Q:  Why not just carry a gun and shoot the attacker or attackers? A:  Because it is suicide if the guy has an edged weapon and the events of the attack may not justify lethal force. I get asked this all the time and it is usually from lazy and out of shape people who watch WAY TOO MUCH TELEVISION.  If you haven’t read the article 21 foot rule, please take some time and read it.  Basically, a person with a knife who is standing 21 feet away can close that gap and kill you before you can draw your gun, shoot and stop the attack.   To watch an excellent example of the 21 foot rule on you tube,  click here. Firearms are great tools if you have the time to get to it so you can use it.   IT IS A TOOL, it is not the answer for every bad thing that happens like I hear so many men and women describe it as.  Their repeating phrase  ‘I’ll just shoot the ‘mother fu@&er’ . So lets break this down into two areas:  The dangers of drawing your firearm during an attack, and some basic legalities of unjustified use of lethal force.  1.  The dangers of drawing your firearm during an attack.    Firearms are great but you have to be able to get to it and use it before it to be effective.  Whether it is on your hip, under a desk/counter or in the drawer next to your bed, firearms are useless until it is in your hands and you are able to effectively aim and operate it. Criminals are not going to tell you when and where they are going to attack you.   Criminals will use stealth and trickery moments before they attack you.  They will close distance on you and attack you when you least expect it, and when they do attack, it is going to be very violent.  They will hit you, stab you and slash at y0u repeatedly until they are satisfied.  An untrained person with a four inch pocket knife can stab you four times a second.  Under ideal conditions, a well trained shooter can draw from concealment and deliver two well placed shots in 1.5 seconds.  DO YOUR MATH.  Even if you were able to draw and shoot the attacker, you just sustained 6 stab wounds to your abdomen.  Now imagine if an attacker surprises you and it takes you 4 seconds to shoot and stop him?  YOU WERE JUST STABBED 16 TIMES.  NOW, imagine if anyone of those stabs were to the hand or arm that you were going to use to draw your handgun? Now,  lets add some reality to it. a.  THIS ONE IS UNAVOIDABLE:  Under the stress and excitement of the attack, your heart starts to beat rapidly, your vision narrows, your breathing gets heavy and you loose control of all fine motor skills as your hands and fingers don’t function the way you want them to. b.  You have gloves on because it’s cold. c.  Its cold so you have a big winter coat on or it’s raining and you don’t want to get wet and it’s ZIPPED ALL THE WAY UP,,  (yes,, I see it all the time). d.  You are carrying something in your hands. e.  You are with your wife and/or children. f.  You attempt to draw but your handgun gets snagged in your shirt. g.  Your handgun fails to fire. h.  You miss. i.  You shoot him several times but it takes several seconds before his body shuts down and during that time, he continues to stab you. j. You reach for your handgun and it’s not there. k.  You are out of shape and had to run 100 yards before you drew your gun. Yes, you can train for these kinds of extreme shootings, but like I said before, even if you shoot him in the heart,,  he still has the ability to attack and kill you.  No blood pumping to his brain means he still has 6-12 seconds before his brain shuts down because of lack of oxygen.  If you simply shoot him in the body, it can take several minutes before he looses enough blood before his body shuts down.  THAT IS A LONG TIME WHEN HE IS STABBING YOU. When we train here at Street Combatives, we simulate this type of an attack all the time and it surprises everyone who thinks they have the time to draw and shoot before they get cut apart.  So far, everyone has lost.  Yeah, we had a couple people who were able to pull the trigger but the shot was no where near being on target,,  and a couple times the shots were on target but no where near a vital organ so the attacker simply kept stabbing and slashing, and slashing and stabbing.  Remember, even if you shoot someone in the chest two or three times, and two of those shots went right through the heart, the attacker still has the means and the ability to keep fighting.  Just because you shot him does not mean they are going to stop attacking you.  Just ask any deer hunter and they will tell you that you can shoot a deer right through the heart and the deer just runs aways and dies several seconds later.  The only immediate stops are the ones where you shoot the attacker in the head and destroy his CNS ‘Central Nervous System’, and even there is no guarantee.  There are many stories of people being shot several times and he simply runs away and dies from their injuries seconds, if not minutes later. The only way that we have been able to survive these types of simulated attacks is to attack the attacker immediately, taking control of the weapon and destroying the attacker. Yes, about half the time we do suffer a single simulated slash or a stab, but remember, it is a knife fight and we do train at FULL SPEED.  I believe that if you are in an actual knife fight and you were able to stop the attacker and only be cut or stabbed once,,  you are having a real good day.  When we do this same drill and we go for a concealed handgun, we get between 6-20 simulated cuts and stabs before we can stop the attack.  Not sure about you,,  but I would rather take a single stab or cut instead of 6-20.  2.  Basic legalities.   If you are going to carry or own a firearm, you must know the rules and the responsibilities that come with them.  You cant just shoot anyone and everyone that bumps into you, gets in your face or hits you.  There must be an eminent threat against your or a loved one and there is certain criteria that must be met before you can pull out and shoot someone.  If you don’t already know this as well as the laws around the use of deadly force than you shouldn’t be carrying or owning any type of firearm.  Please read the Ohio Use Of Force Laws. Yes, I hear people all the time saying ‘I would rather be judged by twelve than carried by six’  But think about it.  You acted outside the guidelines of the law and you shot and killed someone when lethal force was not justified.  You were arrested, found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.  Your wife and family now owe $120,ooo in legal fees from trying to defend your actions. Two months later you find out that your wife filed for bankruptcy and has also filed for divorce (what good is a husband that can’t be at home) and your kids have stopped coming up to see you because they are embarrassed having you for a father and they just want you out of their life.  You will spend the rest of your life in a concrete and metal bared room surrounded by tall concrete walls and barbed wire fences.  OH YES,,  and let us not forget about the three big dudes in prison with tattoos all over their bodies that have made you their bitch for life. Now ask  yourself,,    WAS IT REALLY WORTH IT ?