Self Defense | Tactical Archives

19 Jan 2018

Martial Arts and The Bible

This interesting post about Martial Arts and the Bible is a guest post, but while I did not write it, it echos my personal beliefs on the topic.

As a Christian and a martial arts student, I have often wrestled with the idea of self-defense. Does God expect me to defend my family and myself when physically attacked or am I to “turn the other cheek” and endure it in the name of Jesus?

As I considered the many comments I encountered on this topic, I became even more confused. Some advocates for “religion” have gone as far as to say that anyone who practices any form of martial arts is without a doubt bound for hell. It wasn’t until I committed myself to a more thorough study of the scriptures that I discovered the truth for myself. The Bible gives more than a few examples of the practice of self-defense and the idea of martial arts. I would like to share some of what I have learned in this study of the Bible – Old Testament and New. The Bible is, in fact, the very word of God (II Timothy 3:16-17).

God and Warfare

The first example of a physical struggle in the Bible is in Genesis chapter 4. It is here that Cain kills his brother Abel. This is an act of violence condemned by God for two reasons. First, the violence was out of anger and jealousy because his brother’s actions were better than his own (Genesis 4:4-7). Secondly, the violence was pre-meditated. God confronted Cain before this violence occurred. He told Cain that he would need to figure out how to master the sin of anger and jealousy that was trying to overtake him. What this scripture teaches is that God does not want us to initiate violence but he wants us to train ourselves to master our emotions when tempted with feelings of anger, jealousy and rage. He wants us to prepare our hearts to respond humbly. I believe the study of martial arts can provide this kind of training. I have seen it in my son’s martial arts class. His sensei (teacher) may spend up to half of the one-hour class teaching the children humility, manners, concern for others and peace-making. They are taught to avoid violence and stay calm in situations of conflict. This kind of character training is right in line with the example of God’s training of Cain.

The next biblical example of a conflict involving a physical struggle is found in Genesis chapter 14. In this chapter, kings are at war and Abram’s nephew, Lot, and Lot’s family are taken captive. In response to hearing the news about his relatives, Abram sends men to rescue them. In Genesis 14:14-16, Abram sent out “the 318 trained men born in his household”. It seems that even though Abram was not at war, he had a training program for his family and household. It was obviously a training program for warfare of some kind – and a good one, at that, since they were victorious in returning Lot, his family and all of their possessions from the hands of warring kings. After Abram’s successful rescue, he is honored by God and reminded that God had made him successful against his adversary. God later renames Abram, “Abraham” and he becomes the founding father of faith for the Jewish people (and later Christians as well).

To clarify the meaning of the term “martial arts”, Webster’s defines the word martial as “warfare” or “warrior”, and arts as “a skill acquired by study”. In the story of Abram rescuing Lot, the Bible gives us an example of warrior training. Not everyone in Abram’s household was a part of the 318 trained men, but the ones that were had excellent martial arts training. And God helped them to be victorious as they executed their warfare skills.

Here are a few other brief examples of warfare, from the Old Testament, that could be studied further:

Genesis 32 – Jacob avoids war with his brother, Esau. He prepares for battle but orchestrates a peaceful resolution.
Deuteronomy 20 – God goes with the warriors to fight against their enemies.
II Samuel 23:8-39 – the Bible describes David and his mighty men of battle.
Nehemiah 4 – the builders of Jerusalem’s city wall carry weapons to defend themselves during the rebuilding.

There are many more examples in the Old Testament, with a wide variety of scenarios and many unique resolutions. The subject of warfare is very complex and each situation needs to be considered carefully. Therefore, when faced with adversity, wisdom needs to be applied.

An Eye For An Eye

Even with the Old Testament of the Bible showing support for martial arts training, some might argue that the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament – that God’s position on warfare changed when Jesus came on the scene. It might be said that the God of the Old Testament was about war and the God of the New Testament is about peace.

The Bible, however, does not support this. James 1:17 says that God does not change, and Hebrews 13:8 says that Jesus Christ [God] is the same yesterday, today and forever. Therefore, the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. As we continue to study this topic, we will see that the New Testament also discusses self-defense and the idea of martial arts.

