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Hold on boys, I don't have my popcorn.
The Tueller drill is used in training, where its value is high. It is not used as training, insofar as the parameters of the drill are not meant to represent the best course of action for the victim of a violent attack with an edged or blunt weapon, but rather only to demonstrate at what distance a person so armed could effectively strike a person armed with a holstered pistol.
There are two important caveats that need to be taken into account.
1. The Tueller drill traditionally stops the instant the handgun-armed victim shoots or the instant the contact weapon-armed attacker can strike the victim.
Of course, fights do not necessarily stop at that point. Getting cut or bludgeoned does not necessarily mean you are incapacitated... and neither does getting shot.
The caution about edged weapons in particular is that that at the very worst, they are equal to firearms in grappling or shiv range, and I would argue they are better, assuming both are in hand. It is harder to take a knife from someone that it is to take a gun. At grappling range, the gun can only hurt you if it is in battery (or the cylinder is not bound), the muzzle is aligned with your body, and the trigger is pulled. The knife can cut or stab even inadvertently at that range.
That is not an argument that knives should be the preferred method of self defense, just that they are at least as dangerous as guns at bad-breath distances.
2. Both participants in the Tueller drill are aware of what they are doing. An attacker with a knife is probably not going to get your attention, then charge you while screaming and waving a knife. He is just as aware of the disadvantages of his weapon as you are. He will seek to minimize them and maximize his advantage by closing the gap between you without you noticing or suspecting malevolent intent.
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