Under what circumstances would I shoot?

Would I shoot if my spouse were in danger? My boys? My parents?

That was a question they asked at Front Sight.

Here’s my answer then.

If they’re in my house, I will shoot.
If someone I love is in danger, I will shoot.
If I am in danger, I will shoot.

What constitutes danger?
Gun? yes
Knife? yes
Carjacking? yes
Stolen car? no, not if we’re not in it
Stolen purse? as long as no other threat, no.
Insulted? No. I won’t shoot.

If someone comes at me with a gun or a knife, they’re a threat. I don’t know what they want. I don’t know what their plans are. But if they’ve got weapons, they are obviously threatening my life.

I personally have a bad attitude towards purse snatchers. One stole my greatgrandmother’s purse and hit her over the head with it. She had a stroke at the time which left her with no short term memory. But as long as I’m not in my 80s, as long as they don’t try to use the purse as a weapon, there is not anything in my purse that is important enough to shoot someone.

The point of shooting someone is to keep me and my family/friends safe. It is not to keep my property safe.

So why would I shoot if the bad guys are in my home? Because I don’t know what they want and if I wait to shoot till I find out, I may be dead.

My house is my space and they should not come in. Since the neighbors were killed, I’ve been locking my doors even when I’m home. I used to not lock them even when I was gone sometimes. I don’t even open the door for the Jehovah’s Witnesses who come about once a week now, it seems.

I actually like not answering the door. I’d never thought I could not answer the door before this. And that woman who was screaming at me because I wouldn’t buy her product scared me. I don’t want to answer the door anymore.

Of course, in the women’s case, it wouldn’t have saved them. They knew their killer. But I still feel unsafe without the door locked. So now I lock it.

Other notes:

What do I do if I’m at work? There’s only one door out of the office (not that I’m in there much) and I can’t legally (carry at the college).

If you have time to think about whether or not you should shoot, you shouldn’t shoot.

Would I shoot if someone I don’t know were being approached/held at knife/gun point?

Sould I? Yes. Would I?

I didn’t answer that last question.

I am not sure I know the answer. If somone I don’t know is being held, I would probably think of the guy at FS who said he was going to shoot and it turned out they were making a movie. I think I would worry myself into not shooting until the person was actually shot or cut.

Unless it were a child. I am fairly sure I’d shoot anyone who held a child with a knife or a gun. But I need to be able to shoot better to do that. I’m not as good as I need to be to shoot someone where another person is a shield.

In the middle of my notes on this it says:

Write a letter about what I would be willing to shoot for.
Include Front Sight notes.
Send self a registered letter w/ those.
Sign. Don’t open it.

I was so sure I’d do that as soon as I got home. But I haven’t done it yet.

I also wrote “opportunity= distance 21 foot rule”

Even with a knife, a guy 21 feet away can kill me, unless I shoot him first. The time it would take me to pull my gun and shoot him, even if I were as fast as a trained police officer, would still let him kill me. So if he’s as far away from me as one end of the living room to the other, he could kill me.

That’s part of why if he’s in my house, I am going to shoot him. He’s not supposed to be there. I don’t know why he’s there. And I am not going to let him kill me or my family because I was dithering about whether or not I should shoot him. I will be in fear for my life and my family’s life if someone is in my house who does not belong there.

I looked at an article on the 21 foot rule. In case I don’t have a gun (which I won’t outside my house. I haven’t taken my CHL.), the best way to foil an attack attempt that you can’t get away from is to move forward, toward the attacker, at a 45 degree angle. The article is really talking about trained police officers, but if that’s my only option, it’s best to go with what is most likely to keep me safe.