This week we are going to look at a video from an armed robbery that took place in Oklahoma City last year. This video starts like so many others, a normal person in the middle of a normal routine. In this case, our victim is at the car wash in the middle of the day.
Notice that our victim here doesn’t have much of an opportunity to respond once he recognizes the threat. The bad guy is able to close the distance to a point where our good guy has really no other option but to comply with the demands. The robber orders him to the ground, face down. Not only is this a difficult position to draw the gun from, but he’s submitting to our armed threat. He is now at his mercy with no viable option for defending himself, only hope.
In the initial moments of the video, our good guy is at his best position to respond with force, IF he has the ability to draw, move, then shoot. The greater the distance between you and the threat, generally speaking the greater advantage the good guy will have. With regular practice on the draw, movement, presentation and firing of the gun, the more likely our good guy would be to deliver an effective hit on target before the bad guy can effectively respond. Once again, we see why efficiency is a key factor in our tools, skills and tactics.
There is no guarantee that the bad guy wouldn’t take a lucky shot that could be life threatening to a defender. As the bad guy closes the distance, the less skill or even luck he needs to deliver an effective shot with his gun. The window of opportunity closes quickly even though our bad guy doesn’t appear to be rushing anything. Acting violently when faced with an active threat will always be risky. The alternative here is to lay face down and hope that this violent criminal won’t fire a round into the back of your head. There are life changing decisions to be made and many times they must be made in fractions of a second. This is why we spend time learning about the “Warrior Expert Theory” in our Tactics focused Free Concealed Carry Classes. This is why we train the brain to recognize the attack as quickly as possible and tie that recognition into the skill to deliver effective actions in our Defensive Shooting classes.
