Zero Shots Fired. How Many To Stop A Threat?
The other night I had a dream that ended with a scenario where zero shots to stop the threat was the best option. So here it goes.
It was a cold cloudy evening just after sunset. I was a passenger of a car that was driving around and ended up in a more commercial / seedy part of town. As luck would have it the gas gauge pointed to empty, so we began to search for a station. Driving along a main artery we could see the lights of various gas stations in the night sky. The first station was at our left with a side street before it. We saw that the price was a bit high and thought we should look for a better price. So we turned into the side street where just past the corner gas station on the right was an auto repair shop. I got out of the car and went into the shop to ask the guy where the cheapest gas was located. He was friendly and pointed to the area further up the main street and named the best spot. He pointed to the back of his shop where there was an open garage door opened to the next street parallel to the main road. I started toward that way as I thought that I could catch up with my car as it turned the corner. As I approached the door to turn right I could see that the street was dimly lit and that there was a line of young people moving from right to left. As I exited the building the line was ending and began to disappear around the corner as I realized that it was just a class coming from a school trip with adults interspersed among them. Being aware of my surroundings I could see that the street seemed empty as I continued. The next thing I know is that I'm being grabbed from behind by my belt as I had a short jacket on. I immediately realized I had to fight against a rather larger and stronger fellow. I landed some blows In a variety of soft spots that dropped him to the ground. I ran in the same direction I was in and about 10 to 20 yards I turned to see my attacker jumping to his feet. Realizing that I could not outrun him I turned and drew my weapon with what I believed was a clear mandate for self defense. My attacker had the opportunity, ability and intent to do me harm. As I raised my weapon and yelled stop in the dimly lit surroundings, my foe stopped his rush and said something to the effect that he thought I was one of the kids trying to leave the class group. He turned and disappeared around the corner, and left me with zero shots fired.
I awoke and began thinking about how things would have gone. I had what was probably a good shoot, yet shooting a teacher that was just looking for a wandering kid would have left a deep emotional and psychological scar I would have to live with for the rest of my life. I have a variety of training, shoot in competition, and watch and listen to a variety of gun and self defense related shows as well as belong to a few forums. Some folks believe that if you draw a firearm, that you should do so to use it. Many say that you shot to stop the threat how ever many that is, one, two, three, four, or a failure drill. Whatever it takes to stop the threat. Over some time I've thought about that as part of my travels and during my awareness of my surroundings. I think about just how many shots are required for a particular bad guy. Of course, there are situations that do not allow for that because things just happen too fast. But lately I think that zero shots is an additional and appropriate option.
So the discussion is: instead of drawing your firearm to shoot only, and aside dynamic incidents that don't allow for forethought, can a zero shots fired scenario be as acceptable as a one or two or more shots fired to stop a threat scenario is?
The other night I had a dream that ended with a scenario where zero shots to stop the threat was the best option. So here it goes.
It was a cold cloudy evening just after sunset. I was a passenger of a car that was driving around and ended up in a more commercial / seedy part of town. As luck would have it the gas gauge pointed to empty, so we began to search for a station. Driving along a main artery we could see the lights of various gas stations in the night sky. The first station was at our left with a side street before it. We saw that the price was a bit high and thought we should look for a better price. So we turned into the side street where just past the corner gas station on the right was an auto repair shop. I got out of the car and went into the shop to ask the guy where the cheapest gas was located. He was friendly and pointed to the area further up the main street and named the best spot. He pointed to the back of his shop where there was an open garage door opened to the next street parallel to the main road. I started toward that way as I thought that I could catch up with my car as it turned the corner. As I approached the door to turn right I could see that the street was dimly lit and that there was a line of young people moving from right to left. As I exited the building the line was ending and began to disappear around the corner as I realized that it was just a class coming from a school trip with adults interspersed among them. Being aware of my surroundings I could see that the street seemed empty as I continued. The next thing I know is that I'm being grabbed from behind by my belt as I had a short jacket on. I immediately realized I had to fight against a rather larger and stronger fellow. I landed some blows In a variety of soft spots that dropped him to the ground. I ran in the same direction I was in and about 10 to 20 yards I turned to see my attacker jumping to his feet. Realizing that I could not outrun him I turned and drew my weapon with what I believed was a clear mandate for self defense. My attacker had the opportunity, ability and intent to do me harm. As I raised my weapon and yelled stop in the dimly lit surroundings, my foe stopped his rush and said something to the effect that he thought I was one of the kids trying to leave the class group. He turned and disappeared around the corner, and left me with zero shots fired.
I awoke and began thinking about how things would have gone. I had what was probably a good shoot, yet shooting a teacher that was just looking for a wandering kid would have left a deep emotional and psychological scar I would have to live with for the rest of my life. I have a variety of training, shoot in competition, and watch and listen to a variety of gun and self defense related shows as well as belong to a few forums. Some folks believe that if you draw a firearm, that you should do so to use it. Many say that you shot to stop the threat how ever many that is, one, two, three, four, or a failure drill. Whatever it takes to stop the threat. Over some time I've thought about that as part of my travels and during my awareness of my surroundings. I think about just how many shots are required for a particular bad guy. Of course, there are situations that do not allow for that because things just happen too fast. But lately I think that zero shots is an additional and appropriate option.
So the discussion is: instead of drawing your firearm to shoot only, and aside dynamic incidents that don't allow for forethought, can a zero shots fired scenario be as acceptable as a one or two or more shots fired to stop a threat scenario is?
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