Mentally prepared to pull the trigger??

[RASHGUNNER]

I think that many of us have trained and practiced to bring our shooting ability up to an acceptable level to be prepared to deal with an armed situation.

I don't think that most of us are up to the task from a mental prepardness situation.

Most of us without military/ police training I think are pretenting that we are ready and WILLING to draw and fire. I mean if you see a bad guy with a gun and he threatens you from accross the street or comes in your house, thats not what I mean. I think we would have the ability and time to react to this threat.

I am taking about the unexpected attack , like a car jacking , robbery, etc. In my opinion the untrained would be too slow to react and reluctant to fire. We have been trained by society to be nice , don't cause trouble, and just look the other way. The gang bangers and bad guys do not have this hesitation, they do not care chat happens to themselves or the other guy. They probably have done this before, maybe even that night. Most of us have not fired at a person before.

I had an uncle in the Battle of the Bulge and he said that if we got in a gunfight with each other he would win. I said "Why you that much better shot than I?" he said "No, You would hesitate. I would not."

It makes you think.

[Guest Phantom6]

It makes me think that people are foolish if they think that a HCP will prepare them for a lethal confrontation. The HCP class is not a joke but it does little more than to teach basic firearm safety and the legal aspects of carrying a firearm in public in this state. It takes training of the mind as well as training with a firearm. The firearms training is the easy part. The harder part is understanding and achieveing a combat mindset. You absolutely must be willing to show no regard what so ever for your opponent's well being. That's difficult for many of us to do without mental conditioning. It must be practiced and we must be willing to say and believe that today could be the day that I use my firearm to defend my life and the lives of loved ones. And today could be the day I am seriously hurt in doing so, but I will WIN! I will win because I will be my opponent's worst nightmare and I will never give up. I will fight the threat until the threat is stopped and I have won!

[GLOCKMEISTER]

its 3lb's of pressure... nothing more... living with it after the fact is the hard part.

[Guest HunterH]

I think this is a great thread and worthy of discussion and introspection on the part of anyone who takes on the responsibility to carry a weapon for defense of self and others. Is there any question that mental preparation and fortitude is far more important that physical abillty? I doubt many would argue it is. In sports, musical and stage performances, martial arts and many other activites where the body must perform specific and often complex functions under stress. The common theme to any solid performance in any of the above mentioned areas is practice, practice, practice. knowing how to do something in your head is much different that having teh muscle memory to do it under stress. You may how to make that shot, or played that song, but when stress response kicks in, the body must know what to do automatically or you are in bad shape. Luck starts to factor in more than ability in a low muscle memory situation and that is not something I am comfortable with when my life hangs in the balance.

I train in a grappling form of martial arts and compete in tournaments. I have to trust that I have put in the time to enable my body to go on auto pilot when I engage in a "fight" in these tournaments as my brian all but turns off. Only the consistant practice in as real a setting as I can create makes my body just know what to do when I get hit. Like the saying goes, "Everyone has a plan until they get hit." Well, your body will still know what to do after your plan goes bye bye if you train for it.

I share all this to offer my humble suggestions that I feel strongly enought to trust my life, my wife's life, and my baby's like with. I use the same gun, in the same carry rig so as to have the same draw and presentation stroke every day. (very rare exceptions if clothing does not allow for it) I carry the same gun so the feel, presentation, target aquisition, and trigger feel are always the same. A gun and holster I trust (G27 and galco combat master). I practice draw and presention complete with after shooting survey of my surroundings so my body will natuatlly look around for more threats after I stop the inital threat instictively. May sound like overkill, but my life experiences have shown me over and over that as boring as my suggestion sounds, it is the key to your body taking over when fight or flight brain fart kicks in and it will every time; we are biologically designed that way.

A few great books on the topic that ahve really helped me are :

Armed Response by David Kenik

Sharpening the Warriors Edge by Bruce Siddle

I hope my thoughts are helpful.

Hunter

[Guest mikedwood]

Honestly I dunno. Maybe maybe not. I hope I never find out.

I have been shooting a lot since I applied for my permit. I just don't want to miss and hit an innocent if I do ever have to shoot for self or family defense. I'm not sure if that would be in my mind if the time ever comes and make me pause to long.

Money and time prermitting I'm going to take a class or two from Phantom he has a real nice program going here in Oak Ridge.

[Guest Abominable_Hillbilly]

The few times I've been backed into a corner, I fared well. I'm not a troublemaker, and I do a good job of avoiding confrontation. If I pull the trigger, it will be with just cause. With just cause, nothing will stay my hand.

[dunndw]

I hope I never have to find out...but I've ran through the "what ifs" in my mind millions of times. I believe I wouldn't have a problem shooting a person trying to do me or mine harm.

[DWARREN123]

Even with military or other type training each situation is different and the way you act/react to it will be different. Even a lot of folks who have been in the military or LEO jobs have never pulled the trigger on another person(s). And yes living with it afterwards especially if someone dies will be the hard part.

