[+Pete]

30 years of carrying a gun both on duty and off duty. Used my gun one time in self defense and in defense of my pregnant wife. Never had to draw it from the holster. The bad guy seen it before I could draw it and he ran. Since that incident (about 25 years ago ) my wife asks me if I have my gun EVERY time we leave the house. I live on 116 acres and I don't go outside without a gun. That one single incident changed our life forever.

Glad you were ready and defused the situation without having to carve out some new 🕳 lol

 

[Rock_Crawler_Jeep]

I didn't respond to the poll. The poll and the 1st post together struck a raw nerve with me. It reminded me of something I, and I'm sure others here, have put up with. For example...
November 10th, every year, I wear one of my Marine Corps t-shirts to celebrate the birthday of my beloved Corps. On no other day of the year do I wear anything to demonstrate my military service, nor do I have stickers or such on our cars that say this.
A couple of old-acquaintance neighbors walking their dog came by when I was out at the mailbox, stopped to talk, and started questioning me about my shirt and my service. Within 3 or 4 minutes came "The Questions":
Did you see any action?
What wars were you in?
Did you ever kill anybody?

To the OP:
These are very personal questions. They often (usually?) come with some very emotionally charged memories. Nobody here knows you, and the trust necessary to share these experiences mostly doesn't exist on a totally anonymous Internet forum until people have had interaction with others for a long time, not with a newcomer as others here have stated.
If you have questions about how to deal with a situation where a weapon might be drawn and how to deal with it, come directly to the point and ask about training, tactics, and classes for these situations. As you have hopefully read here, many people have looked at your post with suspicion. Getting to the point where you made the comment,
"This answer is the reason why I made this post. Thank you and I will follow this advice 👍", could have been accomplished by asking different questions and not using the poll.

 

[TheDreadnought]

I have been reading all the caliber debates and snubby vs semi posts as well. I know this forum is a mix of past/present LEO’s as well as active/ex military and many private citizens (like me) that are trying to carry out daily lives while also being responsible CCW holders.

With all that being said - how many of you here have truly ever had to draw and shoot in self defense? Do you have any Lessons Learned you would be willing to share?

Meh, don’t sweat the reaction in here.

Some of the responders are right. People who have been in those sorts of situations may have a lot of bad memories/feelings attached and don’t want to talk about it.

That said, the proper, adult reaction in that case is to ignore the question and keep scrolling. However, there’s an element on here that likes to cause a lot of drama over nothing.

Sadly, not everyone on “our side” is as different from hyperventilating, angst-ridden leftists as they would like to believe. Plus we actually have some of those leftists on here. So there’s that.

 

[Pierre!]

3 presentations for self-defense - No shots fired in any of them. The mere presentation was very persuasive.

All 3 events occurred PRE CCW-Training. After CCW Instruction and CCW Instructor training there have been Zero reasons to draw. I'm thinking I picked up some 'I'm not a target' traits.

 

[RussP]

I'm thinking I picked up some 'I'm not a target' traits.

@Pierre! would you mind sharing what you mean by "'I'm not a target' traits" for those not familiar with those traits?

Thank you...

 

[pugman]

I have had twosituations where I was very, very close.

One time, the other person was the aggressor and stupid. If his wife hadn’t pulled him back into his minivan with that tire iron he would be dead.

The second time the other guy was the aggressor but I was stupid. Stopping for gas at 2:30 am in an area I know has problems is asking for trouble. If not for his friend he would be dead. A .45 would have trumped a baseball bat.

 

[LocoGlockO]

I didn't respond to the poll. The poll and the 1st post together struck a raw nerve with me. It reminded me of something I, and I'm sure others here, have put up with. For example...
November 10th, every year, I wear one of my Marine Corps t-shirts to celebrate the birthday of my beloved Corps. On no other day of the year do I wear anything to demonstrate my military service, nor do I have stickers or such on our cars that say this.
A couple of old-acquaintance neighbors walking their dog came by when I was out at the mailbox, stopped to talk, and started questioning me about my shirt and my service. Within 3 or 4 minutes came "The Questions":
Did you see any action?
What wars were you in?
Did you ever kill anybody?

