics and drills, then the chances of any injury become even more remote.
This isn't to say that the shooter will come out unscathed. Quite the contrary, factors such as shot placement, type of handgun, the particular attacker and any substance that he may be on, will all take a hand in whatever outcome occurs. That said however, the dude with the knife starts with a severe disadvantage.
For what its worth, as someone who considers themselves proficient in both shooting and knife handling, there is nobody on this planet that could convince me to carry a knife in lieu of a handgun for personal defense (both is my preference).
Sorry for the long response, but it has always bewildered me when martial artists stick their noses up at firearms, and surprisingly it happens quite often. Martial arts and knives certianly have a place, but not as an offensive measure. The are defensive, and almost a sort of last resort. To refuse a better method of protection is just simply stupid in my opinion.
