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Have you ever had the need to brandish/draw/shoot?

KansasMustang

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Had to "Brandish" twice, once was certainly a major threat, the other merely veiled.
Was out with a friend in the mountains at a shooting range in Colorado. We had ALL of our weapons out just havin a "Plinkin party" Sitting at a stoplight carload of,,well not so nice fella's pulled alongside. One hung out of the passenger window with a snub nose .38 told my friend who was the driver "Hand me your wallet or I blow you up" I reached over the back seat and pulled out my 12 gauge reached it behind my buddies head and damn near touched the bastid on the nose and told him" drop the gun or I blow up your whole damn car" They smoked their wheels running a red light almost causing a pile up.
The second time I was in my Van with my wife and two kids in back. Again at a redlight. Van had a CB in the headliner. Fella pulled alongside said "Nice CB ya got, think I'll just take it" Reached down into the "boot" of the Van told him " Well here take 240 grains of lead with it" Again,,the same reaction smokin tires into the intersection. This time there was a collision, I just drove around it. Wonder if he gave an excuse to the cops like,,a fella threatened me with a gun?
 

mjones

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In the summer of about 1993 I was out alone shooting on BLM land in the High Desert of SoCal. I used to go out there pretty regularly and setup a table full of toys. I would hike out to a hillside from my toys and setup targets anywhere from 300 to 500 yards out then come back for some fun. Whenever I would go out to setup or retrieve targets I would slide the table into the back of the truck which has a locking hardtop.

On this one afternoon while I was way on my hike back from setting up targets a beatup old pickup showed up with 3 guys in it. They were stumbling around and threw out a bunch of empty beer cans. They were REALLY interested in my truck and were looking all around presumably looking for me but they didn't spot me.

One of them began to attempt to open the hard top at the back of the truck. I always carry an AR and a pistol with me when I'm hiking while shooting. I took a single pistol shot (into my backstop behind me NOWHERE near them) and then brought my rifle up to my shoulder in what I guess some wouldI guess would be called a'high ready' position.

Fortunately they decided it was time to go and it didn't go any further then that.Ipacked upand left. I don't shoot alone out there anymore :(
 

Hawkflyer

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Pamiam wrote:
Have you ever had the need to brandish/draw/shoot?

What were the circumstances? What were the results?

I have never "brandished". I have "shown" a firearm to people from time to timeto assure them that I had one, knew how to use it, and that if they did not stop what they were doing before someone got hurtI would demonstrate its operation and use as a tool in the application of deadly force. But when I drew the weapon, my intent was to fire it. Only the subsequent actions of the other person prevented me from doing so.

Now of course in Virginia, it is important that there be justification such as self defense, or reasonable cause to believe a person was about to inflict serious harm or death on someone, before you show them your weapon. Under those conditions brandishing does not apply.
 

darthmord

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Norfolk, Virginia, USA
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Haven't drawn it except at the range.

I did have an encounter one night (almost midnight) while on Christmas break a few weeks back. On my way out of the Wal-Mart on North Military Highway heading to my car. A guy starts walking in the 'blind spot' of the human body (around 5 o'clock if me facing forward was 12) a few steps behind me as I passed him. He was originally standing around outside when I went in.

I was CC with my firearm in my pocket (no belt and the pants I was wearing weren't OC/CC friendly). I also had my keys there. He apparently realized what was imprinting from inside my jacket as he immediately & hurriedly veered away while glancing back at me.

I was well armed for the occasion. Firearm if necessary, metal pans in my other hand. A pan upside the head does wonders for attitude adjustments. H2H training doesn't hurt either :).

Oddly, it wasn't until I was back on the road that my heart started racing and I started feeling jittery.
 

Pamiam

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This is a very educational thread. Thank you all for your stories.

There was one time that my firearms gave me great comfort, although I was able to get out of the situation without touching/showing them. That's always the best way to go if at all possible.

I have had no need to "brandish", draw, shoot, and hope to never. But I do strive to be prepared should it ever be necessary. Stories like these help me, and others, both prepare for, and avoid, learned situations. Thank you all for sharing.
 

Deanimator

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Back in '84, a guy tried to run a friend and me off of I-44 in the middle of the night (after apparently trying to do the same to somebody else). The guy got in front of us and started slowing down, weaving from side to side so that we couldn't get around him. I had my friend hit the dome light when he got right on our front bumper so that he could see me pointing a loaded HK93 at him through the windshield. The guy took off at the speed of light, probably ruining his engine in the process. I later heard from another friend that he'd been harassed by the same guy. He was about to shoot him with his M1911 when he took off.
 

Task Force 16

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I've only been carrying since Sept of 08 and haven't had to use my sidearm in any way, yet.

However, I did have a rather humorousincident occur many years ago.

Back in the late 70's, I was still married. I had been down in the woods behind my house when I returned to find a strange car in the driveway. I had my SA .22LR revolver holstered in western style drop holster. I walked up the side of the house to the front and found my wife (X-wife now for nearly 30 yearws) setting on the porch with a young fellow that had an array of brushes on display and what appeared to be a catalog that he was trying to show my wife.

