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IN: Armed Mother and "buck fever" during Home Invasion
Gun Watch ^ | 9 November, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

Posted on 11/10/2014 5:13:37 AM PST by marktwain


An armed mother in Indiana was unable to fire her pistol to protect her family.   She did not believe the intruder when he told her that he was the police.  Confronted with the armed mother, the burglar ran off, taking the families flat screen television with him.   It was a scary, adrenaline pumping moment, I am sure.   From the mother's description of what happened, I suspect that it was a case of what we called "buck fever" when I was growing up.   From wthr.com:

"I yelled down the stairs, 'Who's down there?'," she said. "He told me, 'The police.' As I ran down the steps and I was going to shoot my gun, it jammed up on me."Once jammed, Marta said the bullets popped through the chamber, unfired. That allowed the burglar to get away, carrying her flat screen TV.
From the picture, the pistol is a Sig Sauer Mosquito.  It is a popular .22 caliber pistol, intended primarily for training, target shooting, and plinking.  It has a slide mounted safety and a safety lock located behind the magazine well.  As can be seen in the YouTube video at the link, the slide can be operated with the safety on.  Many people keep pistols for home defense in condition three.  That is, with a loaded magazine in the pistol, but with the chamber empty.   Often, especially if there are small children in the house, the safety is kept on as well, making it more difficult for a child to fire the firearm.

 Link to Mosquito video on YouTube:

When I was growing up, deer hunting was, and still is, a rite of passage for young people.   One of the oral traditions that was passed on was the potential for "buck fever".   Buck fever is the psychological effect of adrenaline on the ability to fire aimed shots, and generally function well in a high stress situation.   The sight of a large buck was said to set off this reaction, especially in less experienced hunters.   A fairly common story would be for a hunter to cycle cartridges through the rifle, without ever actually firing one.  Similar stories are common from the Civil War, where soldiers would load multiple charges in their rifles, without any actually being fired.

The design of the Sig Sauer Mosquito lends itself to this sort of reaction.  The trigger can be activated and the hammer will fall with the safety on.  The slide can be cycled, and cartridges ejected, with the safety on.   This is not a bad thing, because it allows the pistol to be loaded and unloaded with the safety on.

In the adrenaline charged moment of attempting to stop a home invasion, it is easy to attempt to fire; when no "bang" occurs, wonder if a cartridge was in the chamber, work the slide, eject an unfired cartridge, and repeat until the magazine is empty.   The pistol has not really "jammed".  Rather, in the heat of the moment, the operator has failed to disengage the safety.

It is a training issue.   With training, it is overcome.   It also shows an advantage of simple systems such as most double action revolvers and Glock pistols. 

In this case, no one was hurt.  The major damage was a lost TV, and a lost opportunity to stop a thief from further depredations on the community.

The armed mother showed courage in confronting the intruder.   I hope that someone will offer her some instruction on tactics, and help her practice with her pistol.

©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch


TOPICS: Local News; Society
KEYWORDS: banglist; buckfever; in; sigsauer
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To: ozarkgirl

Taurus Ultralite .38 special in my nightstand

The Ruger .40 cal stays in my vehicle


21 posted on 11/10/2014 6:34:12 AM PST by digger48
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To: Travis McGee

“Did I chamber a round in this thing last year?” and “Does the safety switch thingy go up or down on this gun to shoot?” are NOT what you want blocking your brain under extreme stress.

Bingo. Exactly correct.


22 posted on 11/10/2014 6:34:22 AM PST by marktwain (The old media must die for the Republic to live. Long live the new media!)
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To: ozarkgirl

We have automatics but we also keep a .22 mag 9 shot stubbie in the bedroom.


23 posted on 11/10/2014 6:59:50 AM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose o f a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: Vendome
When criminals start yelling “Police! “ citizens and LEO are in danger

My solution (which I post here every chance I get): When the police enter a house, they should be required to have a marked cruiser outside. When the police go through the door, the cruiser's lights AND siren go on.

