2018, What Armed Self Defense Looks Like

The use of the firearm is, in and of itself, deadly force.
Thus, if you are justified in the use of deadly force, it does not matter where your rounds land.

 

Whereas I'll be armed on the second floor and just yell out for the person to leave on their own or in a body bag. At which point the person will exit my home in a hurry and I won't have to deal with cleaning up blood, brain matter and bone.

 

I’m not foolish enough to shoot to maim. I shoot center of mass until the threat is stopped. Just because they have been shot in the leg doesn’t mean they are no longer a threat. I am also responsible for any stray bullets. Aiming center of mass minimizes this.

I’m not judging anybody. I am only protecting myself and my family. You do realize that armed robbery involves a threat of death if you don’t comply?

 

I live in a single story house and my kids are on the other end of the house. I have to confront home intruders. (or abandon my kids)

 

That's unfortunate.

 

I made no assumptions. I merely stated my observations and experience. Anything else you read into my post is you looking to argue and denigrate.
In my state, In excess of 7% of the population have CCPs. While that doesn’t mean that is the daily ratio of carry among the population, it does suggest when out and about in public, that someone near you is armed is a good probability. I don’t observe that many people wondering around continually scanning those about them for weapons in fear; people go about their lives... and blood isn’t running in the streets at greater levels that exited prior to the state issuing CCPs. Of the licenses issued, less than 1% have been revoked for any reason, the reasons being, moved out of state, died, decided not to hold the license anymore, convicted of a disqualifying crime, or became subject to the law’s restrictions on mentally ill people or people considered drug- or alcohol-dependent.
So, what does that mean?

 

You absolutely did make assumptions..."just that you my not know who does what.". Already told you I do know who does what. Move on.

 

Yep, just looking to argue. OK, then.

 

I'll be on the second floor, but not yelling. That's the dog's job. I figure that anyone who breaks into a house in the middle of the night with a barking dog alerting everyone in the house and the neighbors, too, isn't there to steal computers.

 

If I was looking to argue I wouldn't have told you to move on. Wow...lol

 

If that much noise is going on the person isn't going to remain in the house. He'll be long gone.

 

If he's just a thief. Given the noise, he likely won't even have entered the house. That's the first line of active defense against intruders for me.

 

Right. Claymores are #2.

 

Claymore.... good name for my next big dog.

 

And the other, Flamberge

 

I wanted fougass but the insurance said "no" unless I fully sprinklered the house first.

 

I had one named ‘Dog’. Never been that creative with names. My last was a Black Lab I named Bear, because as a pup his paw filled my hand.... grew to over 120lbs. While is size would have intimidated, his demeanor was a pillow; though he was good at letting me know if the house was being approached.
He was ‘The’ master at frisbee.

 

Armed robbery is a special case. It's surely a much bigger threat to the defender than a burglar with only some tools that he needs to break into your home. Most armed robbers don't want to kill someone. They often have fake weapons or no ammo. They just want to scare you. They want your property, not your life. They know, that they will go to jail for much-much longer if they kill someone.

But you can't know if this guy is a cold-blooded killer or not. So what's the best practice?
Immediately empty your entire magazine by shooting at center mass?
Or better tell him to drop his gun, and shoot him only if he points his gun at you?

 

You understand that if you choose option 2, even if you shoot him, he can still shoot you since his gun is now pointed at you? Option 1 seems to be the safest choice.

 

Do you keep the inside of your house well lit all night? Where is the burglar’s accomplice and how is he armed? Until I KNOW he is alone and unarmed, I will assume otherwise inside my own home.

 

If I hit him, his gun points to nowhere. Otherwise he's an alien from outer space who cannot be affected by gunshots.

Yes, sending him straight to hell is the safest option, but it's also the most barbaric option. Do you think humanity would have made it this far if we always killed all of our adversaries?

 

Up until very very recently, that's exactly what we did.

 

As soon as they threaten you - as if breaking into your house isn't enough - they open themselves up to the use of deadly force against them, regardless of the fact all they want in your TV.

 

Shooting someone in the leg is hardly acceptable, as it is just as capable of proving to be lethal as shooting someone in the chest. Even if the individual does not die as a result of their wounds, the discharge of a firearm still counts as deadly force. If you choose to deliberately aim for extremities rather than center of mass, it means you were not actually in fear of your life at the time, and deadly force is not legally justified as a result.

 

The above is not based in reality. There are NO instructors, law enforcement agencies, or any other entity that would agree with what you just said.

Under stress, shooting for someone's legs is nonsensical. Ever hear of the femoral artery? You shoot someone in the legs there's a good chance they'll bleed out in seconds. Even if you don't hit the artery, you cripple them for life often as not. Oh, and even if they go down from a leg wound and they have a gun? They can still shoot at you and kill you. It's happened.

People are trained to shoot center mass. If their attacker does not go down, then it's a failure to stop... and that is resolved by a head shot. Called a "Mozambique". Look it up. You are shooting to halt the attack, period. If he attacks you, you have every right to terminate him with all due dispatch. That's not "murder"; that's self-defense.

 

If they have fake weapons, just wanting to "scare me", they will die. I have zero obligation to wait until he actually shoots at me before I'm justified in terminating the threat.

Not the entire mag. Give him two or three center mass and if he's still standing then the next two or three to his face.

At which point you're dead. You expose yourself by talking to him, and while your brain is still focused on talking he's busy shooting you to death. A man can point a gun and shoot before you can react to the movement. Action ALWAYS beats reaction.