Matthew 5:38-42, in which Jesus talks about “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, has been used to condemn martial arts. It reads, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” At first glance this passage seems to be advocating a reversal of the Old Testament laws. I was swayed by this argument myself, and was torn in my own convictions for some time. But when I finally decided to dig deeper into the Bible, I was amazed and encouraged to find some answers.

Many people who want to obey the Bible simply gloss over this scripture, like I did, because they are torn between what they think the Bible says and their consciences telling them to prepare for warfare and to protect.

The truth is that Jesus never intended to abolish the Old Testament laws. He only intended to clarify them, to reinforce them, fulfill them, and reveal God’s heart behind them. This is what Jesus says just moments earlier in Matthew 5:17: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the [Old Testament] Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” When Jesus speaks about “turning the other cheek”, in Matthew 5, he is referring to the Old Testament Mosaic laws found in Exodus 21, 22 and 23. These chapters in Exodus contain the laws God gave to his people, which reinforce and further detail the famous “ten commandments”. Jesus is specifically referring to Exodus 21:22 where God explains what punishment should be given if men are fighting and an innocent by-stander is harmed (in this instance, a pregnant woman). This is not a scripture about self-defense but about restitution and punishment for a crime. Jesus referred to this scripture because the people, in religious self-righteousness, were using this particular scripture to justify retaliation and vengeance. “An eye for an eye” had become an excuse to be intolerant and merciless toward one another. A closer look at the “act of aggression” that Jesus refers to as a strike on the cheek, will reveal that he is talking about an insult rather than a fighting fist. The word “strike” is translated from the Greek word “rhapizo” which is used interchangeably with the word “slap”. In the Jewish culture (as in many other cultures), a slap in the face was a form of humiliation or rebuke. It was not necessarily a physical attack and was not meant to result in physical harm. Even Exodus 21:21 (regarding “an eye for an eye”) says that if, as a result of a conflict, a pregnant by-stander is forced to give birth pre-maturely but there is no serious injury to the woman or the baby, “an eye for an eye” should not be applied as a punishment. Jesus is confirming that this Old Testament law regarding punishment is not to be used as an excuse for retaliation when inconvenienced or insulted. Jesus is exposing the heart of man and is further clarifying the Old Testament Law. God’s desire is that we don’t retaliate but rather that we restrain our emotions in the heat of conflict and maintain righteousness and mercifulness. We are not to pounce on our adversary at the first sign that we have been offended. The ultimate goal of God is to win over the offender, help him to see God’s mercy and institute a change of heart in the offender (see 2 Peter 3:9-15 and Luke 9:51-56 for further study).

Guidelines For Martial Arts

The Bible provides some guidelines for practicing self-defense and martial arts as it aims to clarify what is and is not acceptable in the face of conflict. II Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture [the Bible] is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” I Corinthians 13:7 says, “[Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres”. Using the Bible as a guide, a person can become thoroughly equipped to be a protector.

Permanent injury or death can occur as a result of practicing martial arts. This does not make martial arts unacceptable to God but God clarifies what is and is not acceptable in regard to deadly force in various situations. For example, Exodus 21:12-14 says that if a person is killed unintentionally, the killer is not guilty of murder. If it is intentional, the killer is to be sentenced to death. Exodus 21:18-19 says that if men are quarreling and one strikes the other and injures him seriously but not permanently (even with a weapon), he is responsible only to compensate the injured man for loss of time and medical expenses. I point out these scriptures to show that God is concerned with the attacker’s and the defender’s intentions as well as the outcome of the conflict. We cannot simply say that anyone who harms or kills another man is guilty and has committed a sin. It depends on his intentions. Also, we see that using extreme force, or even a weapon may be acceptable if it is used in a way as to not intentionally inflict permanent damage.

The Bible refers to another situation in which self-defense may be used during a robbery, in Exodus 22:2-3. If a man is being robbed, he is entitled to protect his property, his family and himself. If the attempted robbery takes place at night and the actions of self-defense result in the death of the robber, the defender is not guilty. If the attempted robbery takes place in the daytime and the robber is killed, the defender is guilty of sin. The difference may be that in the daytime, the defender should have more control of his actions and should be able to subdue the robber without killing him. Self-defense is warranted but control must be applied. At night, in the dark, maximum force would be acceptable since it is more difficult to assess the threat that the robber poses. It would be more difficult to tell if the attacker had a weapon, or to assess his physical strength.