No lights? No siren? Well then, that's not the police.

24 posted on 11/10/2014 7:06:28 AM PST by Leaning Right (Why am I holding this lantern? I am looking for the next Reagan.)
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To: TangoLimaSierra

“...I don’t see how anything “popped”.”

I think her definition of “jammed” is that she forgot to take the safety off. And then, as she tried to clear the jam by racking the slide, she was simply ejecting good rounds until the mag was empty. The YouTube review indicated the gun would do that in safe mode. The hammer would even fall in safe mode, after pulling the trigger, without firing...which could get confusing in the heat of the moment.


25 posted on 11/10/2014 7:19:10 AM PST by moovova
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To: txrefugee

Had someone on a ladder try to come in a second story window.

Sound of a shotgun racking was followed by a loud thump and groan as they hit the ground.

Made it easy for the dog, a German Shepard, to catch them when I turned him out.

Dog came back with blood all over him and he was a happy dog.


26 posted on 11/10/2014 7:24:18 AM PST by IMR 4350
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To: from occupied ga
Bad advice

But Uncle Joe Biden endorses shot guns for home defense!

27 posted on 11/10/2014 7:53:50 AM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist (NO COMPROMISE! NO BIPARTISANSHIP! STOP OBAMA NOW!)
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To: marktwain

Great post!

Many times at night and in the dark I have practiced getting up out of bed, reaching for my AR 15 without knocking stuff over and making noise, getting up in a standing position and finding the safety and trigger in the dark, operating the safety several times, just touching the trigger while on safe several times, and then walking through the house with gun and flashlight while taking note of where I can seek cover from possible incoming fire of a bad guy.

All this to avoid what happened to the lady in your post. One difference too is that I have owned and fired guns thousands of times for 50 years. But, I still practice!!


28 posted on 11/10/2014 8:17:53 AM PST by Cen-Tejas (it's the debt bomb stupid)
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To: 556x45

We don’t need training, do we? I listened to Joe Biden, the brains of the Democrat party, and he said all I need to do is shoot my porch with my shotgun. If you can’t trust a democrat about guns, who can you trust?


29 posted on 11/10/2014 8:58:19 AM PST by Pollster1 ("Shall not be infringed" is unambiguous.)
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To: marktwain

This is the sort of thing that “practical” or “defensive” pistol competitions can help with. The competitive environment instills comfortable gun-handling under stress.


30 posted on 11/10/2014 9:03:57 AM PST by NorthMountain
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To: NorthMountain; All

You learn a lot in competitions.

Two expert gunfighters that I know of highly recommended competitions as a way to prepare for gun fights.

1. Jim Cirillo, who was in numerous gun fights in New York City as part of the stake out squad.

2. George “Tex” Ferguson, who personally told me the same. He was one of the most decorated U.S. WWII soldiers.


31 posted on 11/10/2014 9:30:09 AM PST by marktwain (The old media must die for the Republic to live. Long live the new media!)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
But Uncle Joe Biden endorses shot guns for home defense!

I forgot about that. If I'd remembered that would have been reason #1 :-)

Kidding aside, a number of years ago I paid to go through a "fun house" with pop up targets and used my SPAS-12. That showed me just how unwieldy a shotgun is for that sort of thing. I then paid to go through with my HK USP-40 and it was a lot better. Net result I sold the SPAS-12. I still have the USP-40.

32 posted on 11/10/2014 10:07:12 AM PST by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy)
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To: IMR 4350

“Made it easy for the dog, a German Shepard, to catch them when I turned him out.”

“Dog came back with blood all over him and he was a happy dog.”

Honey, old Shep just horked up another finger on the carpet; will you grab it before the dachshund does?


33 posted on 11/10/2014 12:26:56 PM PST by TexasRepublic (Socialism is the gospel of envy and the religion of thieves)
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