Who here has had to use their firearm for self defense?

[exdetsgt]

Big D,

Possibly your experience as an LEO differed in some way from mine. Several times I have merely pulled back my jacket, put my hand on the grip, and waited until the threat was gone. A few times I have drawn my gun and held it at the ready position. Again until the situation was resolved. It is certainly possible that many officers have served many years without ever having to unholster their weapon. It also may be possible that some officers never drew their gun unless they fired it.

I have not had those experiences.

 

[Hapworth]

Nothing personal dude but you walked into our house. There's a certain standard of decorum here and we have the right to let you know when you are crossing lines.

Don't like it? hit the back button and move on

No, this is not "our" house. It's one person's house. He sets the rules. We're all guests, none with more claim than the other.

There's no tenure on the forum.

Let's not bully members simply because they have less time here and aren't operating under our personal preferences, which aren't necessarily the same as a standard of decorum.

The question OP asked is fine under the circumstances, specifically: in a place where anyone who doesn't want to answer doesn't have to; is in no way directly called out, named or put on the spot by the asking; and where there's no way of knowing (and therefor inferring implications about) whoever takes a look and decides to pass.

 

[kenv1950]

Yup ,Does a Porcupine count, he was really threatening me with bodily harm and he harmed my dog (I MISSED)

 

[JBeyea]

Yes.... twice. Once without firing, I just pulled back my jacket and put my hand on my revolver (late at night, parking lot, he moved to stand between me and my truck- and had a small folding knife in his hand, open.) He took off running, I got in the truck, locked the door, and went home. Long time ago.

Second time I shot a racoon that was behaving very strangely and kept trying to follow me up to my house in broad daylight. It did not attack, but it was a "better safe, than sorry" situation.

 

[Pbchucker]

Did I ever tell you about the time when I was in a helicopter with Brian Williams? We spotted some bad guys on the ground with RPGs pointed at us. I had to draw my snub .38 and shoot them before they fired off those RPGs. It was pretty long shot and I missed a few, but Brian got them with his own weapon. You see, he had dysentery over there, too. It got ugly.

(All in good fun, I hope.)

 

[exdetsgt]

Hilarious!

 

[STCM(SW)]

The American Rifleman has a page every month with people who have used a gun to defend themselves.
Enough said......

 

[ibewbull]

Not "What denomination, if any, are you?"?

What sort of question and sarcasm is this?

If you take time look at my threads started maybe you can figure out my beliefs.

PM me if you wish personal information please.

 

[robertrwalsh]

I have. Twice. Both times were dog attacks. (There are threats in the world that do not necessarily walk on two legs.) Another time involved humans but no shot was fired. You can sometimes scare or intimidate humans. Dogs, not so much.

 

[Neumann]

The internet is not as anonymous as you might think. Anyone who has actually used a firearm in self defense may be subject to civil or criminal liability based on statements made in public, before or after the fact. An LEO or ex-LEO has a considerable degree of immunity for actions taken under color of law, but not ordinary citizens, regardless of circumstance.

I suspect web tales of bravado have a lot of "Brian Williams" in them - would-have, could-have, not actually did.

 

[Duelist]

There are plenty of such tales you can research. Many of them have official reports about them, not just anecdotal recounting.

Myself, I was awoken late one night while staying in a motel by the sound of someone attempting to open the door. I rolled out of bed and grabbed my pistol, then stood facing the door with it at low ready. The doorknob rattled again, then went silent. I looked out a the parking lot. Whomever it was had left.

I went back to bed, but I didn't go back to sleep. Neither did my wife, who had dropped to the floor when I got out the gun.

See? That's an anecdote. It did really happen, there was a lot of adrenaline, but no shots were fired, and whomever it was didn't even know about the gun.

Here's a story that was in my local paper recently: last summer, a man was arrested for shooting a man he suspected of sexually assaulting his girlfriend. He was charged with murder, plead guilty, and will be sentenced later.

It seems that the woman's testimony differed slightly from his. She said the shooter was stalking her, and had killed her boyfriend.

Several years ago, an older man was hiking on a trail in my state. As he approached the trailhead where he'd parked, he was attacked by a pack of loose dogs. He drew his weapon and fired several shots, killing some of them. He was then physically assaulted by the dogs' owner, a younger man. He shot and killed his assailant.

He was convicted of murder, because he could not prove self defense - under the state laws of the time, it was incumbent upon a defendant who plead self defense to prove it, and not in the state to prove the claim wrong.

The state legislature rewrote a portion of the state codes in order to help the victim get out of prison, mandating that the state had to prove their case, restoring a presumption of innocence to the citizens of the state. The court refused to release him, stating that the new laws were not retroactive. It took additional adjustments in later legislative sessions and pressure from the governor to get him out of prison.

He died less than two years later.

You can spend a lot of time researching these kinds of things. Anecdotal accounts can be entertaining, thrilling, voyeuristic in some cases, and instructive in others. I think that I get more value out of reading about actual events and court cases. Should something happen to me that, once again, does not require me to shoot, I think I can handle not shooting again. But what about what happens if I ever do have to shoot someone? Anecdotes might teach dangerous lessons that could get me into trouble later. Court cases and police reports may help me understand the legal system and what could happen afterwards much more effectively.

 

[S&W SS Revolvers]

Twice the ol' .357 686-3 6" has been displayed...never pointed...and we did things my way...police were called and arrived once,second time the young kids thought it best to exit our street. They looked stupid and very surprised but gotta' give em' credit they were smarter than they looked.

 

[handejector]

The internet is not as anonymous as you might think. Anyone who has actually used a firearm in self defense may be subject to civil or criminal liability based on statements made in public, before or after the fact. An LEO or ex-LEO has a considerable degree of immunity for actions taken under color of law, but not ordinary citizens, regardless of circumstance.

That is one reason.

Another good reason is most people simply won't talk. Especially in public to people they don't know.

Everybody stay cool.
If you want to answer, by all means do so.
Otherwise, leave the OP alone.

 

[Big Stick]

About 8 years ago, on a frosty November evening, I held an intoxicated gentleman at gunpoint on my porch, after he crashed through the screen door at 1:30 am. My Wife woke me up and asked me if I heard the pounding at the door. I didn't know what she was talking about. Then I heard a crash. I handed her my phone, told her to call 911, and grabbed my G23. The guy had broken through the screen door, and was standing in the mudroom with the windowed main door to the house, between him and I, and was beating on the door with bloodied hands. He had friends outside that I could hear. I repeatedly told him "get back, don't come further or I will shoot". 911 dispatch advised my wife they had no officers to send to the complaint. She responded "my husband is holding him at gunpoint, so you better figure something out", and suddenly in 3 minutes, 3 squads showed up. The first cop dragged him outta the mudroom and tossed him into the grass, and before I could open the door to help, 2 more cops were on the guy. He was arrested for disorderly, and criminal damage to property(door). His friends fled, and were probably trying to talk him out of what he was doing. Apparently, he thought he knew a girl that lived here......

As I stood on my back steps, in my pj's, with my Glock in hand, one of the cops turned the guys head, and stated "that guy lives here, and was ready to shoot you, do you get that?!" The only response I got was "sorry".

I was never once questioned about my having a firearm, using it in the protection of my home, or the registration there of. The only thing I was asked for, was my DL to facilitate the report info....

While I stayed fairly calm through the whole incident, the adrenaline dump hit me about the time they had the guy in the car, when I realized as I went back in the house and locked the door, I couldn't get the key in the double cylinder lock, as my hands were shaking so bad.

I'd rather not deal with that again.