Hello again Mr. Savage,
>I have never advocated turning your back on a threat, never, ever! There are ways to disengage without having to do this.
The only way I know to effect an safe disengagement from a life threatening situation is to neutralize it as quickly as possible. If I can do that by sobering up an agressive drunk by letting him see the muzzle of a pistol, well and good. If it requires more direct action, so be it.
>Should this happen, just remember to carefully follow the commands of the responding officers. Until they get a chance to sort it out, they won't know who the good guys are.
As I said, I don't think I'm a complete idiot. If there are armed officers present, much - if not all - of the danger to my life from a perp will have abated. It does not strike me as particularly wise to then endanger my life again by appearing to BE an armed perp to said officers. But again, I have never encountered a life threatening while armed officers were present. For some odd reason, aggressors tend to select moments when they think their victims are unsuspecting or at least defenseless.
You might be interested in an illustration or two. I was once driving on a two lane (one each way) road which opened out into a four lane after a mile or so. It was a bright, sunny day, and I hadn't a care in the world. But after the road widened, a white van sped past me, and a guy in the passenger seat leaned out of the window and tossed a string of really angry and unsociable comments at me as they passed.
I thought "Who is that guy, and what in the world is he upset about? I wonder what the heck is going on!" But the van disappeared around a curve, and I just shrugged and figured that whatever it was, it was gone with the van. But when I went around the same curve, I found the van stopped at a trafic light, and apparently waiting for me. When I stopped, the side door slammed open and the passinger jumped out with a tire iron and started for my car, expanding enthusiastically on his earlier profanity.
This was in a CCW state, and I was licensed and armed. When he got close enough to see it, I just laid the barrel of a .357 across the windowsil, thumbed the hammer back and calmly said "All I want is your fingerprint on the door handle when the cops get here." He stopped like he'd hit a brick wall. His eyes got as big as golf balls, he dropped the tire iron, slowly turned around and walked back to the van, got in, shut the side door, climbed into the passinger seat, and stared straight ahead until the light changed and they took off. Not another word, look or gesture from him.
That was the end of it. To this day, I don't know if he mistook me for the guy that got his sister in trouble, or just what his grievance was. To the best of my knowledge, I've never seen him before or since. But I do know that he intended to do me serious harm, and that I had no intention of turning away from him.
I've experienced a number of similar episodes of unexpected and unprovoked danger, though they varied considerably in detail. Some involved dangerous four legged animals, some involved dangerous two legged animals. But they did not vary all that much in deadly potential. The only safe way to disengage from them that I've ever found requires neutralization of the threat first. I have attempted such disengagement without neutralizing the threat, and in my experience, a perp - or a deeply growling dog, or a pasture bull - simply takes it for a sign of weakness, and I have only had to deal with a higher threat level as a result.
- and those experiences have developed an intense interest in being sure that I CAN neutralize such hazards. One really needs a pistol very, very seldom. Perhaps not more than once or twice in a lifetime, if one is fortunate. But when you DO need it, you need it very, very badly. And if you don't have it, you may not have any more lifetime either. I intend to have it.
Regards,
kbmoly
