Attn: gun experts

[MarineHawk]

I agree with Para on this and his previous comments. If the guy is about to shoot you you anyway, acting quickly, drawing, and firing a shot or more into his mid section, will give you a very good chance of survival - approximately infinitely better than just sitting there and taking the hit.

If he's hesitant and unsure what to do himself - even more so. The vast majority of armed criminal IMO are cowards. If you act decisively, calmly, quickly, and intellligently in deploying your weapon, you should come out on top more than 90% of the time.

One illustration that draws on what Para was saying is that more than 85% of rounds fired in police shootouts (I think this is correct; I can't recall the specific numbers - someone help me if you know) miss their target. Keep in mind that (again I think this is correct) more than 80% of those shootouts occur at a distance of less than 10 feet!

Thus the victor isn't usually or necessarily the best marksman, the fastest one, or even the one who gets the head start - it's most often the one who is determined to respond and does so as calmly and proficiently as possible. As part of that training formal or otherwise at hitting moving targets quickly and thinking about what you will do in a given situation ahead of time is critical. If you act decisively and don't freak out, you'll win most of the time even if the other guy has the drop on you. As a concealed carrier, you have the element of surprise, and they don't know what you're going to do or when you're going to do it. in some sense, it's an advantage if you act effectively.

I might disagree with the others about the pocket issue. I have a small auto in my pocket often when I woulnd't have anything if I had to have a holster. If it's hot and I'm wearing shorts and a shirt tucked in, I'm not going to wear a jacket or untuck my shirt so that I can carry. I just put my thin holstered .380 in my pocket. (Note, as I said earlier, I'd put my Glock or H&K in a holster or quick opening camera case or something if I was expecting to walk around East St. Louis or Detroit or something)
One advantage to the pocket approach is that if someone is walking near you, and you sense a possible threat but really don't know, but don't want to reach for a holstered weapon, just stick your hand in your pocket. At that point, drawing and firing takes about 0.3 seconds.

Originally Posted by PARAGON

It was clear the first time and you didn't change things. How do you know the person pointing the gun doesn't subscribe to the same principles that was iterated to you above about pointing a gun at someone that you don't intend to kill.

Why take the chance? Again, if you are not comfortable in pulling and using a handgun in that situation, you do not need to seek it's use as personal protection. You are simply looking for additional trouble that you don't want. That is the one time in your life you would most assuredly want that protection, yet you state you wouldn't make use of it. Someone is pointing a gun at you, you can't assume they are NOT going to shoot you. THAT'S asking to get shot.