Gun disarms. It’s tricky business.
In 26 years on the job, I have disarmed only a handful or two of pistols and shotgun incidents. This includes cornered criminals and potential suicides. Most effective was “Getting the drop” on a criminal, drawing first with virtually a death threat to “drop the gun (or knife, or whatever). The best “quick draw” is always getting your gun out just a second before you really needed it. That’s tricky, especially in these “timid-policing” days. Then there’s straight up “taking with-reasoning with…” I have collected some tips for that.
Well, as you might guess, I have a whole program on pistol disarming, which is in my Survival Centric: Hand course Level 9. (I teach all these levels out-of-order, so they might pop up in any seminar, usually requested. Sort of like taking college courses, you have to take them out of order or you’ll never get done.)
So, you learn a disarm in a seminar and go home. You tell your friend, “I learned two great disarms today.” Your friend gets a “toy” clicker gun and says, Show me.” He stands before you with it, aiming at your face and waits with anxious, bated breath, like a human spring for THE SLIGHTEST, MINISCULE MOVEMENT on your part, and you try…CLICK. You can’t do the disarm. You become depressed. These don’t work. But it might work in the chaos and complexity of the …“scene.” The situation. One segment of the “Who, What, Where, When, How and Why” of pistol disarming is “when?”
So often both police and criminals orchestrate their “scenes” with a drawn pistol, using the gun as a directional “pointer.”
“YOU! Sit down over here.”
“Turn off that phone.”
Etc.
It’s almost human nature. These words and photo are just examples of a “When” (timing) and some “Where” are you exactly. The “distracted gunman segment.” Like a short hostage situation (store or bank robbery) or a long hostage situation, one where the gunman gets distracted, momentarily at some level.
1: Eyes cut to the distraction,
2: Eyes and head cut to the distraction,
3: Eyes, head and gun cut to the distraction (the best).
A person is seen through the windows, a hostage coughs or their phone sounds, ANY event that causes a distraction. His gun may move like an orchestra leader’s wand to it! This is the better instant for a gun disarm. And in fact, in prolonged hostage situations, such a distraction might be set-up for the right moment when all the Ws and Hs are in line.
Of course there’s more, but this just specifically about taking advantage of momentary distractions. And if you’re police, military or enforcement, or a justified citizen, learn not to “wave the wand,” around, so…cavalierly.
Gun disarms. Very tricky business.