27 October 2011

Gun Fighting Rules (yes, we do have rules for this sort of thing)

From the Cop side:  Since I retired from the Police Department a few months ago, I got a job teaching citizens and cops to shoot or shoot better.  My old department hired me back part time (so it won't stop my pension) and I help with training there.  I end up practing with firearms about 3 days  a week now...life is good.  With new cops who ask about packing a gun off duty...I tell them about the First Rule of a Gun Fight....here's all the rules: 
CI Roller Dude in Baghdad, circa 2005, this would be a good gun to bring

1. First Rule of a Gun Fight- 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. Stretch the rules. 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".  But missing with a .40 or .45 is still not as good as hits with a .22!

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 you 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 of 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."


AND WHEN THINGS GET REALLY BAD USE ONE OF THESE:  400 ROUNDS OF 5.56 MM

4 comments:

Unknown said...

#23 is not just smart, it's wise.

I learned about #8 many years ago, for any dangerous situation. If you yell, "Help!" people are afraid to get involved. If you yell, "Fire!" they'll think they might have something to lose, so at the very least they call 911. And when things go south, it's good to have big ax-wielding dudes heading you way.

Paxford said...

21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet if necessary, because they may want to kill you.

Thank you - I'll adapt that to my new dating strategy! :D

Pax

Anonymous said...

1. Great list. The best compilation I've seen.
2. Advice I give: Do something, don't just stand there.
3. Based on personal experience.
4. Even well trained people tend to concentrate on catching flies with their mouths, the first time something really bad goes down.
5. I did.
6. Based on a fair amount of experience, expect it from others.
7. After a couple of unpleasant episodes, when something starts happening, you get this feeling: "Oh S..T, here we a go again."
8. Remember the first time it happened to me outside an AO -and the sensation was exactly the same.
9. Living a sedate life, it has been many years since I've felt such.
10. Your #23 is what I follow. The local jurisdiction takes a really hard look at citizens who use violence. Grand juries here like to show middle class white males what they think of them.
11. If you get your hands dirty around these parts, recommend you employ a really good lawyer. That goes for police, too. What the FOP or union provides may not be up to the task.
V/R JWest

solfine said...

Rules fit very well with me, especially Rule 10 and 11....It's funny that I don't see anything funny about your Gun Rules. They have a strong implication of serious thought and a lifetime of experience behind them..and I enjoy the humorist twist, unique, in your work
when you Blog. Never disappointed when I visit....Thanks again.
Solomon