God expects us to constantly make decisions about the situations we are in. In regard to martial arts and self-defense, it seems that God is concerned with our intentions. Guilt and innocence, to him, are a matter of the heart. God expects us to be directed by the heart of the scriptures in the Bible. We must be directed in our actions by scriptures such as Deuteronomy 5:17, which says, “You shall not murder” as well as I Corinthians 13:7 which says, “[Love] always protects”. As the Bible states in II Timothy 3:16-17, all Bible scripture is relevant and useful. During one of my martial arts classes, one of my fellow students asked our sensei, “What attack should I make now?” He had just finished practicing a series of intense self-defense tactics on his partner, rendering him harmless. Sensei replied, “Run”. No final “kill-move”? No, it is time to make another decision about the threat the attacker poses. If the attacker has been successfully rendered harmless then you shouldn’t stick around to inflict more damage or further risk your own safety. The Bible gives us specific guidelines for martial arts but God also communicates his heart about how he wants us to treat one another. He wants us to treat one another with love – even in conflict.

Weapons

I have also wrestled with the question of whether or not it was right for weapons to be used as a means of defense. Should I own a fighting knife, a sword or a gun? Isaiah 2:4 says, “…They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” If this scripture were taken out of context with the rest of the Bible, to use a weapon would be a sin. But this scripture has to be balanced with others. In the context, this scripture is describing the contrast between the nations of that time and the type of nation Jesus would establish in the future. The nation that Jesus would establish would have no military and there would be no physical walls to defend. It would be a spiritual nation, not a physical one.

The New Testament clearly confirms the right to bear arms. Romans 13:4 says, “For [the governing authority] is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” Even Jesus directs his disciples to acquire weapons as the time of his crucifixion approached. Luke 22:36 says, “He said to them, ‘But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.’” And in Luke 22:38, “The disciples said, ‘See Lord, here are two swords.’ ‘That is enough,’ he replied.” Peter soon after uses the sword to protect Jesus and Jesus rebukes him for it. This was not to say that it is wrong to use a weapon to protect someone. Peter had earlier been rebuked by Jesus for trying to keep him from fulfilling his mission of dying for the sins of the world (see Matthew 16:21-28). Jesus was re-stating that Peter was not to protect Jesus from going to his death. This was not the correct time to use the sword. Jesus had his disciples arm themselves because Jesus was not going to be with them, physically, any longer. They would need to protect themselves and each other and Jesus gave them the right to bear arms in order to do so.

Martial Arts Is Not Religion

It is important to note that martial arts is not religion in that it is not an institute of service and worship of God. It is only a tool to accomplish a necessary training. There will be flaws in all martial arts training and even things taught that are contradictory to the Bible. This will happen even when the martial arts style or system is advocating biblical-based training. Romans 3:4 says, “…Let God be true and every man a liar.” My son was recently taught by an instructor during class to avoid talking about politics and religion in order to avoid conflict. Though I appreciate the effort made to train the kids to keep the peace, the concept is biblically flawed. I spent the next week teaching Bible scriptures to my son such as Acts 4, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey [man] rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” It is each person’s responsibility as a Christian to know what the Bible teaches. Even in Acts 17:10-11, when the apostle Paul taught the people of Berea, the Bereans were honored by God for having a noble character because, “they received the message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Each of us has the same responsibility to examine the scriptures to see if what we are being taught is true, whether it be a teaching from our martial arts instructor, school teacher, neighbor, or religious leader.

Conclusion

Martial arts training has its place. It can help people learn to deal with the inevitable conflicts in life. There is no escaping battle in life. God wants people to be prepared to handle these battles, whether it is to turn the other cheek to an insult, find a peaceful resolution, or physically defend themselves or others. Martial arts and self-defense are not sinful or inherently wrong, but without the guidance of God and the Bible, martial arts could be misapplied. Without proper biblical training we are left to our own sinful nature, which tends toward retaliation, haste, fear, hatred, pacifism, and intolerance. Martial arts is a biblical concept, but even more attention should be given to biblical training. The Bible should be used in conjunction with martial arts training. In conclusion, I Timothy 4:7-8, which says, “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

14 Jan 2018

Shooting: Firing from Behind a Barricade

Firing from behind a barricade is an essential part of combat marksmanship. It is a relatively straightforward skill and easily acquired. As all shooting techniques, however, mastery only comes from extensive practice. Contrary to what is seen on movies, most shooting incidents do not happen at high noon on Main Street.

