The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - NYPD Sgt. Saves Own Life by Jamming Finger Into Trigger of Felon's Gun

MLeake · October 14, 2011, 05:24 AM

Grabbed it wrongly? I'd be interested to know how many of the folks criticizing the officer have actually done much practice with disarms.

Let's see... I want to control a revolver; I don't want to put my hand or arm in front of the muzzle... and I don't want my body in front of the muzzle, either... what to do, what to do?

Oh, wait, I practice this quite a lot.

Step off the line and advance on an angle. Grab weapon hand or weapon, depending; if revolver, grabbing around cylinder may bind cylinder (assuming revolver NOT ALREADY COCKED!!!) but slipping finger or thumb under hammer VIRTUALLY GUARANTEES EVEN A COCKED REVOLVER CAN'T FIRE.

With hand grabbing weapon or weapon-hand, bend weapon up and toward BG's thumb; this may break his trigger finger, and/or wrench the weapon from his grasp, and/or aim the muzzle up into his chin or throat. Alternative might be to drop weight onto the gun hand, while pivoting, using body weight to corkscrew BG toward ground, before reversing with gun. With other hand, attack eyes of BG.

Legs can be used to sweep, or a stomp kick to the knee can be executed.

Note: All this stuff happens pretty much at once.

Note2: BG will tend to have his own ideas about how to proceed. It's quite possible that even if the officer didn't intend to put his digit under the hammer, that the BG could have twisted or pulled in such a way that that's where the officer's digit ended up.

Note3: In case anybody thinks I'm talking smack about practicing this stuff, feel free to ask Pax. We had a short workout with disarms (handgun and long gun) after Mas Ayoob's class at FAS. But I've been playing with weapon disarms (in various dojos) on a regular basis since 1996.

October 14, 2011, 05:24 AM	#15
MLeake Senior Member Join Date: November 15, 2007 Location: Outside KC, MO Posts: 10,128	Grabbed it wrongly? I'd be interested to know how many of the folks criticizing the officer have actually done much practice with disarms. Let's see... I want to control a revolver; I don't want to put my hand or arm in front of the muzzle... and I don't want my body in front of the muzzle, either... what to do, what to do? Oh, wait, I practice this quite a lot. Step off the line and advance on an angle. Grab weapon hand or weapon, depending; if revolver, grabbing around cylinder may bind cylinder (assuming revolver NOT ALREADY COCKED!!!) but slipping finger or thumb under hammer VIRTUALLY GUARANTEES EVEN A COCKED REVOLVER CAN'T FIRE. With hand grabbing weapon or weapon-hand, bend weapon up and toward BG's thumb; this may break his trigger finger, and/or wrench the weapon from his grasp, and/or aim the muzzle up into his chin or throat. Alternative might be to drop weight onto the gun hand, while pivoting, using body weight to corkscrew BG toward ground, before reversing with gun. With other hand, attack eyes of BG. Legs can be used to sweep, or a stomp kick to the knee can be executed. Note: All this stuff happens pretty much at once. Note2: BG will tend to have his own ideas about how to proceed. It's quite possible that even if the officer didn't intend to put his digit under the hammer, that the BG could have twisted or pulled in such a way that that's where the officer's digit ended up. Note3: In case anybody thinks I'm talking smack about practicing this stuff, feel free to ask Pax. We had a short workout with disarms (handgun and long gun) after Mas Ayoob's class at FAS. But I've been playing with weapon disarms (in various dojos) on a regular basis since 1996. Last edited by MLeake; October 14, 2011 at 05:34 AM.