Pulled my weapon for the first time.Opinions?

[Guest ab28]

You did the right thing. If a vehicle was speeding towards me and it was pretty obvious it wasn't going to stop, I would probably start taking shots at the driver's side windshield. A vehicle is a dangerous weapon, and if someone is coming at me with a dangerous weapon, I will respond with lethal force. I think you showed restraint by not opening fire, personally.

[Lumber_Jack]

I had drawn my weapon the minute it became clear to me that he was not slowing down and was headed directly towards my girlfriend. My weapon was never pointed at the vehichle; it was in a ready position at my side.

He stated that the gun was never aimed at anyone.

I agree that a low ready is, just that, low and ready, and completely acceptable. Its best not to wait until its too late to draw your weapon.

[tt0511]

My concern was my girlfriend.We have been together 5 years and its safe to say that im am not going to let anything happen to her. If it were just me I would have acted much differently, but I had less than a second to make a choice about her saftey. They may not have kept driving,they may have jumped out of the car with guns. I wasnt going to take a chance in OUR yard about HER saftey.

I can see both sides of what people are saying, ...but man, if someone was heading at me and my loved ones, in MY driveway, in a very non-typical kind of situation, in a 3000+ lb. wrecking ball, ....I *think* I would be in fear of imminent death or serious bodily injury and would probably do the same as you. And, ...I'm not so sure I agree with the officer in this situation but I think you would have had to be there to really be sure about that. I don't know how to interpret these yahoos actions other than a threat. If they were drunk and being crazy, ...that's no excuse. Sometimes the law is not on the side of righteousness. In those cases, I'll side with righteousness and "to Hades" with the law.

[enfield]

I'm not going to be a Monday-morning quarterback like the cop. You were there, you made the call, it's fine as far as I'm concerned. I might have done the same.

[daddyo]

Shooting at a moving target? Are you kidding me? Unless you are really THAT good of a shot UNDER EXTREME STRESS and you were 100% certain of what was behind your target, then you had no business unholstering your weapon.

[Guest mtsumatt]

Jack, I'm just glad I wasn't in your situation. Not sure how I would have reacted. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY is going to hurt my wife and children. I would have probably done something stupid just because of the fear I would have. You did fine. No harm done, and if nothing else, those jerks now know someone there has a gun and is ready to use it. I would say they won't be doing that again. However, some spike strips layed across your yard wouldn't hurt :-), just joking.

Glad it all turned out well.

[Guest m&pc9]

You did fine IMO.

You didn't know if they were going to stop and rob or beat you.

[E4 No More]

I would have asked the LEO if the same thing happened to him while on-duty what he'd done. On or off-duty, I would have drawn my weapon, and I bet that he would have too.

[The Scullinator]

Jack, I would have done the same thing in that situation! Drawn and ready not aimed. Thumbs up on keeping your cool as they were driving away and the threat leaving. Good Job.

[LagerHead]

Shooting at a moving target? Are you kidding me? Unless you are really THAT good of a shot UNDER EXTREME STRESS and you were 100% certain of what was behind your target, then you had no business unholstering your weapon.

If the truck had stopped and two men with intent to do harm to him had exited, would he have been justified? Even if he drew at exactly the same time?

He's on his own property and was scared and didn't know how it was going to turn out. Unholstering and being prepared at the low ready is the perfect response, in my unprofessional opinion. I probably would have done the same thing, but added some colorful language to the mix as well.

[molonlabetn]

If you didn't actually point your weapon at anyone, then I don't see what the fuss is about... But, you would not have been justified in aiming or firing at the truck, unless further evidence was displayed that they intended you harm. It was still very prudent to make your sidearm more accessible and take a defensive position, in the event that the truck driver wasn't simply drunk and lost control.

[Krull]

Kinda funny to me that if your girlfriend would have been a cop they would have had their weapons drawn and charging the guy with assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon.

[southernasylum]

I think you did fine in this situation. My smarta$$ remark would be <smartass>....you should have done a sideways shooting dive taking out all four tires, hitting the ground in a barrel roll smoothly transitioning to the kneeling position taking aim at the passenger frist(the driver has his hands full trying to control a truck with no tires) if he makes any aggressive motion double tap to the head then align your sights on the driver and let him decide his fate...</smartass>

p.s. how come there is no sarcasm font?

[Guest jackdm3]

<----- I think this one does double duty for sarcasm.

And you forgot to yell "CONTACT!"

[Wingshooter]

I think you did fine in this situation. My smarta$$ remark would be <smartass>....you should have done a sideways shooting dive taking out all four tires, hitting the ground in a barrel roll smoothly transitioning to the kneeling position taking aim at the passenger frist(the driver has his hands full trying to control a truck with no tires) if he makes any aggressive motion double tap to the head then align your sights on the driver and let him decide his fate...</smartass>

p.s. how come there is no sarcasm font?