Common sense dictates that when being shot at, the reasonable person will try to find cover from incoming rounds. If withdrawal from the scene is not practical and returning fire is justified, then knowledge of barricade position firing is essential. The most important part of the barricaded position is being behind the barricade. While this seems a simpleminded thing to say, it is amazing how many times while coaching this technique, one sees shooters positioned beside the cover they should be behind. As this is a combat skill, it is important to become as small a target as possible.

A good strategy is to adopt a kneeling position behind the item of cover. Kneeling is a good position because it allows quick adoption from standing and is quick to get up from. As a general rule, the closer your center of balance is to the ground, the more inherently accurate a position is. Therefore the kneeling position is a two-fold better position than standing for return fire, not only for making yourself a smaller target but also for making your shots more likely to hit your aggressor.

The adaptations from a normal two handed shooting position are simple. The shooter does not use the off hand to give support to the weapon by muscle tension as he would in a traditional manner. Instead the off hand is pressed against the covering object. A much-used method to accomplish this is to make a fist with the thumb extended, in a “thumbs up” sign. Press the pad of the thumb and the last knuckle of the support hand into the barricade. Cradle the firing hand and weapon in the support hand. Make sure that no part of the firearm is touching anything other than your flesh. Contact by the weapon with solid objects causes the weapon to bounce and the round to go off target.

The only portions of your body that should be exposed beyond the barricade are your firing hand, and only the amount of your face that is needed to obtain a clear view of the sights, target, and situation. Your arm should be raised enough so that the weapon is brought up to your face, not your face lowered to your sights. It takes practice to enable you to be able to quickly judge the distance needed between your body and cover to allow you to quickly assume the This article is based on the strategies for using a pistol behind a barricade, but long guns can also use this tactic with superficial modifications. Instead of using the knuckles of the support hand against the wall the hand should be extended as if making a “stop” sign. Extend the thumb away from the hand. Press your hand against the cover with your index finger flush against the barricade edge. Your thumb should extend past the cover like a shelf. Rest the forearm of the firearm on this shelf. All other aspects are similar.

It cannot be stressed how important this technique is in a lethal force situation. It is equally important that this technique is practiced so as to allow a seamless transition into this position.

12 Jan 2018

What to Do AFTER a Shooting

Most people assume that in the event of a self defense shooting their problem ends with the shooting. An armed citizen buys a handgun, trains in its use, earns a carry permit, gets attacked, defends themselves, and survives. It is pretty reasonable to assume that that cycle is over. Unfortunately its not, a new cycle begins where people begin to pick apart the citizens actions, and decide using the benefits of hindsight and comfort what a person did instantly and under the stress of a lethal encounter.

style=”display: block;” data-ad-format=”auto”>The police, the prosecutor, judge, and possibly a jury will decide the citizen’s fate. As tools they will use the actions of the armed citizen before, during and after the incident. Knowing what to do after a shooting is just as important as knowing what to do during a shooting.

Many people, myself included, earn a living studying and teaching the art and science of what actions to take before and during a self defense encounter. A person is not even legally allowed to become an armed citizen unless they prove they live up to the standards imposed upon them. They must be sane, responsible, free of felony convictions, and additionally cannot have even committed certain misdemeanors. Proper tactics to use in a gunfight are also well documented. Anybody with five dollars can buy a book or magazine discussing tactics and strategies that will help them survive a gunfight. What is not so well known are what actions to take after a self defense shooting. What should a citizen do to reinforce that what they did was justifiable. A citizen can feel that they were threatened, and that they had no option but to fight back using lethal force, but if the police, the district attorney, and the media decide otherwise, the upstanding citizen is now a suspect, and possibly a convicted felon.

