Concealed Carry Handguns – August 2019

Many law enforcement agencies
train personnel in the 21-foot rule;
officers are encouraged to give their
voice commands while preparing
to engage. For the armed citizen,
“Stop!”, “Back off, I’m armed!” and
other assertive commands may stop
the attacker, may give you an extra
second to react and may allow any
bystanders to hear that you have at-
tempted to de-escalate the situation.
“Don’t come any closer!” is a good
choice.

carriedasecondguninmyother

coatpocket.Intheday,Ihadfriends

ontheSt.LouisPDwhowalkedfoot

patrolsinthehousingprojects.Inthe

wintertheywereissuedaheavycoat

withaholsterbuiltintothepocket

fora4-inchK-frameS&WorColt

OfficialPolice.Handscouldbekeptin

thepocketforwarmthbutthepistol

couldstillbequicklybroughtinto

action.Inthoseunenlighteneddays,

somecarriedaslapperintheother

pocket.

HANDSON

Ifanattackerdoesreachyoubefore

yourhandguncanbebroughtinto

action,thenyoumustbepreparedto

employweaponretentionskillsorto

fightforspacetofiretheweaponinto

theattackeratcloserange. Re-

memberthatwithautos,pressingthe

weaponagainsttheattacker’sbody

cancausethepistoltomalfunction.

Iftheattackergrabsyourweapon,

ifthemuzzleispointedathim,the

bestweaponretentiontechniqueis

topullthetrigger.But,inastruggle,

thepistol’sslidemightbepushedout

ofbatteryortherevolver’scylinder

maybegraspedkeepingitfrom

firing.Someautoshavesharpedges,

though,soaquickjerkbackmayfree

itenoughtoallowittobefired.

Elbowshavesharpedges,too,and

canbeusedtokeepanassailantaway

longenoughtogetoffashotifused

aggressively.Reallyeffectivegrappling

foryourweaponrequiresredgun

training,butstayingaggressivecan

keepyouinthefightwithacoupleof

basictechniques.

Mywifeissmall,soI’vetrainedherto

useapushdaggerwithhersupport

handandtojustkeeppunchingwith

ittogaintimeanddistancetouse

herpistol.Ialsocarryaknifeina

hippocketeasilyaccessedbymy

supporthandtoslashthehandorarm

ofanyoneattemptingtosnatchmy

handgun.

Inattemptingtogaindistanceby

backpeddlingorifknockeddown

bytheonrushingattacker,itmaybe

TOPLEFT:Being

awareofnearby

coverandgettingto

it quicklyremoves

muchofthead-

vantagea rushing

assailantgainsby

closingthedistance

quickly.

TOPRIGHT:Beingin

yourvehiclegives

youanadvantage

overanonrushing

attackerinmany

ways.Inthiscase

theintendedvictim

couldleanback

intothecartomake

it moredifficult

fortheattackerto

reachher.HerBersa

Thunderpistolis

equippedwitha

laser,whichmakes

quicktargetacquisi-

tioneasier.

It maybeuseful

totraintoengage

a rushingattacker

whilemovingaway

fromhim.

As the draw is the most time-consum-

ing aspect of close-quarters engage-

ment, having the gun already drawn

when a threat is encountered gives

you an edge. That doesn’t mean the

gun needs to be displayed. I have at

times drawn my weapon and hidden

it behind my leg in potentially danger-

ous situations.

In cold weather when wearing a

heavy coat, I carry a handgun in my

outer coat pocket where I can access

it more quickly. At times I have

FALL 2019 • CONCEALED CARRY HANDGUNS 73