[Limnophile]

A charging attacker may cover five meters in the time it takes to fire four shots. I would not count on dissuading him with gunfire during that part of the incident.

I agree, which is why I would lean toward standing my ground (not that I have much choice) and delivering accurate fire. If I were young and spry I think I would still lean that way, but I was never much of a runner.

Consider also that in a self-defense encounter, one is not on a battlefield. Nor is one on a shooting range, where bystanders are behind the line and where there is a good backstop. I fact, you may have to move to get a clear shot and to get in line with a backstop.

I view the location of a self-defense encounter as a battlefield. A modern battlefield does not have nice, organized lines. If I have to move to get a clear shot I'm probably leaving a covered position, which may be unwise unless it is necessary to defend another who is not under cover. If I am truly in imminent danger, to be honest my last concern will be ensuring I have a safe backstop. If innocents are in the background I would hopefully try to ensure hitting my target and hope that the energy of a fully penetrating bullet would be insufficient to do great harm to a bystander. Yes, that means abandoning a key safety rule, but if I'm on the verge of losing my life I have an unalienable right to defend myself, and I'd rather be alive and facing criminal and civil consequences than be dead because I was a slave to Jeff Cooper's rules. Having said that, I would certainly be willing and able to take a few steps, time permiting, in search of a safe backdrop; it's just that running is not a likely option for me.

One more time, there is a significant difference between the objectives of self defense and those of infantry engagements.

Once again, if winning is seen as the ultimate objective, both types of engagements have their similarities, too. Military tactics have worked their way into domestic law enforcement. One way this is manifested is that the number of shots fired per LE shooting has gone up, a military "firepower is supreme" tactic made possible by double-stack auto-loading pistols having replaced revolvers.

They savages go everywhere, and they have no problem selecting a victim from a crowd.

Try paying attention all the time, and if you see someone with a cell phone who seems to be noticing you, change your speed and direction instantly.

I guess I have been fortunate to have been raised in a relatively safe environment, and wise enough to choose to dwell in such environments. My current neighborhood is dominated by Microsofties. While they tend to be annoyingly progressive, they are a placid lot.

Taking the recommendation of this thread -- to move when under threat -- to the extreme, it would be even better to not venture into a dangerous environment in the first place. Violent crime statistics are available by location, so it can be easy to avoid nasty places.

While I did not do an exhaustive search, I could find no YouTube videos showing or endorsing the idea of shooting on the run. Delivering accurate fire from a stable stance seems to be preferred for obvious reasons. Those videos that do address shooting while moving emphasize walking slowly in a non-bobbing manner.

I can think of no legitimate self-defense reason for shooting while advancing on a bad guy, as I assume any decrease in range is more than countered by decreased accuracy and precision imparted by movement. Also, proximity to a bad guy puts you in increased jeopardy. I can understand a need to shoot while moving backwards to put distance between you and the bad guy, or, better yet, to reach cover behind you. Moving laterally makes sense to reach cover or to make you a harder target to hit, but a walking speed isn't going to throw a bad guy off by much at self-defense distances.

Combat gaming videos that I recall seeing also don't show any shooting on the run, but rather running between stations where stable stances are taken from which to deliver fire balanced to an optimal mix of accuracy and rapidity. Perhaps I've misunderstood the OP in interpreting the advice to move as meaning to shoot while moving quickly. I can understand the advantages of the combat-gaming tactic of running between stations where solid stances are assumed from which to deliver fire. If I were to participate in such games I would, due to my foot, be walking between stations.