Has anybody here actually had to use their weapon?

[Ronin13]

Bailey, you just put an idea in my head... let's play devil's advocate!

You're sitting on your porch minding your own, some guy kicks a can in the street right in front of your house. WhAt Do YoU dO?

[Bailey Guns]

Bailey, you just put an idea in my head... let's play devil's advocate!

You're sitting on your porch minding your own, some guy kicks a can in the street right in front of your house. WhAt Do YoU dO?

Ummm...take another drink of my beer?

(Now, if I'd taken your question literally, my answer would've been: "Watch the paramedics scrape him off the highway." Cause I live on Hwy 285. If the guy had been in the middle of the street the last thing he'd need to worry about is me.)

[TFOGGER]

Bailey, you just put an idea in my head... let's play devil's advocate!

You're sitting on your porch minding your own, some guy kicks a can in the street right in front of your house. WhAt Do YoU dO?

Light 'em up with my 37mm flare launcher...

Seriously: Ignore 'em. There are far more pressing concerns in my world than someone making a little noise walking down the street.

[Ronin13]

Ummm...take another drink of my beer?

(Now, if I'd taken your question literally, my answer would've been: "Watch the paramedics scrape him off the highway." Cause I live on Hwy 285. If the guy had been in the middle of the street the last thing he'd need to worry about is me.)

Funny part is, I know exactly where you're talking about, and yes they would need shovels to scrape away the mess- people go so fast down that hill coming into Bailey.
That's exactly what I thought, ignore them, forget about it. Some people are just overly confrontational I guess.

[cofi]

tainted needle

[stevelkinevil]

hahaha, good stuff.

[Monky]

Maybe I'm just lost and a bit confused by your description of what happened... but there are issues with it.. And here are my issues and perhaps you can clarify some things for me.

gets up and starts walking towards us.

He is attempting to physically intimidate you. Assuming he's been drinking as you stated... you do not remove yourself from the situation.. Is it because there are two of you? Or because you want to attempt to impress a chick..


Stops at the end of his porch, turns around and opens his door, reaches inside for something leaning against the wall by the door. My first thought is he's getting a shotgun or other long arm, and my hand is on my gun. Its dark, and even though his dim porch light is on he's far enough away that its tough to make out details (we're in the middle of the street, he's across his lawn on the porch). Then he turns around and starts towards us with a long dark object in his hand, and I get the gun in my hand but keep it concealed in the holster... my thinking being that I don't want him to see me drawing on him and shoot at us, I'll wait till I get a chance to get a clean shot off before he can react. He gets about 10 ft away

I see blah blah blah blah.. You let him get within 10' of you.. well within the 'lethal threat' range of 21'.. You had the weapon in your hand? but in the holster? but you didn't want him to see you draw? I'm confused...

and I can see that its a baseball bat, and decide its best to take care of this without weapons. He walks up to within striking distance of our buddy directly in front of him, I move to his 2 o'clock so I can get behind and choke him out when he swings and is off balance, and our female friend is in the middle of me and our buddy and a little ways back.

You put your friend, your chick friend and yourself in danger because you think you're bruce fuckin leroy segal norris.. You are not attempting to protect your friend.. you are attempting to assist him should he get into shit w/ the man you let get far too close with a weapon in his hand..

He and my buddy are yelling at each other and the guy raises the bat and fake swings at him. Buddy doesn't flinch which seems to piss him off, and I remember thinking "wait till he strikes, wait till he strikes, don't move until he hits him." Then he winds up and fake swings again, getting real close to my buddy's head.

Really? was this necessary? Again.. you must not like your friend or at his expense you are attempting to impress a chick.. How much alcohol was consumed by your party that night?

I told him that if he makes contact with that bat, it'd be the dumbest thing he's ever done.

Not if he were proned out and the cops were already on their way which is what should have happened..

Until now I'd been letting him focus on my buddy so I can make my move and surprise him

Again.. Bruce Leroy.. I've trained in martial arts a very good portion of my life.. I'm still currently training.. and you don't attack people by surprise.. you aren't a fucking Ninja.. You don't even put yourself in a situation that can be avoided.. because in training you learn to never underestimate your opponent.. Suppose the guy was the batting coach for the Rockies.. pretty sure he could use a bat better than you could ninja him...

but when I said that he looked over at me and stared at me for a second, then backed away and started walking back to his property still talking sh*t. Buddy yelled a couple things back at him (not the brightest guy) but he didn't turn around. We got in the car and drove off pretty quick.
After driving for a bit, the female friend said that she was more scared by the look I had on my face than by the asshat with the bat. Said that it was a mix of "I'm going to kill you" and completely emotionless and cold.

