Does he Really have the Drop on You??

[Art]

One thing I was told relentlessly in my LEO career was that action beats reaction every time.

For example; if an old boy has his gun pointed at you and your gun is in your hand, even if its at your side, if you move first you'll shoot first. This sometimes works even if the gun is holstered if you've practiced enough. If the bad guy is talking, especially if he's talking to somebody else, the odds shift even more in your favor and the chances of getting off the first shot from the holster goes to about the same as the gun in your hand, again if you've practiced diligently.

In this scene from "Justified" a judge being protected by Givens slips away for a little fun with unpleasant results. The judge's gun is in his pocket by the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9Wh-njyBjY

You do have to have the guts to go for it, though. There are people who have exactly pulled this off.

Justified is a fun series and like all cop shows there's plenty of horse hockey, but there's some accurate (and useful) stuff as well.

[jon_norstog]

Justified got its start from an Elmore Leonard story - Leonard could really write character and that approach stayed with the series. Thos characters just jump out at you, they are so alive.

jn

jn

[dryheat]

Mercy, I'd last about twenty seconds watching that movie (scrolling tv), but action beats reaction is for sure. I learned that from someone long ago. Your movie clip: talk, talk talk. "when it's time to shoot, shoot don't talk" from some other movie. But hey, it's a movie, without the talk it would be fifteen minutes long.
I taught that to some guys years ago. -the scenario; a guy has a knife and is holding you at bay. A knife is a lame weapon(ask any Mexican these days). Even if he isn't running his mouth(like in a movie) you still stand a chance of whipping one hand down on top of his(hands up, then hands down) and doing damage with the other hand, or foot. The the rest is up to you. Of course none of us are ever going to be in this situation, outside of junior high. But the model is right. I've only backed down a little gang a couple of times. Just kid stuff. Know when to hold em, know when to fold em. When yer right yer right. A lot of lyrics here. No one got hurt.

[Art]

OK, true story from an old training school.

This presentation was about a shooting involving a Deputy US Marshall and involved video commentary from the Marshall involved.

A Deputy Marshall had gone back to school for training and while there it was determined that his firearms skills were marginal at best. A review of his records showed he had spent years barely qualifying. Since the training at the school was somewhat redundant for him the powers that be made a command decision that he would spend a lot of time on the range in remedial training. The fellow got to where he liked shooting and got to be pretty darn good. He upgraded his gun to a 2 1/2" S&W Model 66 (this was in the early 1980s and law dogs still mostly carried wheel guns) that he carried in a shoulder holster. In the LEO community shoulder rigs are officially discouraged and sometimes banned but this fellow's decision to carry that way paid dividends as we'll see.

The Deputy, we'll call him "Fred" was assigned with another agent to escort a sick prisoner to the hospital. It turned out this trip to the hospital was part of an escape attempt. The bad guy and his girlfriend had hired another bad guy (we'll call him "Gun Boy" to help in springing the prisoner. The plan was that "Gun Boy" would draw down on the Marshalls when they exited their vehicle and free said bad guy.

The first part of the plan went according to the bad guy's script. They got the drop on the Marshalls and got the prisoner out of his handcuffs. Fred immediately decided to act at the first opportunity, he thought to himself "somebody is going to die today and it won't be me." The potential escapee's girlfriend frisked Fred but couldn't find his gun since it wasn't in a belt holster when she did she said "I've got it." Now she didn't actually have it she'd just found it. When she said she'd "got it" Gun Boy" shifted his attention to Fred's partner, a woman. Fred immediately went for his gun and fired one shot which hit Gun Boy right on the bridge of the nose and went straight through the "brain housing group." He then looked over his shoulder saw a flash of pink and fired two rounds under his left arm which killed the girlfriend. He swung back to Gun Boy who was dead on his feet, before he could fire again Gun Boy flopped over on his back DRT. While this was going on the lady Deputy jumped the prisoner who had had his handcuffs removed by the girlfriend before she frisked Fred and the fight was on. It took a while but they subdued the prisoner.

Now the spooky part. The prisoner and his girlfriend didn't have the money to pay Gun Boy so their plan was to kidnap the Deputy Marshalls, kill them and gun boy later, put them in the trunk of the car and drive it into a lake. Fred said the possibility of him and his partner being "buried at sea" with gun boy, who was a truly repulsive character was too awful to think about.

"Fred" acted quickly and decisively and saved his life and his partner's.

Take training seriously. Old Fred would have been dead for sure if it wasn't for circumstances that changed his attitude about survival and mastering his one essential tool.

[Former Cav]

if you move, make it smooth and decisive with NO hesitation. It takes the other guy (depending on physical condition, attention, age, etc) at LEAST one second to realize you are "on the move". He has less then a half second before you cook off a round.
Practice, practice, practice.

[Robert Scott]

Police Training Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjRyO2u_tq4

[barretcreek]

Police Training Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjRyO2u_tq4

There was a bank robber in SoCal. Big sunglasses, hair and a see through blouse with a very perky set of D-cups. Always hit young male tellers.

[Art]

if you move, make it smooth and decisive with NO hesitation. It takes the other guy (depending on physical condition, attention, age, etc) at LEAST one second to realize you are "on the move". He has less then a half second before you cook off a round.
Practice, practice, practice.

I posted this one long ago but it is perfectly on point with your comments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpNK5uZSfto

By the way, notice how the bad guy blades his body 2/3 toward Givens with his strong hand slightly back. That's a sure sign of bad intentions every time....a word to the wise.

[jon_norstog]

Police Training Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjRyO2u_tq4

The phone cover was silver. Saw it on the firs go-round. Ran the video again and saw it was white, maybe an I-phone


jn.