The State of Tennessee’s handgun permit course discusses an acronym C.A.P.S to describe what actions a person should take after being involved in a shooting. I will not only describe the acronym here, I will add some of my own thoughts, and how I arrived at them.

Call the Police

You did not do anything wrong. You were attacked. Attacked people call the police. Guilty people hide their actions from the police. The prisons are full of people who did not see witnesses and left the scene, only to be described later at trial as a guilty person who ruthlessly shot an innocent civilian and then fled the scene. Flight equals guilt in our legal system. If this is not enough, let’s look at another common theme of system of justice. It is that the first man to make complaint is right; the other is wrong. If you were involved in a shooting and then called the police, and while you are on line with the dispatcher, a friend of the attacker called the police, you look innocent, you have already made a report, you have already asked for the police’s help. Imagine that you did not call, and that someone reported you as a murderer, and the police found you carrying a pistol that matched the bullets in a dead man.

Assist the injured (yourself and others)

Justified self-defense means someone tried to kill you. Bullets, broken bottles, baseball bats, or bowie knives were just used against you. After the smoke clears, you’re going to see if you’re okay. Also because you’re a decent human being you’re going to make sure all the innocent bystanders are not hurt. The next thing you’re going to do after you called the police and did the other functions of CAPS is assist your attacker with first aid. You are going to do this because you are a decent human being who does not want to hurt anyone, you don’t want to kill people. You were attacked and you defended yourself. Now that the fight is over you are back to being a full of peace and love. Now you are not going to run over to a drugged up street thug holding a knife in his hand at cursing you at the top of his lungs. You are not going to do anything to risk your own safety. However, if you can safely do so you should try to help everyone that is injured.

Place your weapon in a safe location

Now imagine the following scene, you’ve been attacked, a shooting has taken place. The police have been called. You are covered in the blood of your attacker, because you have just finished bandaging his wounds. You are standing up waiting on the police; your gun is in your hand so you can hand to the police when they get on scene. Do you what to know how the police would see the same thing? A police man and his partner are just back from a domestic dispute, they haven’t had lunch, and they both know they have a long couple hours left of report writing, when they get a call from dispatch of a shooting a few blocks down. Not much information yet from dispatch. They hit the lights and sirens. Their bodies get hit with a burst of adrenaline, and their mind starts racing with the possibilities. They get to the scene to see a wild eyed man with bloody hands and a big black handgun. They see a man on the ground, and once again their eyes focus on that man standing there with that big black handgun.

Police are trained to react to the sight of a gun, and they will.

Put your weapon back in the holster, make no sudden moves when the police arrive, and above all do what they say. They time to make acquisitions of mistreatment are after you are cleared of all charges.

Secure the scene

Have you seen the movie “Con-Air”? Nicolas Cage was found guilty of killing a man with his bare hands. In the fight scene three guys attacked him, because they dislike soldiers, liked his wife, and were generally unpleasant people. One of them also pulled out a switch-blade knife. Nicolas Cage, being the hero of the movie, and being an Army Ranger fresh from Desert Storm killed him. One of the attackers took the dead man’s knife and ran off. Does anyone think that a unarmed war hero, attacked by three knife wielding men, would be convicted of manslaughter? Not if there was proof of a weapon. Gang members have been known to take evidence. If it is safe and if you can do so without substantially altering the crime scene, make sure that your attacker’s weapon is present the police will need it to clear you of wrongdoing.

In addition to the CAPS acronym, here are two other thoughts of mine, which might be of help to you in the event you do have to use lethal force to protect your life:

No matter what your friends cousin said, never, under any circumstances try to fool the police by adding, taking away, or moving evidence. If you ever shoot someone outside your house and drag the body inside, the only thing that will happen is my friends that work for the Tennessee Department of Correction will be feeding you your lunch every day for the next 20 years. The same applies to shooting a burglar and putting a kitchen knife in their hand. Have you ever seen TV show CSI? It might not be the most accurate description of a crime lab, but it based on the fact that there are such things as forensic scientists. Policemen are not dumb. They can deduce that the knife in the dead guys hand is the same kind of knife in your kitchen butcher block, and that that block is missing the exact type of knife in the burglar’s hand. Match that with the kitchen is behind where the evidence says you were when you shot the guy, and the police will soon figure out that the dead guy in your living room could not get the knife in his hand. If that happens your in a world of hurt.

