The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > Hogan's Alley > Tactics and Training

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old November 1, 2005, 06:59 AM   #1
Glock 31
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 30, 2005
Posts: 541
The Art of Self Defense

This thread should be used for actual non-fiction personal accounts and responses to said accounts.

One night I was jogging around town cause I had gotten into this whole healthy thing, which is fine. But when I do I always carry. This is before I quallified for a concealed carry permit. I would wear bdu style pants, a shirt, and an on the belt, open carry, holster. Weapon of choice was a Bersa Thunder .380, good gun for weight and relative stopping power. This night consisted of 9 1/2 miles of jogging and speed walking, (i'm not Lance Armstrong afterall). About halfway I was stopped on the street by the local PD, made to "assume the position" for the first time in my life, and searched. All this I will say I did not mind at all, they are just doing their jobs and I applaud them for it. And since I had nothing to hide I fully cooperated, (not that I would have resisted had I something to hide). Anyway they ran the numbers on my gun, everything came back fine, and they let me go about my buisness, explaining there had been numerous break-ins in the area recently and where just being safe. Mind you this is at about 3 a.m. and how often do you see someone with a holster, urban camo colored pants, running down the street. I use what I have, I can't afford the best jogging gear. Anyway about ten minutes later I made the mistake of running down a very poorly lit street which was a fairly main thoroughfair during daylight hours, but can get nasty at night. I noticed a hispanic male in black pants and white wife beater, (local colors here for the south side locals being black and white), leaning against a wall kind of weaving back and forth. I jogged past him on the other side of the street. He proceeded to try to get my attention and I could hear words like, "hey man" "****" "hey can I talk" "you ain't got to be afraid". Normally I would take no alarm to words like this but I was jogging and as I looked back, so was he, after me. I picked up the pace and he hurled some surly and drunken insults my way and continued to keep pace with me about 30 or 40 yards back. I was approaching an intersection where there was a gas station and better lighting, unfortunately it was closed. I turned the corner and proceeded up a fairly steep hill and apparently he gave up as I didn't see him emerge from the shadows into the lights of the intersection. Again, bear in mind, I am still moderately over weight so I am not use to running long distances but oddly enough I didn't have a problem through all this. Once I got down the other side of the hill and a good ways beyond, all the while looking back to make sure he had indeed stopped chasing me, I slowed to a walk, drew my gun and racked a round into the chamber and reholstered. At this point in time I was under the impression it was illegal to carry a gun with a round in front of the firing pin, in New Mexico however this is not the case. But I didn't know that in case you were wondering why I was a carrying a gun for protection without it being ready to fire. Nothing further occured that night but I assure you I was looking over my shoulder the whole 5 miles back to my house. That made it about a 9 1/2 mile trip total. Impressive for an overweight man in my opinion.

Here is the purpose for the this thread.
In New Mexico, you are not required to pursue all avenues of retreat before employing deadly force, you CAN stand your ground and fight.

Should I have used deadly force in dealing with an adversary I could have easily considered to have disparity of force on me as I am not a fist fighter and that he was in much better shape than me? He did pursue me for a good two blocks, and, as I suspected that he was a gang member, probably had buddies somewhere nearby.

If I had used lethal force, would I have been justified? Your thoughts and experiences please.
Glock 31 is offline  
Old November 1, 2005, 07:12 AM   #2
stephen426
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 11, 2005
Posts: 3,840
The way I see it...

Its time to tkae out the trash!

Cops wouldn't care if there was one less gang banger on the streets. You were openly carrying anf he still approached. He probably thought you didn't have the nads to use it. Hell, it could have been that guy that was breaking and entering. I don't go looking for trouble but if it finds me and pursues me for 2 blocks, I won't wait for him to put a round in my back. I will turn around and ask him exactly what the f he wants and if it is a bullet between the eyes. I respect human life but scum of the earth is scum of the earth.

Best advice I can give, carry non-lethal defenses as well such as a powerful pepper spray. I've heard Fox Labs stuff is good stuff but I haven't tried it personally. I'd spray him in a heartbeat since it isn't lethal force. Keep it on your non-gun side and have easy access to it. I also suggest you carry a decent flashlight such as a Surefire. Their G2 Nitrolon is a great deal since you get the same output as the 6P. You can also switch it for the high output lamp for about $25. At least you will be able to see him clearly and exactly what he is doing. You might look like a commando with a gun, pepper spray, and tactical light, but then again, that would be a great deterrent!
__________________
The ATF should be a convenience store instead of a government agency!
stephen426 is offline  
Old November 12, 2005, 10:02 AM   #3
LawDog
Staff Emeritus
 
Join Date: September 15, 1999
Location: Where am I going? Why am I in this handbasket?
Posts: 4,194
Closed at the request of the thread starter.

LawDog
__________________
"The Father wove the skein of your life a long time ago. Go and hide in a hole if you wish, but you won't live one instant longer."
--The 13th Warrior

Bona na Croin

The LawDog Files
LawDog is offline  
Closed Thread

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:31 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.03433 seconds with 10 queries