To many armed citizens, if you say the words, “self-defense,” their mind immediately goes to “armed self-defense” and the idea of protecting themselves with their carry gun. Truthfully, across the entire spectrum of self-defense, the ability to use our carry handgun is only one link in the metaphorical chain mail that forms the “armor” of reliable self-protection. As a firearms/self-defense instructor, one of my more popular classes is a scenario-based “force-on-force” class. Armed with an airsoft handgun and other inert training tools, attendees navigate simulated scenarios based on real life events and deal with role-players portraying contentious strangers in interactions that may or may not lead to violence. Observing several hundred of these scenarios play out over the last four years, I can count on one hand the occasions someone faced negative scenario outcomes because they couldn’t handle or shoot their gun well enough. If someone’s self-defense scenario went poorly, it was typically for reasons other than their pure shooting skill. Attendees rarely leave pledging to practice shooting more, and instead typically realize there are other completely neglected areas in which they need to improve. I’d like to examine some of the areas I see people routinely make mistakes and perhaps help some readers identify areas that might be weak spots in their own preparation for self-defense.
Legal Use of Force
Perhaps the most routine and catastrophic area where I see people make mistakes is legal use-of-force. No matter how good you are with your carry gun, if you want to remain an ethical good guy and non-incarcerated free citizen, then you must use your handgun only within the boundaries of the prescribed laws concerning self-defense. While many concealed carry license holders have sat through a class covering use-of-force law and use of lethal force in self-defense, different states have different requirements, and for many citizens it has been many years since that training. Thus I’ve seen lack of understanding on use-of-force law negatively impact students in many different ways in the class scenarios. The most common area one might think of is overreacting and using lethal force when it is not justified, or continuing to use lethal force beyond the point of justification. I also see a lack of understanding of the law lead to underreaction, where a person in the scenario had every justification they needed to use lethal force but either hesitated or used less-than-lethal means because they did not understand that what they were facing constituted lethal force.
I am not a lawyer, and this article doesn’t constitute legal advice, but I am advising you to seek out authoritative sources on use-of-force law generally and specific to your area if it is available. The one specific endorsement I’ll make is to seek out books written by Massad Ayoob and take his classes providing instruction on this subject. Every armed citizen should know how to remain an ethical and law-abiding citizen and keep oneself on the side of right, morally and legally.
Less-Than-Lethal Force Options
Another area where I see armed citizens lacking is in their knowledge and use of less-than-lethal tools for self-defense. Why would a private citizen need these tools or to know how to use them? In the words of Kansas lawman and self-defense instructor Chuck Haggard, “It’s nice to have something in between harsh words and a gun.” Not every self-defense problem is a lethal force problem, and if you overreact to a sub-lethal force problem with lethal force, you can find yourself in a pretty poor legal situation. So it pays to have some tools and knowledge that can solve self-defense problems that are not gun problems.
Quality pepper spray, also called “OC spray” (short for oleoresin capsicum) is a fantastic tool within its appropriate use spectrum. In my experience, pepper spray is far more reliable than stun guns or tasers, and generally avoids the legal murkiness so common with impact weapons like batons, saps, and blackjacks, which are regulated very differently from state to state, both in their possession and use. A few states have conditions/restrictions on possession and use of pepper spray, so check your state and local laws.
If you find yourself dealing with a scenario where someone is assaulting you or assault appears imminent, but death or serious bodily injury is unlikely to occur (say, someone shoving you during a parking lot dispute), then it’s almost universally not a gun problem. Pepper spray can be a proportional response to sub-lethal force imposed on you, diminishing your attacker so that you can break off from the encounter while staying within the law. For any self-defense problem we face where lethal force is not justified, but we want to avoid intimate physical contact (i.e. boxing or grappling) with the aggressor as we seek to remove ourselves from the situation, OC/pepper spray is an excellent less-than-lethal tool of choice for the private citizen. I recommend any armed citizen get a quality pocket-sized pepper spray canister as well as an inert training unit of the same type from the same brand, so they can practice with it, and take a formal pepper spray class from a reputable trainer if you can find one.
Medical/First-Aid
Another area that I find most armed citizens have some gaps in their knowledge is in medical/first-aid response. Even among those that do have some medical first-aid knowledge, they often do not incorporate any medical gear into their everyday carry (EDC) kit, either on their person or in a bag or vehicle. In the aftermath of a violent encounter, it is possible some people may be injured. Even if you win the fight you, your loved ones, or innocent bystanders may have been seriously injured during the event. In such a case, basic knowledge of lifesaving first aid, and the basic tools to take life-saving steps is of paramount importance. The ability to stop bleeding and/or keep someone breathing until emergency medical services arise is a skill every bit as lifesaving as being able to stop an attacker with your concealed handgun. It would be a miserable turn of events to win your fight with a crazed bad guy only to bleed out, or watch loved ones or innocent bystanders bleed out waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
Emergency medical knowledge and tools can also save lives outside of encounters with violent criminals. If you ask anyone who is trained and carries medical as part of their EDC gear, they’re likely to tell you they’ve used their medical gear and knowledge to help injured people, whether a family member or coworker in a workshop accident or a stranger upon driving up on an injured motorcyclist at an intersection. So if our goal is to keep ourselves, our loved ones, and our neighbors alive, it is prudent to also take a medical/first-aid class, such as the excellent Stop The Bleed courses, and keep an individual first aid kit stocked with basic life-saving tools (tourniquet, chest seals, gauze) handy, whether for routine accidents or the aftermath of a violent encounter.
Conclusion
These topics are not exhaustive, and we didn’t even touch on the subjects of situational awareness, recognizing pre-assault indicators, verbal agility/de-escalation skills, empty-handed fighting skills, or physical fitness, but those topics will have to wait for another article. Carrying a gun and being skilled with it is part of self-defense, but not the only part. We must know the law and how to act within it. We should have tools at our disposal to deal with sub-lethal force, such as OC/pepper spray. We should bolster our first-aid medical skills, and have medical gear accessible in an emergency. Most importantly, we should all habitually take stock and strive to identify the weak links in our training and practice habits, so that we don’t ignore critical skills we need to keep our loved ones and ourselves safe.
