You HAD to ask! Since you did so, I have no choice other than to postReload 02 wrote:As the title says has atone here ever needed to draw ther firearm in defense and if so has atone ever discharged said firearm
The Sad, Sordid story of when I drew my weapon
It was 1979, and I was in the Israeli army. (If you want to know what I was doing in the Israeli Army you can find the long winded story here: http://zahal.org/zahal_forum/viewtopic.php?t=85" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). I had previously applied for, and received, license to carry a Bernardelli Model 60 .380 automatic, which I carried instead of having to lug an M-16 around everywhere. At that time, Israel was far more peaceful than it is today. Kinda shows you what happens when appeasement is a national policy.
But I digress…
I was getting ready to take a month long furlough to the U.S., as was my right as a “lone soldier” that is, a soldier without any family in Israel. I had gone to the main Tel Aviv post office to send a telegram about my flight to my parents. The post office lobby was shaped like an “L”, with the long part off Allenby Rd, and the shorter part where telegrams were sent facing a smaller side street.
As I was preparing to send my telegram, I heard a blood curdling shriek from around the corner where the main lobby was. My immediate thought was “terrorist attack,” and I drew my automatic, which was in position 3, and loaded it.
I remember at the time being very cautious, pointing it in the air, and making sure the safety was on. I then begin to look for targets to engage. A crowd of people came tearing around the corner, and I thought, “Oh, they are fleeing from the terrorists,” but then I saw they were chasing some guy in a yellow shirt. I lowered my weapon and pointed it straight at him. He stopped, skidded on the floor a few feet, then turned and pushed through the crowd, who began to chase him again.
At this point it became clear that this was not a terrorist attack, so I curiously followed the crowd to see what was going on. They had cornered the guy and were trying without much success to subdue him. “Show him the weapon, show him the weapon,” one of the men struggling with the malefactor said to me. I waved the weapon in his face, but he was not impressed. “Take the weapon away,” the elderly security guard, who was struggling with the guy as well, told me.
I moved to the side and cleared and holstered the weapon. I then asked a lady what had happened, and the whole disgusting story was told to me.
It appears the malefactor had gotten into an argument with another guy over a pay phone, and had grabbed the other guys ear and ripped it off (a move you are taught in basic training). “Chosen People,” the lady said in disgust.
The malefactor had escaped the security guard and the other guy and ran out, straight into the arms of the arriving police. The other guy went to the hospital, presumably to have his ear sewed back on.
“What were you drawing your weapon for?” the security guard angrily asked me.
"I didn’t know what was going on, and thought it was a terrorist attack,” I told him.
“He was absolutely right to draw his weapon,” the lady said in my defense.
I left the post office and went to look for a beer.
And that is the story of when I drew my weapon, but did not have to fire it. The entire situation is nothing to be proud of, I assure you.