Question from a Newbie

[mrm1955Tex]

Hope ya'll don't mind a question from a newbie.

If someone was trying to attack you with a knife, tire iron or similar weapon and you draw your gun and convince them to put the weapon down so you don't have to shoot them.

Are you required to try and detain them and call the law or can you tell them to drop the weapon and walk away then call LEO and give a description for them to find the person or persons?

Depending on the location, people in the area and other factors it may be safer to let them walk away in some circumstances.

Your thoughts?

[WildBill]

Hope ya'll don't mind a question from a newbie.

If someone was trying to attack you with a knife, tire iron or similar weapon and you draw your gun and convince them to put the weapon down so you don't have to shoot them.

Are you required to try and detain them and call the law or can you tell them to drop the weapon and walk away then call LEO and give a description for them to find the person or persons?

Depending on the location, people in the area and other factors it may be safer to let them walk away in some circumstances.

Your thoughts?

Good question and welcome to the forum.

Your last sentence leads me to believe that you already understand the answer. "It depends on the circumstances."

You are not required, nor is it usually a good idea to try to detain a person. When you are sure you can safely make a phone call, dial 911 and let the police do their jobs. IMO, if the BG runs away, fine. If he tries to re-engage or complete his attack, then you defend yourself.

[trentwhite778]

Hopefully others will jump in here as well, but if the immediate threat of deadly force has passed, I don't know that you should try to detain. Your CHL is to protect you and your family, not to capture criminals. If they drop their weapon and take off, let them. Get a good look and get the license plate, holster your weapon and call 911.

[Longshot38]

Lets break this down to simplest terms. DO NOT DRAW YOU WEAPON UNTIL YOU ARE COMMITTED AND READY TO USE IT. If you find that your given situation does not lend itself to using your firearm then DO NOT DRAW IT, find another solution (improvise a more appropriate tool, or run, or hide, or defuse the situation w/o violence). Your attackers first clue that you have a firearm should be when you fire it. This is why you have to understand that your firearm is simply a tool that give you options and should not be your only defensive tool.

[txgrifter]

Lets break this down to simplest terms. DO NOT DRAW YOU WEAPON UNTIL YOU ARE COMMITTED AND READY TO USE IT. If you find that your given situation does not lend itself to using your firearm then DO NOT DRAW IT, find another solution (improvise a more appropriate tool, or run, or hide, or defuse the situation w/o violence). Your attackers first clue that you have a firearm should be when you fire it. This is why you have to understand that your firearm is simply a tool that give you options and should not be your only defensive tool.

Although I agree that if you draw you should be willing and planning on using, I disagree that you should be "committed". If you draw and the threat de-escalates (Ie: BG drops weapon or attempts to turn and run or backs off) you should not shoot.. Let him go. Yes I know there is a matter of seconds (maybe even less than 2 seconds) in the time it takes to draw and fire, but that is enough time for someone to realize a change in threat...

just my 2 cents

[Longshot38]

Lets break this down to simplest terms. DO NOT DRAW YOU WEAPON UNTIL YOU ARE COMMITTED AND READY TO USE IT. If you find that your given situation does not lend itself to using your firearm then DO NOT DRAW IT, find another solution (improvise a more appropriate tool, or run, or hide, or defuse the situation w/o violence). Your attackers first clue that you have a firearm should be when you fire it. This is why you have to understand that your firearm is simply a tool that give you options and should not be your only defensive tool.

Although I agree that if you draw you should be willing and planning on using, I disagree that you should be "committed". If you draw and the threat de-escalates (Ie: BG drops weapon or attempts to turn and run or backs off) you should not shoot.. Let him go. Yes I know there is a matter of seconds (maybe even less than 2 seconds) in the time it takes to draw and fire, but that is enough time for someone to realize a change in threat...

just my 2 cents

I know the point you are making but the best way to think about using a firearm to date that I have heard is FAST:

F-fire
A-Assess, or in other words did my bullets do what they needed to and do I need to fire anymore.
S-Scan, or in other words look around and ensure all threat have been eliminated or are gone.
T-Top off

This is by far the most sensible theory I have been presented with to date. Thus when it comes to situation awareness and assessing such thing if you are to the point to drawing you defensive firearm you SHOULD be past the point of no return. In other words no matter what you attacker does you are still to the point of having to eliminate the threat or risk serious bodily injury or worse and your options of running or hiding are no long viable.

[Salty1]

Think about the Tuller Drill, if you are not familiar with it you should be. A person who is committed to doing you harm can close a distance of 21 to 30 feet in 2 seconds, how fast can you draw and have rounds hit the approaching target and stop their forward progress? Personally I do not want to swap a round or two to their chest with a tire iron over my head.

Now, should you draw and be prepared, it depends on the situation, but you should at least have your hand on the firearm and be ready. If you ever present your firearm in any given situation you must be the first to call the cops and do not take that lightly, it is percieved that the first to call is the victim, if you do not call and just leave thinking the situation is over and the other person calls and states that somebody pointed a gun at them be prepared for a felony stop, and possibly a ride. If you ever have the opportunity to attend one of Charles Cotton's seminars I highly suggest you do so, I have been to 2 of them and cannot wait for another to be in the DFW area..... I learn something new at each one...

[recaffeination]

I am not required to detain or arrest a criminal. I am not required to shoot a fleeing felon.

I do not know you and therefore cannot say what the law requires you to do.

[Kythas]

A CHL does not make you a police officer. You are not required to detain a person; in my opinion, it's a liability to do so. How do you propose to detain them? If you have restraints, are you trained in their use? If so, do you have back up? Getting within arms length to restrain a person is very dangerous. Even when I was a police officer, I was hesitant to restrain a hostile suspect without backup unless it was absolutely necessary. Several times when I did so, the guy decided to fight me when I got within arm's length of him (this was before tasers, btw).

Do you plan on holding the person at gunpoint? What if they decide to run? Are you going to shoot them as they flee? At that point, they're no longer a danger to you and I would think shooting them at that point would not be justified.

If they disengage from you at the time you present your weapon, and turn and run, consider yourself fortunate. You've accomplished what your CHL is intended to accomplish; you've defended yourself against an aggressor.

Personally, I hope and pray that I will never have to pull a trigger on another human being again, but I will if I am forced to do so. The key words there are "forced to do so".