This is a Leo example of speed. In 1978 I drove up on a vehicle whose driver had just robbed, kidnapped and sexually assaulted a convienience store clerk. He did all this on impulse and then realized that because he was a frequent customer, she would be able to identify him. He stated in his confession that he was about to shoot her in the head when he saw my headlights coming down the road. He made her get into his car and then took off. I began pursuing. When he realized he could not outrun me, he slammed on the brakes, jumped out of his door with his revolver already cocked with the intention of killing me and taking my car. I had to jam on the brakes to keep from hitting his vehicle. The next thing I know is that he is standin in front of my vehicle holding a revolver in an isocelese stance pointing it right at me. He said my bright lights kind of made him hesitate for a second cause it was hard to see me. His plan was to shoot me as I exited my vehicle. I had reached down to turn the siren off and when I looked up, there he was. Years of practice and trainging kicked in and without really thinking about it, my 44 boomed through my windshield and the bad guy dropped like he was poleaxed. He had fainted. The only thing that touched him was the glass out of the windshield.
He survived and went to prison. I was named Deputy of the year. I was carrying a Smith 29 in a Jordan Border Patrol holster worn the way Bill Jordan intended with the safety strap snapped out of the way. A leathersmith had helped me put a tension screw between the barrel and the welt of the hoster so tightening or loosening a Chicago Screw would adjust the tension on the revolver making it tight enough to stay in the holster but available for instant draw. The holster had quite a bit of forward rake. With it form fitted to the revolver and the correct amount of tention, it was almost impossible to snatch from behind. Snatching it from the front wasn't going to work cause you would get 5 rounds of 44 Special from the Bulldog I carried in my off hand pants pocket.
If a guy has the drop on you, you better be able to draw and fire faster than he can react and pull the trigger. Not impossible since most peoples reaction time is 3/4 second or longer. As far as off duty or concealed carry, if you look up and see some demented sociopath coming toward you with a knife or a club, you'd better be able to bring your sidearm into action before he reaches you. Otherwise the anti-gunners will be saying how you should not have been carrying a gun after he knocks you unconscious and then kills you with your own weapon. Remember Jeff Cooper. Diligentia, Vis, Celeritas means Accuracy, Power, and SPEED.
During this colder weather, I can carry a revolver in my hand in my jacket pocket and no one will be able to tell. Already having the gun in my hand and just firing through the jacket pocket is extremely fast and you have made no movement to telegraph your intentions to your opponent. If you were walking to your car in a parking lot at night and an armed carjacker approached, the first hint that you were not going to submit would be the boom of a 357 or 38 and the funny feeling he'd get when a 125 grain slug enters his solar plexus and exits his spine.
