TexasCHLforum.com

Excaliber wrote:ccessible to the strong hand without a visible giveaway from outside. Returning it to the primary left side holster before exiting the vehicle could be done with the right hand to once again avoid the exaggerated motion that might reveal what's actually happening.

What do you southpaws think of that solution?

It sounds like it would work - until it came time to return the pistol to my strong side holster. You've seen my build. I don't think I can reach that far with my right arm!

OTH, once I'm stopped before exiting the car, I can leisurely return the pistol to my strong side holster when no one is watching. And if that is the case, then maybe I need to get one of those holsters that attaches to the front of the car seat, instead of wearing a belt slide on the weak side.

Excaliber wrote:Warhawk-AVG makes some good points here. Getting out of the vehicle has two major issues:

1. If things escalated, it could be construed as mutually agreed combat, which knocks out a justification defense for use of
deadly force.

2. Inside your car you are well covered by the Castle Doctrine. If the aggressor attempts to get to you in there, you
are protected by the legal presumption that he intends to do you harm and deadly force is justified. Outside you car you are
not.

Yeah, I had really mixed feelings about the idea. I realized after I wrote that, that I was coming from the point of view of a left handed shooter. That doesn't negate what you say, but being left handed, with my gun holstered on my left, it requires that I lean away from the door to get access to my weapon. That would considerably slow down my reaction time to the threat if drawing the gun were necessary. OTH, if I store the weapon elsewhere in the car while I'm driving, then I have to re-holster it before exiting the car. My concern is that, since I would have to lean away from the door to re-holster the gun, it is an exaggerated movement that might attract undue attention from others outside the car, possibly giving away what I am doing. Perhaps the solution is to keep a second pistol in the car when I'm driving, but then I have to worry about securing it when I'm not in the car. That is one of the reasons I won't go in a 30.06 posted business - the fact that I have to leave a gun in the car where it can be stolen.

I'm curious if other left handed CHLers have the same concerns I do.

Steve, I'm glad that everything worked out OK in the end that you neither got hurt, nor had to shoot someone. I suspect you probably handled it as well as you could, given the circumstances.

Normally I wouldn't advocate leaving your car, but I toss this out there as an idea... If you had left your car, it would have A) given you some tactical maneuvering room; and B) drawn the other guy's attention away from your car (with your wife and child inside), and toward you, in case he was armed. At that point, you could give some pretty aggressive body language - hand on gun, etc. - and convince him to back off.

Analyzing it from my inexperienced viewpoint, the car affords you and your family some protection, but not nearly enough. On the downside, being trapped inside the car limits your ability to get to your gun, to draw it, and to aim and fire it without obstructions like steering wheel and windshield in the way. OTH, if you exit the vehicle but keep behind the cover of the open door, you still have some protection, you have increased mobility options, and you can always jump back into the car if you have to.

I am curious as to what some of our more tactically experienced members like Excaliber or others would say.