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H the K

wrote:
On Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:13:23 -0400, H the K
wrote:

Closer than 10 feet, you're assuming the guy with the pistola is
standing around and waiting for the perp and his knife to close in...

At one of my CCW classes the instructor demonstrated this. Nobody
could draw and fire an aimed shot before he got them, even from a
fannie pack, worn in front with your hand on the gun. The problem is
reaction time from the time you see the guy move until you start
moving. We are talking a fraction of a second here.
I suppose some of those cowboy action shooters can do this but they
train several hours a day ... and they know when it's coming.
I really do think he was trying to drum up business for his self
defense course since the answer was deflecting the knife, then
shooting the guy as demonstrated by his assistant.
My thought was if you are that good why do you need to shoot him? Just
take the knife away and stab him.

Note that I did not say "draw and fire..."

Note that I said "...holding my SIG X-5..."

If I were facing the situation as described, the pistol would be drawn,
and my finger would be on the trigger.

Never take a knife to a gun fight...good advice.

The flaw in that plan is it is illegal to draw your weapon until you
have an imminent threat of bodily harm. You can't just pull your gun
to scare someone, just because you think they are hinkey, That is
"brandishing" a crime itself.
Unless the guy is actually threatening you with the knife, you there
is not an imminent threat. As soon as there is, you might as well just
shoot him. (the other part of the lesson). You just have to be sure
you are right.

Of course this is all moot in Maryland. If you shot a guy on the
street who was stabbing your wife at the time, they would throw you in
jail for the gun violation. It is virtually impossible to carry a
pistol legally in Md. Maryland is also a "retreat" state. You can't
even use deadly force to defend your home if there is any opportunity
to run away. (I know a guy who did time for that one)

1. Who said the gun would be drawn to scare someone? You're adding all
sorts of "value" to the posit here.

2. In Maryland, if you have a conceal-carry permit and you are walking
along with your wife and The Freak comes out of an alley and stabs here,
you are not going to go to jail for defending your wife or yourself. You
certainly do need a permit in Maryland to carry.

3. I am more than willing to take my chances with the legal system by
blowing away a home invader. There are more holes in the concept of
"retreat" than in a circle of Swiss cheese. "I retreated to the garage
but The Freak followed me in there, brandishing his machete, so I shot
his head clean off." "The Freak chased me around the second floor of our
house, I jumped through a window and he followed...so I shot him six
times..." And so forth.

--
A wise Latina makes better decisions than a dumb elephant.