[Guest vandutton]

I honestly have no idea, and I hope to God I am never in a situation where I hve to find out. I do carry every day, but have never had to pull it, and I hope that doesn't change. If I do have to pull it, I know I can hit a target dead-center mass at 25 yards, and I do use silhouette targets, but it is not a person. The technique is there, of that I'm sure. I just don't know if the will is.

[strickj]

Theres a thread around here somewhere on shooting techniques that suggest shooting at old T-shirts to help with it.Its sounds silly to people but I think its a great way to prepare yourself if TSHTF.Its just like silhouette targets just taking it one step closer to a real person on person situation

[The Rabbi]

Most of us without military/ police training I think are pretenting that we are ready and WILLING to draw and fire. I mean if you see a bad guy with a gun and he threatens you from accross the street or comes in your house, thats not what I mean. I think we would have the ability and time to react to this threat.

I am sure that wasn't meant to come across as ignorant or belittling.

In fact, a very large number of LE and military cannot pull the trigger, even though there is clear reason to. Somewhere around the 'net is a video of a state trooper confronting a guy with an M1 carbine in a drunk traffic stop. The troop repeatedly orders the guy back into the car. He has time to assess and time to fire and he cannot bring himself to pull the trigger. He ends up dead.

I agree with the posters here who say they do not know how they would react. I don't either. I also dont think any amount of training can really prepare you. Philosophically I have zero problem with pulling the trigger. In a crisis moment I dont know. I hope never to find out.

[Guest tlondon]

This is a very thought provoking thread. It makes you stop and think "what if...." which is something everyone should do so they (we) dont get complacent with the normal everyday thing. I think if you keep going over (in your head) what you would do in a situation then you stand a better chanch of doing what needs to be done when the time comes. Just my 2 cents...

[I_Like_Pie]

There have been several situations that I have been in where I am glad I didn't have my carry gun or I would have woken the local DA from his nightly slumber.

In short...I am afraid that I might have the opposite problem.

Here is an example...Earlier this year I was at a relatives house in Nashville and some kids thought it would be cute to kick our front door...well the deadbolt was not on and the door flew open at 11pm while all of us where in the living room. I am one of the people who is blessed with the "fight" rather than "flight" mechanism and damn near killed the first one that I ran down...he was 16. If I were armed at the time...he would probably be dead.

There was another when someone attempted to mug me when I was 20.

...another when I confronted someone stealing stuff from my car

...another when a drunk man was beating some lady with a stick down the road from where I live

...another when I was on my bike and had to put it between me and a really mean doggie.

In each of those situations I would have been vindicated in my ability to use deadly force, but was fortunate enough not to have done so.

[strickj]

Pie;Sounds like you live in Brainerd

[Marswolf]

Yeah, I don't want to be around Pie. He sounds entirely to violent.

[Guest 2Old]

Even though I believe every citizen has the right to own a gun and to defend him or herself with it if necessary, if a person believes they cannot use it in a time of need... perhaps that person would be better off to not even have one.

[Fallguy]

Very, VERY good post and discussion here.

Mental prepardness

Muscle Memory (Training)

Mindset

Aftermath

Looking forward to reading more.

I can't say for sure what I'd do, but I do know I do not want to be a victim.

[I_Like_Pie]

Yeah, I don't want to be around Pie. He sounds entirely too violent.

In two of those situations I was looking down the barrel of a BG's gun. Yeah...I have been told that before when bringing up defense type stories of the past, but honestly I am the type of person who takes bugs outside to live another day rather than squash them.

Most everyone at one time in there life has been exposed to some type of violence that kinda sets their existing worldview flat on its ear. Am not alone on this one. I know for a fact that most people who get their handgun permit do so as a reactionary behavior from some perceived threat to their well being...be it a recent break in, mugging, or stalker. Anyone who hasn't been caught in a violent situation has been blessed, is lucky, or living on borrowed time.

OK - the funny thing is that the door getting kicked in was on the 1600 block of Riverside drive...about 1 mile from Rabbi's shop.

Edited May 30, 2008 by I_Like_Pie

[RASHGUNNER]

Good comments. Good food for thought.

Society has told us that violence is no answer when sometimes it is the only answer.

My question was not a declaration of a deficit of my character , just an exercise in self evaluation.

[Guest mikedwood]

There have been several situations that I have been in where I am glad I didn't have my carry gun or I would have woken the local DA from his nightly slumber.

In short...I am afraid that I might have the opposite problem.

Here is an example...Earlier this year I was at a relatives house in Nashville and some kids thought it would be cute to kick our front door...well the deadbolt was not on and the door flew open at 11pm while all of us where in the living room. I am one of the people who is blessed with the "fight" rather than "flight" mechanism and damn near killed the first one that I ran down...he was 16. If I were armed at the time...he would probably be dead.

There was another when someone attempted to mug me when I was 20.