Never lie to the police. Everything you say will be written down and verified. If you lie and they find it you will look guilty. If you look guilty charges will be put on you. If charges are placed against you, and you look guilty, it is not a stretch of the imagination that you will be found guilty. The problem with this comes in if you realize that if it appears that you lied to the police they will assume that you ARE lying. Many physiological changes occur in your body in response to dealing with someone who is trying to kill you. One of these things is called cognitive dissidence. Without going into huge detail, this basically means that the brain distances itself from things it believes are not important to its survival. Important things sometimes do not seem important, while trivial things can seem extremely important. This translates into you saying things at the scene that you later realize are inaccurate. The reason for the Fifth Amendment is so that you do not incriminate your self by saying such things. Anybody who has ever watched a cop show knows that “pleading the fifth” is the same as saying “I’m guilty as sin”. How does a person juggle all this? You cannot lie to the police, you have to cooperate, everything you say is going to be used against you, and you know going in that everything you say at the scene has a strong possibility of being wrong. One such solution is saying something like “Officer I want to cooperate, I’m the one that called you, but before I talk to you, I’d like to see a doctor, I’m not feeling very well.” Remember CAPS, assist the injured. You have just been in a lethal force encounter. Remember all those physiological changes I briefly mentioned. It’s perfectly normal to want a doctor to explain them to you. The time it takes to get checked out, is probably all the time it will take to get a lawyer to protect your rights.

In conclusion I would like to reiterate that in the event you are in a lethal force situation, your training is what will get you through, but it is your actions and lifestyle before and after that will keep you out of legal trouble. Never give up.

11 Jan 2018

Practical Home Defense Plan

Let me preference this by stating each state and local jurisdiction have different laws concerning self-defense. Any article cannot give you a complete strategy. You must research the laws of your particular jurisdiction before you create your practical home defense plan.

I live in Tennessee, and my state’s laws allow the assumption that if someone forcibly enters your home, you may reasonably believe they mean to cause you grave bodily harm. This is the basis of the “Castle Doctrine” that allows self-defense in a person’s residence.

As I have stated many times in previous articles, self-defense is a serious matter, and when deadly force is involved, the stakes increase. Deadly force should NEVER be used for the sole purpose of protecting property.

At our home, we focus on prevention. The best strategy allows for making your home unattractive to criminals. We do that by keeping the outside of our home visible by trimming our hedges around our windows, not having a privacy fence that would allow a burglar to work without being seen, and keeping tools, ladders, or other items that could be used to gain entry into our home secured. We do not make it easy for a criminal to enter without being seen. We also have an alarm system with a yard sign and window decals that declare that fact (I would suggest that you keep the yard sign close to your home to prevent its theft by people who want such a sign without buying a system). We have a dog that’s purpose is not to scare a burglar away by its ferociousness, (it’s a puppy), but to alarm us that someone is outside by his playful barking. If you do not have a dog, it is not hard to acquire a large chewed up dog bowl and some toys to set by your back door, giving the impression you have a dog. I heard many times while I worked in the prison that convicts don’t like houses with dogs. Similarly a single woman may choose to buy a pair of very large sized men’s work boots, cover them in mud, and keep them by the back door. Lastly, while we do have hedges underneath our windows, they deter access to those windows by being a variety coated with thorns.

Should an attacker still pick our home, we have a home alarm that is monitored 24 hours a day. This is a relatively inexpensive monthly cost that is more than made up by our extra peace of mind. Our system includes a motion detector that covers the entrance to our bedroom hall. There is no way a criminal can get into the hall that leads to our family’s sleeping quarters without setting off a 90 decibel siren and having the police called.

In our bedroom we keep some additional tools that help us deal with a criminal threat. We keep a tactical flashlight to positively identify threats; this flashlight does double duty as an emergency light source for non-criminal emergencies like fires. We keep the cell phone charger in the bedroom, so that even if the phone line is cut we still have means to communicate. There is also a chemical light stick with a set of house keys attached; this is to throw to the police when they arrive so they don’t have to kick down my door. Lastly we have in the bedroom two pieces of equipment that are solely used for self-defense. We keep a .38 revolver and a pump action shotgun for the unlikely event that a criminal first ignores the signs that we are not an easy house to rob and then the piercing noise of the siren.

