USING FORCE: Without a willingness to become violent, you’re harmless

Not everyone has the capacity for violence against another.   Jordan Peterson shocked some by describing it this way:  A good man is a very dangerous man who has that ability to be violent under voluntary control.  A harmless man is not a good man.

In our concealed carry classes, I often ask for a show of hands of those who can use deadly force in self-defense.  “If you have to think about it, then looking to a gun for your self-defense might not be the best choice for you.”

For instance, in the real world, a woman I know named Linda had a house just southeast of Urbana.

One night, she had a man show up at her door at 10pm.   She lives in a semi-rural setting and in a rainstorm that fateful night, she mistook the person at her door as her neighbor.  She opened the door to welcome her neighbor and see what he needed… you know, what good neighbors do for the people next door.

To make a long story short, it wasn’t her neighbor but someone else.  This guy forces his way past her saying something like, “They’re going to kill me.  You have to let me in!”

He pushed past her and went towards the kitchen.  She retreated to her bedroom and grabbed her K-frame revolver and then picked up the phone to call 911.  Note the order in which she did things.  Kudos for her.

Her (now ex-) husband – a friend of mine – had taken our concealed carry class years before and taught her the fundamentals which she executed almost flawlessly.

A few short minutes later, the rain-soaked intruder opened her bedroom door while she was on the phone with 911.  Slowly he closed the distance, hands up.  Taking one slow step at a time, he kept saying he was scared and didn’t want to hurt her.  (They always promise the opposite of what they intend to do…  ask Gavin de Becker…)

The 911 operator said cops were outside but the door was locked.  “Do you want them to kick in the door?” the dispatcher asked.

“YES!” she told me.

The cops kicked the door in and tackled this guy just as he reached out and grabbed the muzzle of her revolver.

She didn’t have the fortitude to pull the trigger against a man who had just invaded her house and repeatedly ignored her commands to get out and leave her alone.  (Discounting of your “NO” is a huge pre-violence indicator, by the way…  ask Gavin de Becker…)

Fortunately for Linda, this man tried to run his gig at the neighbor’s place and that gave the deputies a solid five minute head start rolling to that part of the county.

What would have happened if they hadn’t had that five-minute head start?  What might have this guy done to Linda for five minutes before deputies arrived?

Now, I’ve never pulled the trigger in self-defense.  I prefer situational awareness, avoidance and de-escalation where possible.

Once in public I initiated the firing sequence of drawing and firing on a pair of unleashed, snarling Rottweilers charging me while at a busy campground in Indiana long ago.  The dogs charged the group I was with and our group included a 13-year-old blind girl.  I made sure she was behind me and initiated the draw stroke.

I’d already decided to start shooting once I had a sight picture and the owner saw what was happening after hearing his dogs snarl and start running.  Fortunately they were well-disciplined dogs who instantly responded to the owner calling them back.  I saw the dogs skid to a stop just before I started taking up slack on the trigger.

The dog’s owner just about lost his “stuff” about how close his dogs came to getting shot but I told him he might want to leash them.  He was threatening to call the cops and I told him to go ahead.  One thing he wasn’t threatening was to kick my butt though.

Today I would have called 911 myself.  “He who calls 911 is considered the victim” is a pretty typical mindset of dispatchers and cops.

I’ve been close other times, including on a honeymoon about a decade ago.

But not everyone is capable or willing to become violent enough, quickly enough, to save themselves or their loved ones.  Take this guy, for instance.

Sanattomaksi veti. pic.twitter.com/ZWbAQHwqHA

— Jari Huuskonen (@Huuskoin) September 4, 2023

People love you and count on you.  Get your head on straight about using force, including deadly force, to make sure you’ll be there for them tomorrow and the day after.

And don’t let knife-wielding lunatics anywhere near you or your family.  Resist them with savage violence.

As for what gun to use in the home for repelling such uncivilized attackers?  I’ll let the great Clint Smith explain it for everyone.  Not work/kid safe, either.  But it’s 98 seconds that good guys and gals should internalize.