Self Defense Outside the Home--Priorities and Thoughts

[Old Dog]

It was and is simply the average distance that an average person can run in the time that it takes a police officer to draw a handgun from an uncovered belt holster and fire once.

With all due respect, it's been refined over the years as the distance a moderately fit subject, armed with an edged weapon, could close on an armed officer, and inflict at least one fatal stabbing or slashing wound before the officer could draw from a duty holster and fire one center of mass shot.

Later research by the FBI, among others, indicates that distance could be extended to 27 to 30 feet.

Distance is not necessarily your friend.

 

[Kleanbore]

With all due respect, it's been refined over the years as the distance a moderately fit subject, armed with an edged weapon, could close on an armed officer, and inflict at least one fatal stabbing or slashing wound before the officer could draw from a duty holster and fire one center of mass shot.

Later research by the FBI, among others, indicates that distance could be extended to 27 to 30 feet.

Very True.

 

[Hangingrock]

This maybe simplistic but there is a newspaper printed once a week that has the Counties Sheriffs Department report and also for the major population center in the county a Police Department report. Thus reading both of those reports gives one a certain amount of insight into activity occurring in the county. There is certain criminal activity that is extremely rear in occurrence such has shootings, armed robbery and etcetera. So the threat level is low, can it be otherwise, yes that's where the simplistic avoidance of stupid people, places and things comes into play. If you observe people, they are in their own little bubble as opposed to being aware of their surrounding environment.

 

[Kleanbore]

So the threat level is low, can it be otherwise, yes that's where the simplistic avoidance of stupid people, places and things comes into play. If you observe people, they are in their own little bubble as opposed to being aware of their surrounding environment.

Yes indeed.

More on the "threat level" the likelihood of occurrence):

The likelihood of a person's being victimized on any one day, or even in any one year, is miniscule--"less than remote", in risk management jargon. But statistics are funny things. The likelihood of a person's being attacked at least once during his or her lifetime (using a span starting at age 12 and counting through 70) is almost one in three.

But that's an average, and in risk assessment, averages are far from meaningful. Some people live in Baltimore or Ferguson; others frequent bars; some deliver pizzas at night; others work in convenience stores at night; and so on.

Likelihood aside, it is the severity of the potential consequences that leads us to do the things we do, and the things we forgo doing, to protect ourselves from violent crime.

 

[film495]

the statistics are difficult - and often not complete. when I was curious about this, my best statistical analysis put the chances of any person in the country having a 50/50 chance of being involved from the Victim end of an armed conflict in their life. from the numbers we have to look at, from things that were reported.

people fear home invasions, but that is even more remote. thing is though - if nobody had firearms, how much more common do you think home invasions would become? so, a lot of it is passive defense by being part of a somewhat hardened cumulative target, if I'm using my terms correctly.

 

[Kleanbore]

In the OP, I started the discussion of the Mindset discussion with this:

"This involves a lot more than being determined and confident in our ability to shoot. Our objective is to avoid shooting--and to avoid being shot, slashed, or stabbed.

"That starts with the realization that just carrying a firearm cannot make us safe."
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I have edited the OP by replacing those words with the following:

We must keep in mind that our almost equally important, most essential objectives are to avoid being shot, slashed, or stabbed, and if at all possible, to avoid having to resort to deadly force against another human being.

A violent criminal attack can occur anywhere at any time, suddenly and with little or no warning. It is essential that we are always as alert as reasonably possible, and that we act decisively and effectively to avoid being attacked, or, falling that, to survive it.

Having the proper defensive mindset starts with the realization that (1) just carrying a firearm cannot and will not make us safe, and (2) we should always regard the gun as the last resort.
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Comments?

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[bdickens]

Absolutely. Too many people look at the gun as the solution to the problem when in fact having to use the gun meant that the problem got out of hand.

Not directly related, but in the "How to hang a rifle at the back door?" Thread, the OP is looking for advice on how to do so in order to keep one handy, yet "out of reach" of a young child so as to be able to quickly shoot predators going after his chickens.

First, the obvious point is that those who know, know that nothing can be put out of reach - or hidden from - children. But besides that, I looked at the problem from another angle. We harden our own houses to make them more difficult for predators to get to us. Why don't we apply the same mindset to our pets and small livestock and make it harder for predators to get to them?

That's what we did, and I detailed how. If something gets to our chicken, that means that it breached multiple layers of defenses and that those defenses failed.

But I still have a gun handy.

It's in case everything else fails.

 

[Kleanbore]

In the OP, I said

"Actually, the choice of firearm is among the least important of the things to be addressed when someone decides to acquire one for self-preservation.

"We have made an effort to summarize the most important factors in one concise note. This post reflects the input of well-known trainers, writers, attorneys, and other experts, and more than a decade of discussion among our members and staff. Thanks to Frank Ettin, GEM, Spats McGee. and Jeff White for their assistance."​

I have edited the OP by inserting the following between those paragraphs:

"Self preservation--avoiding injury--is in fact the important objective. Self defense is legally defined as the use of reasonable force to defend oneself or or others from injury by an attacker, when the defender has reason to believe it necessary.

When that does become necessary, we want to be able to do it timely and effectively. But we really do not want the need to arise in the first place. We are far better served if we can avoid the need to use force, by avoidance, evasion, de-escalation, or escape, even if escape is not lawfully required.

There is a lot to the subject."
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Comments?

 

[jdh]

Outside of that box, it was proposed in St Pete FL to reverse the angle so folks would back into the angled space. This was to reduce the number of parking accidents. No, it never got implemented.
But I thought it was a good idea.

Parts of South Congress Avenue in Austin were converted to reverse angle back in parked a couple years ago.

https://www.kxan.com/top-stories/ci...ke-south-congress-parking-less-of-a-headache/

 

[jdh]

Ever see a marked company vehicle used as a getaway car?

Like the recent UPS truck incident?