...another when I confronted someone stealing stuff from my car

...another when a drunk man was beating some lady with a stick down the road from where I live

...another when I was on my bike and had to put it between me and a really mean doggie.

In each of those situations I would have been vindicated in my ability to use deadly force, but was fortunate enough not to have done so.

That is funny you sound pretty fearless in real life and on this Internet gun board you go by "I Like Pie" instead of some brutal sounding name. That's awesome, I'd bet you are actually pretty dangerous.

On a more serious note: Wow, the door breaking in a 11pm I think i would have fired or been darn close to it, (due to a previous experience) then it would have been kids doing a stupid prank and the news and crying and on and on. Then the two seconds or so you had to make a reactionary call will be played backwards and forwards by many different people for months and months.

Still I dunno if I'd fire or not in the above case probably so.

[Guest canynracer]

I can't say for sure what I'd do, but I do know I do not want to be a victim.

+1

[Punisher84]

It must be practiced and we must be willing to say and believe that today could be the day that I use my firearm to defend my life and the lives of loved ones. And today could be the day I am seriously hurt in doing so, but I will WIN! I will win because I will be my opponent's worst nightmare and I will never give up. I will fight the threat until the threat is stopped and I have won!

One thing I have found about myself with my time in the Army, my time as a security officer, and the one time I did nearly have to use my gun in self-defense is that I've never hesitated. I've always just reacted to threat. I'm not a macho guy and I dislike fighting. I've never shot anyone and really hope I never have to. I am pretty sure I know how I would feel after the fact , but no one knows until it happens, but I know I would not hesitate.

Nothing terrifies me more than being a victim. I've seen to many people that were to afraid or could not stop what happened to them, or weren't willing to. Myself, I won't lie down and be another statistic. My life is mine to live, my family is mine to protect, and I will send anyone straight to Hell that dare think they can take that away.

[ShaunM]

its 3lb's of pressure... nothing more... living with it after the fact is the hard part.

I will feel bad for the family but I can live with the bad guy being dead.

[Guest jcramin]

If its a choice between my life or the life of a family member or the life of the bad guy, and I choose to take the bad guys life and succeed, then I dont feel I will have any regrets. I hope I never had not prove that to myself, BUT, I can honestly say so far in my life I have no regrets. Everything I have done in life weather good or bad was my choice to make.

[memphismason]

Great thread.

Once I was in a situation that I pulled my shirt behind my holster and had my hand wrapped around the grip, and was very close to pulling it, but when the potential BG saw my hand on my gun, he pulled both hand out of his pockets and said "No, No, No, I am good guy, I am good guy."

I went into American General to pay a bill, and it was just getting dark, around 6:00pm or so, (winter) and I didn't have my gun on my side, it was still in the center console of my truck. When I arrived, the guy that was waiting for me to show was standing outside the store smoking, so when I got out of the truck he was watching me and talking to me, so I didn't put it on my side.....in and out right????

Well when I was leaving a small blue car pulled up on the driver side of my truck, put it in reverse and maneuvered closer to my vehicle, so that only one person could fit between the two vehicles. Parking lot is empty all around my truck, so there is no reason to park this close.....so.....

I start walking out of the building, a Man gets out of the passenger side of the car, and starts to try to look into my driver side window (my windows are tinted, so I am sure it was hard to see), as I got closer he looked at me, and looked back into the car to the guy that was driving and laughed. This is when I reached for my gun and then said "Oh S*#T".

Well I walked to the passenger side of my truck, hit the unlock button, opened the door, hit the lock button, and reached across and opened my console and got my gun an holster out and placed on my side (paddle holster) and then shut the door. I walked around the front of the truck, and saw the man standing there next to my truck, the other guy is still sitting in the car, with it running, and this man on the outside sticks his right hand in his pocket.

I then put my hand on my gun, turned that side to him, and that is when he start saying "no, No. No". So I told him to move so that I could get into my truck, he walked out past the truck, and I walked to my door, unlocked the door, opened it, and then drew my gun behind the door, in the low-ready position, just incase, because now I made it easy to get in the vehicle. He motioned for the driver to come on, and I thought again "Oh S*#t", but he cut the car off, got out, and they starting walking to the restaurant that was three of four store fronts down the way.

I was breathing hard, and my adrenaline was pumping. Oh yeah the whole time I had my wife on the phone held up to my ear with my left hand. As soon as I put my hand on my gun, I said to her "I am fixing to have to shoot someone", and that is when mother nature took over, sweating, breathing hard, heart about to beat out of my chest.

After driving about 3 miles to my house, my heart was still beating hard and my hands were shaking, my wife couldn't believe the state I was in, and still as I am typing this my hands are shaking a little. But I had made up my mind that I was fixing to kill someone, and my nerves could prove it.

I know I would have done what was needed, but definitely the aftermath would be tough.

Sorry for the story going on so long, just hope my experiences might help someone else.