That's only possible if wearing the Three-Wolf shirt.

Jack, I don't think there is anything wrong with what you did. It sounds like you had a reason to be prepared for a possible attack. I can imagine that it happened quickly, and at that moment you don't know if they are being aggressive toward you and your GF, confused, lost control (was there any ice on the road?), had a medical condition, etc. By keeping it at the low ready, you are prepared without unnecessarily aiming your weapon at someone.

[gnmwilliams]

My concern was my girlfriend.We have been together 5 years and its safe to say that im am not going to let anything happen to her. If it were just me I would have acted much differently, but I had less than a second to make a choice about her saftey. They may not have kept driving,they may have jumped out of the car with guns. I wasnt going to take a chance in OUR yard about HER saftey.

Ok good. Cause I was gonna say if ya'll were only together for 4 years, "Push her in front of em and run!" JK! Seriously though, I would've drawn as well because I wouldn't have known if they were going to pull up, jump out, and force me inside the house. It's happened before!

[Guest Patty]

Nobody got hurt, nobody got arrested, all is well.

[Guest ADAM]

In my opinion yours, mine,or whoevers weapon should never be pulled unless proceeded by death.This is just my opinion. Luckily I have never been put into a situation that there had to be a weapon drawn.

[southernasylum]

That's only possible if wearing the Three-Wolf shirt.

Some things go without saying.

[Magiccarpetrides]

Jack, in the same situation I would have had my firearm drawn also, maybe not raised, but definitely drawn. I have had to pull my gun on someone, and its not fun....I think you handled the situation just fine.

[piper266]

I think you were certainly justified to have your weapon out. The second they pull into your driveway at that speed, you don't know if they're preparing to jump out to mug you or hit and run. Especially with your girlfriend with you...there's no time for second guessing things. In that situation, if you hesitate, you're dead.

[Jack]

I appreciate the responses, yes dodging the the truck was the main thought in both of our minds. The only place the girl could have gone was back in the car,no room for anything else. I was passenger and did call her to my side of the car to be with me. There was simply no time. After he veered left,deeper into my yard, it never even occurred to me that these people would try and jump the embankment. I thought their only course of action would have been to get out of the vehicle, put it in reverse and turn around, or travel deeper into my back yard. I had no intention of firing my gun unless I saw them get out with a weapon.

At the time it seemed like a hollywood robbery, Dramatic speed,dramatic entrance,dramatic actions if they had gotten out.

I told the police officer about the gun because I called the local PD right after it happened. I wasnt trying to hide anything.

The lack of concern from the officer is what shocked me, Smyrna PD has pulled me over for Suspicion of domestic abuse when I was trying to teach my girl how to drive a 5-speed.They had 3 squad cars pull up and sepperated and questioned us for 5 minutes or so over that. I figured they might actualy like to catch a real idiot.

[Punisher84]

Shooting at a moving target? Are you kidding me? Unless you are really THAT good of a shot UNDER EXTREME STRESS and you were 100% certain of what was behind your target, then you had no business unholstering your weapon.

The more and more I see you post the more certain I am that no one does anything right, but you. Why don't you try answering a questions with a little tact instead of acting like a pompous *******?

He had every right in this scenario to at least draw his weapon. If you don't buy it look up the plethora of cases where cops and security personnel have opened fire on vehicles heading at them. You don't someone's intent. No need to be behind the reactionary curve.

Nobody got hurt, nobody got arrested, all is well.

Well put. You did fine OP.

[Wingshooter]

...Smyrna PD has pulled me over for Suspicion of domestic abuse when I was trying to teach my girl how to drive a 5-speed.

Was she abusing you that bad with the clutch? Saw your neck snappin' around, did they?

Yeah, if you perceived that those guys were up to a forceful invasion, then I'm sure that got your heart rate going.

[daddyo]

The more and more I see you post the more certain I am that no one does anything right, but you. Why don't you try answering a questions with a little tact instead of acting like a pompous *******?

He had every right in this scenario to at least draw his weapon. If you don't buy it look up the plethora of cases where cops and security personnel have opened fire on vehicles heading at them. You don't someone's intent. No need to be behind the reactionary curve.

He asked for opinions, I gave him mine. Besides, what part of what I said wasn't true? I never said he didn't have the right to draw his weapon; you're trying to put words in my mouth. But, seriously, a handgun against a speeding mass of metal? Give me a break.

And, regardless of what you or anyone else thinks, I don't think I'm the only one who does anything right. I just know what I would and wouldn't do in certain situations, because I have thought about it beforehand and decided what my response will be. I realize that might be threatening to those who haven't.

Wow, some folks need to toughen up a little.

Edited February 23, 2010 by DaddyO