Tactical Shooting and Decision Making – The 21 foot rule.

The 21 foot rule establishes the distance from which an attacker could yield a knife and cut you before you have an opportunity to defend yourself. To me, being aware of my surroundings means that before someone reaches that distance, I must already thought through a quick range of options like reaching into my pocket and preparing to deploy pepper spray, changing course into a direction away from the threat, or mentally preparing to unholster and use my firearm.

It’s great that you are able to conceal carry a firearm so you can protect yourself but there is more to defending ourselves than having a firearm – the most important part is knowing how to use one in a situation where you are about to become the victim of a crime.

Here are some things to consider. First, how much time will it take before you can take that shot. Will you have to chamber a round? Will you have to turn off the safety on your firearm? Will you have to sight your firearm on your opponent? How far will you have to extend your arms toward the attacker to place a round on your attacker? Even if you are a well-trained shooter and practice regularly, that is a daunting set of tasks to complete when someone is about to hurt you or a member of your family.

All of these variables will require you to make personal decisions while contemplating the risks and benefits of each decision made. And under no circumstances should those be a reflection of my personal believes. In other words, I am not suggesting what you must do. The only thing I can do is share my personal choices.

Again, there are other schools of thought, some of which may not even opt to conceal carry a firearm for self-defense.

My personal thought is that having to perform any of those tasks at such a stressful time would reduce your chances of self-defense substantially. For that reason I choose to conceal carry, with a firearm I am familiar with, a firearm with which I have practiced with  many times before, one that has a chambered round and one with a trigger safety “switch” and that is carried in a holster where the trigger is not exposed.

Once more, I know my own level of experience and proficiency – not yours. I cannot say what you should or should not do except for one thing - get the best possible training available to you from real experts in the use of your firearm.