I was a cop for thirty years. I worked for San Diego PD from 1979-1990. From 1980-1985 San Diego officers were involved in some 160 gunfights; roughly one gunfight every two weeks. The toll was high. 90 suspects killed, over 40 wounded, five officers killed and nine wounded. We learned a lot of lessons about violence the hard way in that five years. BTW, for reference, that was more shoot-outs than LA, New York, and Detroit combined during that period. It was a crazy-violent time on the border. I have the ultimate respect for those men and women with whom I was fortunate enough to work with in those days. They were genuinely a breed apart, and the fortitude they brought to the job every day was exemplary.
I absolutely adore folks who believe in "open carry" and naively believe that they're somehow protected. It's a TERRIBLE tactical decision. I KNOW they have a gun... I'm an unknown to them. They're also the first target for anyone who wants to do harm, so while they're being targeted, the rest of us can find the real bad guy and deal with the situation.
Whether to carry a gun or not is a very personal decision; one, unfortunately, undertaken my a large number of folks who are not prepared to shoulder the oppressive responsibility that accompanies it. Below are "Rules for Gunfighting." If those "rules" intimidate you, sound harsh, or are otherwise something you don't think you can do, then please don't carry a gun because someone will take it from you and use it on you the moment you take it out.
With that in mind, here are a couple of quotes that are salient here from a tactical perspective:
"The only thing a pistol is good for is to fight you way back to the rifle you shouldn't have laid down to begin with." Jeff Cooper... and...
The old Marine Sergeant Major was attending an awards dinner in his dress blues when a lady commented on him wearing his 1911 .45 pistol, cocked and locked. “Sergeant Major, I see you have your pistol. Are you expecting trouble?” “NO Ma’am. If I were expecting trouble, I would have brought my rifle.”
And last, if you're going to carry a gun, carrying a gun without a tactical plan is just plain stupid and will get you killed. Carrying a gun implies that you're willing to enter into a gunfight. There are rules for gunfighting that everyone who carries a gun should understand thoroughly if they intend to survive that incident with as few injuries as possible:
RULES FOR A GUNFIGHT:
1. Forget about knives, bats and fists. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns. Bring four times the ammunition you think you could ever need.
2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammunition is cheap – life is expensive. If you shoot inside, buckshot is your friend. A new wall is cheap – funerals are expensive.
3. Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.
4. If your shooting stance is good, you’re probably not moving fast enough or using cover correctly.
5. Move away from your attacker and go to cover. Distance is your friend. (Bulletproof cover and diagonal or lateral movement are preferred.)
6. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a semi or full-automatic long gun and a friend with a long gun.
7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.
8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running. Yell “Fire!” Why “Fire”? Cops will come with the Fire Department, sirens often scare off the bad guys, or at least cause then to lose concentration and will…. and who is going to summon help if you yell ”Intruder,” “Glock” or “Winchester?”
9. Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on “pucker factor” than the inherent accuracy of the gun.
10. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.
11. Always cheat, always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.
12. Have a plan.
13. Have a back-up plan, because the first one won’t work. “No battle plan ever survives 10 seconds past first contact with an enemy.”
14. Use cover or concealment as much as possible, but remember, sheetrock walls and the like stop nothing but your pulse when bullets tear through them.
15. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.
16. Don’t drop your guard.
17. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees. Practice reloading one-handed and off-hand shooting. That’s how you live if hit in your “good” side.
18. Watch their hands. Hands kill. Smiles, frowns and other facial expressions don’t (In God we trust. Everyone else keep your hands where I can see them.)
19. Decide NOW to always be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.
20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.
21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet if necessary, because they may want to kill you.
22. Be courteous to everyone, overly friendly to no one.
23. Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.
24. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with anything smaller than ”4″.
25. Use a gun that works EVERY TIME. “All skill is in vain when an Angel blows the powder from the flintlock of your musket.” At a practice session, throw your gun into the mud, then make sure it still works. You can clean it later.
26. Practice shooting in the dark, with someone shouting at you, when out of breath, etc.
27. Regardless of whether justified or not, you will feel sad about killing another human being. It is better to be sad than to be room temperature.
28. The only thing you EVER say afterwards is, “He said he was going to kill me. I believed him. I’m sorry, Officer, but I’m very upset now. I can’t say anything more. Please speak with my attorney.”
Finally, the Rules For Un-armed Combat:
1: Never be unarmed.