Now that we have dealt with our setup and the tools, we need to go over our family plan. Let’s assume someone breaks into our home in the middle of the night. Being asleep, it is not easy to go from not being ready to fight-mode. Because of this stress, it was important for us to go over our plan, agree on it, and practice occasionally. If the alarm goes off, my wife and I would awake startled and scared.

Our plan calls for me to get the shotgun and go outside our bedroom and cover the hall. My wife is to get the revolver, the cell phone, the keys, and the flashlight and cross the hall, BEHIND ME, to the kid’s room. She is to then to get on the phone with the police and describe what is happening. The monitoring system will call to verify if we need help. If they do not get an answer or we do not use a correct code word they will also call the police. It should be stated that my wife will stay on the line the entire time with the police during the entire incident, that phone is our lifeline. The call will be recorded, and will help later to show that our actions were lawful, it also helps get information to the responding police, because the last thing I would want would be to be standing outside a kids room holding a shotgun when the police burst in responding to a home invasion call! I will stand in the hallway, in a barricaded position behind the bedroom doorframe watching for our attacker to attempt to make his way down the hall.

Notice I have not talked about any fancy room clearing tactics, or checking the house, or doing anything that could be considered offensive in nature. While, depending on the circumstances, this might be legal, it is not a tactically sound move. House-clearing is a dangerous and highly specialized skill, and is not safe to try with only one person. If I was to try to move from room to room, an attacker might be able to sneak past me and get between me and my family. However, if I stay immediately in front of my family, there is no way a criminal can get behind me. Since my wife knows when the police arrive, I can safely assume anyone I see is an attacker. From a moral aspect, I also do not want to hurt anyone, I don’t enjoy fighting, and I can only imagine how scared I would be in that situation. If a man wants to break into my home and steal my VCR, he can have it, as far as I am concerned, but if he bypasses the living room and tries to get to our sleeping quarters, I assume they are not there for only for theft, and I would respond with deadly force.

Lastly I should talk about the thought process my wife and I went through when selecting our firearms and the ammunition we chose. We picked a revolver because I believe they are the easiest to use under stress. You can pick one up, and pull the trigger and if it is loaded it will fire. It is easy to visually check to see it’s loaded, and they are uniquely suited to be kept loaded in a bedroom drawer for months at a time because of their simple working mechanism. The revolver we use is a .38spl because that is the caliber of revolver we own. We chose to load this revolver with high quality self defense hollow-point ammunition with a +P (higher pressure) designation.

The shotgun was also an easy choice. I have a modern, new pump action 12 gauge shotgun. We did not add a lot of fancy gadgets to it; it is completely stock, except for the long 33 inch hunting barrel was replaced with an 18.5 inch police barrel. I did this so that it is easier to handle. At the range of our hallway, the length of the barrel will not affect the round in any significant way. I kept the shoulder stock because it keeps the shotgun easy to fire. A pistol grip shotgun looks impressive, but it’s not effective, and later it might be said you own a “killer” shotgun that’s only use is to kill people. The shotgun is loaded with #8 shot, and it holds 5 rounds. We chose #8 shot because I do not want the rounds to be able to pass though the wall of my home and escape into my subdivision. #8 shot at the range my hallway provides will act almost like a slug, as it will not expand very much. I did not choose a shotgun because it keeps me from having to aim, a shotgun at that range is like a big rifle, it will not cut a person in half just by firing it down the hallway, I do not care what any gun magazine, or gun-shop guru says, that’s just not going to happen.

I thought a good bit about loading a less-lethal round as a first shot, however, after talking to the wife, I decided against it, I chose to do this because I have done everything in my power to prevent an attack, if a criminal gets to the point where he forces me to shoot him, I might not have time for a second shot. Also at the ranges of my hallway, most less-lethal rounds may still kill anyway because of the short distance from the barrel. Lastly, I would not want an anti-gun or politically inclined lawyer to say if you had one more rubber bullet that would have stopped him, you fired one, why did you not have two, that must mean you have wanted to kill the poor man. I know that sounds crazy, but courts have allowed burglars to sue (and win) for injuries they received committing felonies.