Couple things are sticking in my head about this.
1. I was exactly as I told myself I'd be. I didn't hesitate in my decision to use lethal force when I thought he had a gun,

Yes you did. You drew but had it holstered but somehow let him get well within effective range of a shotgun... ??? That's hesitation.. I didn't even get a significant adrenaline rush like I've had in fist fights.

The discrepancies in your story tell me otherwise.. Adrenaline is a strange and wonderful thing..

I was 100% ready to pull the trigger, and I was completely cool about it.

Again I call BS. See Above

Part of me is scared by how cold I was about it, but another part is thankful that I know I can keep my cool should something happen in the future.

Good to be calm, great to be collected.. being cold is a psychological response.. Basic human instinct to survive..


2. My decision not to draw on him still after it was apparent he had a bat not a gun was based mainly on how much of a pain it would be to put up with all the court crap should things go south.

Because jumping him from behind after you allowed him to get that close and allowed the situation to escalate wouldn't be difficult? Think again man.. Think again.. Your assumption he had been drinking, your allowing him to get close.. you'd be picked apart by the cops and the prosecution..

Not so much that I was afraid of it (see my sig), just that it could have been handled so easily hand to hand that it wasn't worth the trouble. Had my girlfriend been with me, I think I probably would have drawn on him... I'm not willing to draw a dangerous situation out longer than it needs to be by fighting someone when she's around, I'd rather eliminate the threat as quickly and effectively as possible.

So what makes it any different when your friend is around and some random strange? But you did draw on him.. and you didn't hesitate in your decision to use lethal force.. but you did let a dangerous situation draw out entirely longer than needed..

But it seems as if you see everything you did wrong.. I just don't know WHY..

[Glock Shooter]

I was a single father raising my son on my own for 10 years until I met my wife 4 years ago. When it was just my son and I while living in Boulder, yeah Boulder, my dog woke me up barking a storm at the window. We lived in a split-level home (really bad design as far as safety is concerned) my bedroom window is at ground level, it's summer, and it's wide open all but a bug screen. I sit up and hush my dog for a moment and listen. She, R.I.P, was a well trained pit bull-lab mix and immediately obeyed my command. I could hear the chain fence that separates my house from my neighbor jingling like somethings on it or climbing over it. It's very early in the morning and the sun has not come up yet but I can make out a silhouette of a man just coming over my side of the fence into my back yard. I unlock my glock and use the cement side of my house as cover and yell to him to stop. I'm in no immediate danger so I'm pointed in a safe direction. My son is sound asleep in bedroom behind me so I'm between danger and my son. I let him know he is not welcome and that he should turn and leave. He replies in a very drunken voice that this is his house and that he's coming in. At that moment I dial 911. I tell the operator what's happening, give a general description of him, she asks me if he has a weapon. I must have been repeating her questions out loud because Mr. Badguy says "Well maybe I have a gun!" Well that's when I put more distance between us and took a defensive position at the doorway of my bedroom where I could cover the window. The 911 operator heard him and I could hear her typing frantically all the while telling me officers were on the way. I then went to the hall closet and unlocked my Winchester Defender 12ga. It was loaded with 00 Federal buck shot. No round in the chamber 7 in the tube. It seemed like minutes went by as Mr. Badguy worked himself up into a lather of anger. I kept yelling at him to leave that the police were on the way. By now I can see that he's is within kicking distance of my window. My dog, man she was smart, has now positioned herself behind me in my son's doorway. I can hear him yell that he's coming in, I drop the cell phone, I can see his leg go back like he's about to kick in my window. I've already come to terms with the fact that I may have to shoot this guy but I still can't be sure if he has a weapon or not but I am prepared to defend my son. I say to myself that if he comes into my home I will shoot. I'm about to chamber a round and at that very moment I heard POLICE LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS.....LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS NOW!!! I listen as he gets combative with the officers but since there were 3 of them they had him on the ground in cuffs in a matter of seconds. I lock everything up, my son is still sound asleep, if you can believe it, sound asleep I tell you. I wait for one of the officers to come knock. We speak for a few minutes, I never bring up the fact that I was more than prepared to defend my home, and they leave. I'll be happy if I never go through anything similar ever again.

[Irving]

Some great stories in here. Can we merge the threads?

[spyder]

Some of these stories are fun and interesting. I have never shot at anyone with anything other than sim rounds or bean bags... Is that ok?