When I stepped up on the porch, my wife's back was to me and the young feller was facing me. She turned to look at me and with a preturbed (this guy won't go away) look said," this guy's selling brushes and I've already told him when he got hereI didn't need anything. Do you need anything? I'm gonna start supper." And she got up to go inside. The salesman had already spotted my low slung 6 shooter, and my hand near the stocks (like a gunslinger just before the gun fight) and I'm pretty sure he had noticed my custom HD Sportster on hte porch behind him. It was one of those "deer in the headlights" moments. (You know, like this ----> :what:)

So I just gave him a sort of cross lookand said in my bestJosey Wellstone, "You still here?" I ain't never seen anyone pack up so fast in my life. He picked his chin up off the floor (that he had dropped when he saw be come around the corner of the house) scooped up all them brushes, stuffed them into his carry case and quick stepped it to his car (while not taking his eye offmy gun the whole time) and lit out of the drive way as if he was competing in the Gator Nationals.

Wify heard me laughin my butt off and came out to see what had happened. She saw the dust out front and asked me what I said to the guy. (She saw him peel out of the drive way) I told her, and she just said with a smile, "You are soooooooo mean". We were still snickerin' about it while we ate supper.
 

ixtow

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Unholstered 3 times, pointed once.

That was all it took. Didn't have to pull the trigger. 4 crimes prevented, nobody got hurt. Statistics, where?
 

Task Force 16

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ixtow wrote:
Unholstered 3 times, pointed once.

That was all it took. Didn't have to pull the trigger. 4 crimes prevented, nobody got hurt. Statistics, where?
The anti-gunners always jump to the conclusion that "using" a firearm to stop or prevent a crime means "shooting". It would be interesting to know the percentage of the estimated 2.5 million times per year a firearm was used without firing. My guess it would be pretty small.
 

Deanimator

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Task Force 16 wrote:
ixtow wrote:
Unholstered 3 times, pointed once.

That was all it took. Didn't have to pull the trigger. 4 crimes prevented, nobody got hurt. Statistics, where?
The anti-gunners always jump to the conclusion that "using" a firearm to stop or prevent a crime means "shooting". It would be interesting to know the percentage of the estimated 2.5 million times per year a firearm was used without firing. My guess it would be pretty small.
No, they almost universally equate "using" with "KILLING", hence the spurious claim that a gun is more likely to KILL a family member than a criminal.

According to anti-gunners, you haven't actually USED a gun if there isn't a corpse. If a wouldbe assailant sees your firearm and runs, you've apparently neither used it nor defended yourself

In response I often ask, "Do you advocate the use of the martial arts for self-defense?" If they say, "yes" I just ask, "So then similarly, do you believe you haven't defended yourself with the martial arts unless someone has been beaten or choked to death?" That REALLY seems to annoy them.
 

Aran

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The only time I've unholstered outside of the range or at home was... two nights ago?

My cousin, 16, was showing off his airsoft M4 and 1911 and talking about how realistic they were, I was smiling and nodding, and finally just quietly took my Glock out, dropped the mag, ejected the round, locked back the slide, and handed it over grip-first, saying "No, those are toys. They're not realistic at all. This is what a gun feels like."

I bet he's still grinning.

Now I need to find a way to get him either out here or to a range somewhere out there, because he wants to go shooting for real.


That was my best non-shooting use of a Glock.


Oh wait, I've used it as a paperweight before, I take that back. :D
 

Tomahawk

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Hawkflyer wrote:
Aran wrote:
Oh wait, I've used it as a paperweight before, I take that back. :D
Now THAT is a good use for a Glock!:lol:

Good dog chew toys, too.



gingerglock1299-1.jpg
 

SouthernBoy

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May 12, 2007
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Years ago not long after my wife and I were married, I was taking college classes at night. We lived in a 1-bedroom apartment in a very nice development. The buildings were all segregated so that singles and those married without children were not in the same buildings with families.. made it nice for parties and such.

There was an elderly lady who lived directly below us on the second floor who one night, had an attempted break-in while she was in her apartment! The steel fire door and frame were heavily damaged by what I would guess was a tire iron or crowbar. So my wife started keeping my hunting handgun out on the nights when I was in school. It was a 3-screw Ruger Blackhawk .357 Magnum 6 1/2" barrel - single action, of course.

One night while I was gone she in the living room and she heard unusual sounds in the hallway; which was an enclosed hallway. You know, in apartments, you get used to the sounds and the comings and goings of your neighbors. But the sounds she was hearing were foreign to her. Also, she hear doorknobs being "tested" as the sounds stopped at each landing. When they got to the 3rd floor, my wife had my gun in her hand pointed at the door and when our doorknob was tried, she yelled that she had a gun and it was pointed at the door and the person better get out of there. She heard rapid footsteps going down the stairs and out the front door.
 

Ruger Fan

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Monroe, North Carolina, USA
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Had an incident where I had to brandish several years ago. I was on my way to the range in my car and had my P89 in the seat beside me. A car containing some outstanding examples of today's society pulled up next to me at the light. One of these fine young individuals leaned out the window brandishing a 6" knife and stated he wanted to "test drive" my car. I raised the pistol to clear the top of the door by around 2" and stated with a smile "hop in, let's take a ride". Never saw a '80 Caprice move that fast before...............
 
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