TexasCHLforum.com

thanks Hoi Polloi......very clear & helpful analysis. More alert (most accidents occur close to home, too familiar, stay at "yellow" even when you're on familiar turf). Once he had hit me and knocked me down I was in big trouble, even if I had been armed it would have been tricky, with him hovering over me, to draw and get off a shot. Maybe the class I'[m looking for will teach me "how to create space in adverse conditions". BTW, I took the CHL course with Tom Estep and would love to take a "how to" course from him. His CHL course was first rate (and I got the license right away).
cheers

and a little more info on the BG

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?secti ... ss-twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

poorly written, factually faulty article but it makes me feel even "luckier" to have come out of the encounter as well as I did.

I am a careful and savvy guy, I've survived a lot of sketchy situations over the years, but in this example, the survival wasn't because of anything I did. I'm not tooting my horn, just pointing out that S*&% happens and can happen to any of us. There's always room for improvement, more awareness, more skill and ability to handle the situation.

Thanks for all the helpful hints, kind words and good wishes. This forum rocks!

Charlie

Jim,
Not much happening in the alley. In hindsight, one mistake I made was to relax 'cause the site was so familiar to me. It is interesting to speculate as to when in this encounter would the use of deadly force by me be legal. The definition of aggravated assault helps a lot but still not clear how long to wait before shooting the guy.
cheers

Jim,
Can't say I see the relevance of your comment about crack dealers. That alley is used day and night by all kinds of people, men and women, for all different reasons, This incident is the ONLY violent incident I'm aware of in the 4 years I have lived there.

What is the point of your "crack dealer" comment?
Charlie

Galveston, TX

Hi JW,
Thanks for the welcome.

Mostly I plan to get some training on how to use a firearm for self defense. And more modern hardware.

Cheers,
Charlie

Hi folks,
I hope this little story helps someone.

I'm a 68 y.o. retired guy. Lots of experience with firearms HUNTING, ZERO experience or training with firearms for selfdefense.

Recently I got my ccw license but haven't been carrying because I really don't know what I'm doing vv self-defense with a firearm and my handgun is a big S&W .357 Highway Patrolman.

Two days ago, in the alley behind my house, at 3 in the afternoon, a guy walked by me, we exchanged greetings, 3 steps later he had snuck up behind me, grabbed my right arm(to keep me for drawing a firearm???), spun me around and knocked me down with a pretty hard right hook. I tried to defend myself but wasn't doing very well so I played the "old guy with a weak heart" card which moved us to the exchange of money. When he ordered me into an isolated alcove I pretended to back into the alcove then ran like hell (I run better than I fight) and some people came to help me as the bad guy ran away.

My lessons:
Be more vigilant
Learn about using firearm for self defense
Think hard......if I had been armed one of the two of us would probably be dead now instead of a big black eye and $100 less in the coffee can
(not that this justifies walking around unarmed but it is better to think on it before it actually happens)

BTW, the cops got the bad guy THAT night :-)

Cheers,
Charlie