Episode 14 with David Cole

cropped-SelfDefenseGunStories_Header_v2-2.jpgIntroduction- Welcome to episode 14 of Self-Defense Gun Stories.  I’m Rob Morse back with self-defense instructor David Cole.  Hello, David.

David-  Hi, Rob.  We report and analyze examples of armed civilian defense each week.  Our first example happened in a Houston Texas suburb.

First story-  We’ve all heard gun owners make this excuse.  I’ll only carry a gun when I go some place dangerous. Is a few blocks from a police station a dangerous place?   Is a McDonalds drive through a dangerous place?  Is 2pm in the afternoon a dangerous time?  They were this time, and thank goodness this dad had a gun.

A 37 year old man was sitting in his truck and waiting in the drive through line.  His 4 year old son was strapped into the car seat behind him.  A stranger walked up and put a gun to the driver’s side window.  We don’t know if the robber wanted cash, or wanted the truck.  We do know that the two men fought while the driver was still inside his truck.  The driver presented his legally owned firearm and shot the robber three times.  The gun owner then stayed at the scene and called police. We know the gun owner also contacted his wife, and his attorney.   The gun owner’s wife came to pick up their child.  The criminal had two prior drug arrests.

David- Pushing away a gun.  Any empty hand disarm or deflection of a gun is extremely risky. Get training.

Rob- David, you teach Aikido, and you think this is hard to do.

Dave-Presentation while seated in a vehicle.

Adam Painchaud of Sig Sauer Academy has a great video on the NSSF YouTube channel on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek50iqNOfus

  • Practice dry, and consider some alternative carry methods while driving as Adam suggests

Rob- Dave, what does that mean?  What are other ways to carry a firearm in a vehicle?

Dave- Be aware of your muzzle if addressing a driver’s side threat as in this scenario. Shooting yourself in the arm is not the recommended response!  Also consider non-shooting alternatives. Could you just drive away? Always leave enough room to get away…even in a drive through. Other customers might be annoyed if you don’t pull up close, but leave space to escape. Do you put your car in park in a drive through? Don’t. Leave it in gear and ready to go. Situational awareness is also key…how was the suspect able to walk up on the vehicle?  So driving over and through the bushes is an option.

Second Story-  If you only bring your gun with you in a dangerous place, then you need to have one in your home.

An elderly couple was still in bed at 6:30 on a Saturday morning.  The couple first knew something was wrong when a woman felt someone lay on her.  It wasn’t her husband, and she fought off the stranger.  The fight and her screams woke her husband.  The 60 year old woman had already knocked the intruder down by the time her husband had grabbed his gun.  The male homeowner then held the intruder for police.

The homeowner said he was angry, but realized that the intruder was unarmed, and not an immediate threat as long as he stayed put on the floor.  The homeowner didn’t shoot.

Police investigators say the intruder was out of jail on probation for auto theft.  The intruder had been arrested several times for drug charges, and robbery.

David-  Presence of mind to determine that a home invader is not an immediate threat.

  • Rule 4 of firearms safety says that you must be sure of your target.
  • Castle doctrine may say that legally you may shoot someone in your home, but do you want that on your conscience if it turns out to have been unnecessary?
  • Have a light either mounted on your gun, or with your gun. You MUST be able to ID the threat in order to make a reasonable decision whether or not to shoot.
  • I learned a lot from Andrew Branca’s book, the “Law of Self Defense”!
  • Massad Ayoob- “Deadly Force”

Rob- I’m glad you mentioned a flashlight.  This attack took place in the dim, but our next story takes place in the dark.

poing blank range logo transPoint Blank Range

Third story-   A mentally disturbed man lived in a nearby home.  He tried to break into the wrong house, but the first home that the intruder tried to enter had a reinforced door.  The occupants told the intruder to go away.  The intruder went to yet another home in this Seattle neighborhood and started throwing furniture through the front window as he yelled and cursed.

This homeowner heard the break in.  He retreated with his wife and two daughters to their back bedroom.  The homeowner also had his gun and a phone.  One of his daughters called police.  After the stranger broke through the front door, the homeowner left the back room and shot him.

Arriving deputies heard the shots and found the wounded suspect in the front yard. They applied a  tourniquet to the intruder’s leg before medics transported him to the hospital.  
David- The homeowner was doing such a great job until he left the bedroom.  Don’t go looking for trouble.

  • Another scenario where the shooting might have been legally justified, but was it necessary?
  • Wouldn’t it have been better if the family was able to just wait for police and let them handle it?
  • This home invasion happened at 4AM, so there wasn’t a lot of light to see what was going on.  The reports didn’t mention a flashlight, so the homeowner is working in low light or no light.
  • If you’re going to retreat to the kid’s room in the back of the house, it would be great to have a flashlight and phone in that room.  (And maybe a first aid kit?) Plenty of confusion and tension between family members.
  • Think how much better they would feel if they had rehearsed this plan to shelter in place.  They might have acted better too.

Exit- That wraps up this episode. David, thank you for helping me today.  Where can our listeners find you?

David Cole- They can contact me at Aegis Solutions, and at Blackman with a Gun.

Rob- Our usual schedule is going to change next week, but we’ll be back.  Listeners can always find us and leave a comment at self defense gun stories dot com.  I’m Rob Morse and please join us next week for more Self-Defense Gun Stories.

Please join the Second Amendment Society at SAF.org

SAF org


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.