Posted on 07/05/2005 10:00:25 AM PDT by vannrox
, "There is a burglar in my apartment. He is five feet away from me. I have a gun on him."
Have a friend take a felt marker (icepick), stand five feet from you and see if he gets to you before you pull the trigger.
I'll come to your funeral!
Interesting article.
Granted, she shoulda ventilated him BEFORE alerting him to her presence.
"Surprise! Your DEAD." -Faith No More.
Damn, the "what if's" got to me and brought tears to my eyes. It's good to hear someone could ask herself after the incident "what if" they had listened to the gun grabbers and didn't have that equalizer to defend themselves with. That really reenforces just whose responsibility it is to protect herself.
My guess is that she is completely questioning all the idiotic political positions she's ever had in her life.
Including and up to the fact that they guy will go free. One of her neighbors, as a result of the courts, will likely have a similar experience, only one without the dog and the gun.
BTTT
In prison more cons are killed by ice pick type weapons than shanks. They are good for the straight kill and will go through almost everything and you dont have to worry about slashing yourself when they get slick.
I think you misunderstood that post (#29). Given the circumstances the lady was in, she did well.
I would have done the same thing, if I felt the perp wasn't going to try to hurt me, ice pick or not. However, I wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger if I felt in danger of my life, whether or not the guy was armed. I would go with my gut...and doing that has served me very well in the past. I've not had to shoot anyone yet...or even throw a punch, for that matter. (A good thing too, since I am a rather petite gal) LOL
No offense, but I'll listen to my instincts rather than the advice of others, no matter how well intended.
If that sucker won't drop the icepick when I demanded him to the first (and only) time, he goes down! I am stunned how even a target moving STRAIGHT at you is so hard to hit, and it's on top of you in NO time flat! VERY scary!
"She should have shot."
No kiddin. He was only 5 feet away. A firearms instructor I know once told me that a guy with a knife only needs to be within 15 or feet to get to you.
Oh, I believe it! That's kind of what I am talking about...obviously, if the guy isn't willing to relinquish his weapon, then I have to believe he intends to do me harm, and act accordingly.
In this particular case, she is probably better off the way things turned out. If the same scenario played out again, she would most likely be better off to have shot him, depending on where she lived of course.
Bump.
I hear so many stories of missing women, and every time, we find out that the woman did not have a ccw and was not carrying a handgun at the time of her abduction. Kidnappoing and murder are easily avoided if you choose to do so.
Great story (thanks for posting it!)
You know, the one issue I have with some of these stories is the home owner going through the house, looking for the perp. If they do hear you coming, *they* have an advantage. I don't want myself to think I can do this - just hunker down with the weapon and phone till the police get there, and if the perp comes at you, blast 'em!
Hold a cocked weapon on me.
I will bet I can stick you four out of five times from five feet away. Most probably I can deflect your handgun five out of five times.
Five feet from your nose tip to mine. Sixty inches. You have your hands four feet from me, one foot in front of your lower chest. From the front of my shoulder to my finger tip is 27 inches. Assuming you have a four inch barrel. All I have to do is move one hand 17 inches and I can deflect the barrel. 18 inches more with the other hand and you have a one inch puncture wound. Three inches more and your heart will be wondering why it is losing pressure when it is pumping so hard.
Remember, the whole time I am going to be smiling at you, never giving you any indication that I am about to kill you! If you can't retreat to at least 12 feet with a drawn weapon YOUR life insurance agent is going to be losing YOUR business.
The truth is that with more training her options increase. She should not have confronted while only five feet away. But if farther away, could she still count on a hit? Also in a house the perp can run, hide, and become more dangerous in an instant. Attempting to make an arrest is very dangerous, and she was correct to be fearful, she was depending on the perp to be nice and be willing to go to jail. If she was interested in him escaping she could have stood farther away, the perp might have run. But she had realized that his next victim may be a neighbor so she was correct that she had to bring him down.
With more confidence, a greater distance, she could have first had him drop to the ground and drop his weapon. Then with the gun firmly aimed make the call. At any movement she should fire, she should also ask the perp to shut up, since his banter was intended to distract and weaken her resolve. (My scoutmaster, an NRA instructor, did just this and the result was that my friend who was prowling around the scoutmaster's house harrassing another friend, the scoutmaster's son at night is still around to tell the tale. If the scoutmaster had shot he would have to explain to the boy's family that he should not have come sneaking around after dark.)
The issue of killing him outright is a fair question. If she realized his weapon was intended for her, if if she realized what would have happened if the tables were turned I believe she would have shot and had a clear conscience. She would never be convicted by a jury in a nightime - armed- breakin.
There's a number to keep in my head. Now I have to make sure I know what it looks like under stress.
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