That’s what we use at our home, and while it does not cover all possible scenarios, we as a family have talked about it, rehearsed it, and even the child knows what to do. It might not work for you, but if you take our plan as a guide and apply our thinking processes, I am sure you can create a plan that works for you.

27 Jun 2017

The Best Guns and Ammo for Self-Defense

It’s important to understand the relationship between the personal defense weapon you’re planning on purchasing and the kind of ammunition it uses. This article is about the best guns and ammo for self defense. At at least some general guidelines.

One of the things that often comes up is “stopping power”. What is generally meant by this is the power of the cartridge. Generally speaking larger cartridges and mean bigger bullets (there are exceptions).

However, stopping power shouldn’t be your only consideration when looking for a self defense instrument.

What about recoil, speed, draw time?

These are all important considerations that can either make a concealed carry defense weapon a liability or a huge life-saving asset.

Today we’re going to take a look at some of my personal recommended bullets/guns. I’d advise anyone who is serious about understanding how their gun works to read more about the differences between bullet types.

Fast Effective Fire at Medium Range – Glock 17

You can’t beat a Glock.

When it comes to self defense, draw time and concealability are two important factors. A Glock 17 offers an extremely lightweight design.

While the 9mm bullets aren’t incredibly powerful they offer lowered recoil which allows you to get off multiple shoots without losing accuracy.

I find this to be an incredibly important factor in my concealed carry choice of weapon. If you watch any security footage of a self defense firefight you will notice that you rarely have time to aim with a larger caliber bullet, what matters is speed and first shooter advantage.

The Glock magazine is expanded holding 17 rounds. Cartridge are 116-149 grains which can be upgraded to hollow point for maximum damage upon impact. If you spend your time and read about where to buy ammo you can get bulk prices on 9mm ammo.

Ruger GP 100

Known as a pocket rocket, the Ruger GP 100 is a member of the infamous Magnum family. You won’t get as many shots off with this gun but it packs some serious power.

One of the things that I always mention to new shooters is that the Ruger GP 100, despite its concealability and size is still quite a heavy pistol. One the plus side the heavy frame will stop recoil while on the flip side you won’t be pulling it out as fast.

Cartridge size is like a .357 Magnum with 200 grain bullets and a 6 round capacity. The Ruger 100 also works on an extremely simple mechanism and doesn’t get jammed very easily. Great to clean as well.

Best Personal Defense Shotgun – Mossberg 500

The Mossberg is one of the best priced and most reliable shotguns out there. First off I’d like to mention this is an automatic shotgun not a traditional pump action. This means that the empty shell is automatically throw out of the chamber and autoloaded via the kinetic energy of the gun. With a traditional shotgun you’re the one doing the pumping.

The Mossberg is good in rain, fog and even snow. It’s built for tactical use and made to design the rigors of everyday wear and tear.

For bullets, I would suggest using a slug or buckshot. I’m not a fan of birdshot for self defense. If you’re hunting ducks than sure, however, if someone is breaking into your home while your family is asleep you better believe I’m using a 12-gauge slug.

1911 Colt .45 ACP

Created by Browning over a decade ago when he invented the 1911, the 230-grain bullet is a great choice for personal defense. Considering that you get about eight rounds and less recoil for that caliber, a good shooter should be able to stop an assailant pretty easily.

I’m a big supporter of the 1911 for a couple of reasons. First, is functionality. The 1911 has been used for almost 90 years while sticking true to its original design and manufacturing.

Nothing special or fancy means not much can get caught or malfunction. Second, it’s cheap. 1911 ammo and guns are available almost anywhere and can be purchased for less than $200 at most gun shows.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to personal defense firearms the most important cardinal rule of all is that you MUST be comfortable with whatever weapon you plan on using. I can’t stress this enough.

This means you need to hit the range with your weapon and use it on a regular basis so when push comes to shove you know exactly how to use it.

Safe shooting everyone.

Category Archives: Self Defense | Tactical