what safety
"In the vast majority of defensive gun uses, a shot is never fired."
Why do you think that is?
Does the goodguy not properly understand the situation and draws before he needs to or does the badguy not really want to fight and is betting on intimidation?
If my gun comes out I am shooting. The only exception to this is if the bad guy manages to drop his weapon/surrender before I get that first round off. And until I feel that someone needs some extra holes in their chest to get their mind right the pistol stays in the holster. A pistol is not a tool of intimidation for good guys. If you have time to wave it around like you're Jessie James and deliver a snarky one-liner you have time to leave, and you should.
As for external safety... Not needed if the weapon has an internal safety. I wouldn't carry a weapon that didn't have internal/trigger safeties condition zero, but as mentioned earlier in this thread, that is a point of failure so I only carry pistols that do have trigger/internal safeties so I can carry condition zero.
As for external safety... Not needed if the weapon has an internal safety. I wouldn't carry a weapon that didn't have internal/trigger safeties condition zero, but as mentioned earlier in this thread, that is a point of failure so I only carry pistols that do have trigger/internal safeties so I can carry condition zero.
Yeah, I remember the Colt now. I had a Browning BDA before the 1911 and they wouldn't let me carry it because it was a bottom mag release. It had to be an "American Style" button release. I traded it straight across in Wichita at a gun show for the Springfield.
AMEN! Hesitation will kill you.
One thing to think that, another thing is to post it on the internet. One of those things is pretty unwise.
I don't think I said anything that isn't kosher or acceptable. Until someone presents a credible lethal threat to me or mine I am not going to do so to them. Once they are a credible and lethal threat I will meet that with reasonable force. If they were to somehow read my draw and surrender before I shoot them, they are no longer that deadly threat and I will not shoot them. If there is any chance of me leaving a situation I feel might become lethal I will take it. If I'm able to not shoot someone and come out unscathed I will always choose that option. Even good shoots can be caught up in years-long legal battles.
The best tool for a self defender is your brain, followed by your senses. Pay attention. Like John Correia of ASP says "Attention buys you time and time buys you options"
Furthermore, if you were to present a firearm and not shoot, or hesitate to shoot, that is easily the basis for the prosecution to drag you. If you had time to draw, talk to the guy a bit, scratch your nose, and then shoot then that guy was NOT a credible, immediate threat to your person. You are not a cop. It is not your duty to talk down the guy with the knife. If there is a deadly threat you meet it with deadly force. If there isn't, you don't. Full stop. I carry pepper spray for dealing with less-than-lethal but still worrisome threats. And even that is exclusively for situations where I can not reasonably leave. No ego battle is worth a court case.
This reasonable post is in conflict with what you said earlier. My original statement Was just a caution for this litigious world we live in.
I am genuinely confused about what phrase you're unsettled by. How about a direct quote of the sentence that is throwing you off, because this whole nebulous critique thing isn't really working for me. If it is the "get his mind right" thing, well, that's just a saying - it has no specific meaning relating to how the guy feels about politics or pie flavors. It is more like if a guy is posing a credible lethal threat to me, his mind isn't right, because I mind my business and don't put myself in situations where someone would be justified in killing me.
