I understand that, but applying the rule of thumb that if you brandished, you better commit to shooting- you're making a mistake. I used to subscribe to this same line of thought.
Here's a scenario, an aggressor threatens your life, you are outnumbered and so draw your gun on said aggressor. As soon. As you begin drawing they turn tail and start running. Maybe your gun snagged on clothing or you didn't practice safe fast draws enough. In a second the aggressor has turned away from you. If you commit to shooting, you had better have a very good lawyer when ballistics shows bullets entering someone's back. Especially if you hit a jogger.
Here's another scenario, you subscribe to the thought process, "if I pull, I'm shooting", you are facing an aggressor. You aren't sure of the threat level, maybe the aggressor is doing a lot of posturing but you aren't sure if they're armed. As they approach, you decide, well I don't see myself in danger yet. They draw a knife or gun and beat you to the draw. Now you're dead.
There are two ways people might respond to this- they are either going to commit to always shooting if they pull their gun and potentially end up in a situation where they are in legal trouble, or they are going to hesitate and possibly allow a situation to escalate to the point where they are no longer in control.
Police draw without shooting every day. I know they live under a different set of laws than us. People also de-escalate situations every day by brandishing and you never hear about it. Is it a legal grey area? Maybe. But, when it comes to self defense, I'd be very careful getting tied up in taking hard rules to live by for every situation. You're risking not only your life but also your wealth when you are making these decisions.
To be my own devil's advocate- maybe having hard defined rules is a good thing because when you are in a high stress situation, you don't want to be making decisions so much as reacting via decisions you've already trained yourself to make ahead of time.
I understand that, but applying the rule of thumb that if you brandished, you better commit to shooting- you're making a mistake. I used to subscribe to this same line of thought.
Here's a scenario, an aggressor threatens your life, you are outnumbered and so draw your gun on said aggressor. As soon. As you begin drawing they turn tail and start running. Maybe your gun snagged on clothing or you didn't practice safe fast draws enough. In a second the aggressor has turned away from you. If you commit to shooting, you had better have a very good lawyer when ballistics shows bullets entering someone's back. Especially if you hit a jogger.
Here's another scenario, you subscribe to the thought process, "if I pull, I'm shooting", you are facing an aggressor. You aren't sure of the threat level, maybe the aggressor is doing a lot of posturing but you aren't sure if they're armed. As they approach, you decide, well I don't see myself in danger yet. They draw a knife or gun and beat you to the draw. Now you're dead.
There are two ways people might respond to this- they are either going to commit to always shooting if they pull their gun and potentially end up in a situation where they are in legal trouble, or they are going to hesitate and possibly allow a situation to escalate to the point where they are no longer in control.
Police draw without shooting every day. I know they live under a different set of laws than us. People also de-escalate situations every day by brandishing and you never hear about it. Is it a legal grey area? Maybe. But, when it comes to self defense, I'd be very careful getting tied up in taking hard rules to live by for every situation. You're risking not only your life but also your wealth when you are making these decisions.
To be my own devil's advocate- maybe having hard defined rules is a good thing because when you are in a high stress situation, you don't want to be making decisions so much as reacting via decisions you've already trained yourself to make ahead of time.