To the OP:
These are very personal questions. They often (usually?) come with some very emotionally charged memories. Nobody here knows you, and the trust necessary to share these experiences mostly doesn't exist on a totally anonymous Internet forum until people have had interaction with others for a long time, not with a newcomer as others here have stated.
If you have questions about how to deal with a situation where a weapon might be drawn and how to deal with it, come directly to the point and ask about training, tactics, and classes for these situations. As you have hopefully read here, many people have looked at your post with suspicion. Getting to the point where you made the comment,
"This answer is the reason why I made this post. Thank you and I will follow this advice 👍", could have been accomplished by asking different questions and not using the poll.

@Rock_Crawler_Jeep thank you for your service and for your detailed reply. As a fellow Jeeper (JKU on 35’s #JeepWave) I did not consider the emotionally charged memories this post could have triggered. That definitely wasnt my intention and for those folks that it did offend - I can only offer sincere apologies.

With respect to the poll, I work with analysis and metrics for a living so this was just my way of giving people an opportunity to cast a vote without necessarily having to divulge any info. The interesting thing here is that as of this moment there are more Yes than No results. I would have expected the opposite.

 

[Road Dog]

Twice: Many years ago I kept a G22 in my desk drawer at my office. One day a huge guy burst in through the doors threatening me and telling me what he was going to do to me and none of it was pleasant. As he cleared the side of my desk he saw me open the desk drawer and the G22. Oddly enough Billy Badass, who would have easily beat the fire out of me or worse the guy was HUGE, exited my office post haste and was yelling at me from the building foyer. Within 5 minutes the whole situation was diffused by his wife and the whole problem solved with zero problems without his fathead dumbass self.

Secondly 2 years ago my bank moved to downtown Chattanooga. I have to walk about 2 blocks to the bank. As I am crossing the street a car load of youths pulled up to the red-light real fast and everyone in the car acted like they were going to rush me. As my hand went to my hip, I never showed the G48 or drew it, but the whole attitude of the youths seemed to change. They instantly sat back down, looked straight ahead, and actually locked their doors. As they drove to the next light I just walked onto my bank and back without further incidence.

RD

 

[Pontoof]

I had to show off my Combat Commander in a shoulder holster once. Just drew back my jacket and put my hand on the gun. Never seen two grown men stop in their tracks so fast.
My wife and little boy were behind me. No way I was going to let those guys close to me.
This was out in the boonies too;not in city. I had just got that Colt back from King's Gunworks;hard-chromed and S&W revolver sights. Used to shoot the crap outta that gun.
I reloaded back then;and could shoot pretty good.

Just for the record, this event happened a long time ago. I could pick those two out of a lineup today. Glad they stopped coming toward us and went back the way they came. Won't go into details; but,they weren't coming over for a social visit.

Also,that same day/night we were camping in the Pecos Wilderness we heard the piercing screams of a mountain lion reverberating off canyon wall close to our tent. So glad I had that .45. There is no other sound quite like a vicious puma wailing in the night to make you sit straight up in your sleeping bag.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Just putting your hand in a pocket can make others think twice. Saved my bacon a time or two, others changed their course or flat out stopped and turned around, which told me they were up to no good in the first place.

 

[DaleGribble]

I have.

I was in downtown L.A., on business, when my cab driver, Max, drove me to a client's residence to get some documents signed. While I was inside two guys robbed Max at gun point and took my brief case out of the backseat of the cab as I was coming back outside.

I saw them walking away with my briefcase and said "Yo homie, is that my briefcase?"

One of the attackers came back and put a gun in my face and demanded my wallet. When he got close enough I swiped his gun out of my face and drew my H&K USP from my waist band and speed rocked two into his chest and then transitioned to the other guy, who was in the process of drawing his gun and I put two in his chest and one into his head. The first assailant I shot was attempting to point his gun at me while he was down, so I put a third round into him.

That event changed my life forever, and I'll never go back to being the man I was before that night.

 

[Glock4life!]

I have.

I was in downtown L.A., on business, when my cab driver, Max, drove me to a client's residence to get some documents signed. While I was inside two guys robbed Max at gun point and took my brief case out of the backseat of the cab as I was coming back outside.

I saw them walking away with my briefcase and said "Yo homie, is that my briefcase?"

One of the attackers came back and put a gun in my face and demanded my wallet. When he got close enough I swiped his gun out of my face and drew my H&K USP from my waist band and speed rocked two into his chest and then transitioned to the other guy, who was in the process of drawing his gun and I put two in his chest and one into his head. The first assailant I shot was attempting to point his gun at me while he was down, so I put a third round into him.

That event changed my life forever, and I'll never go back to being the man I was before that night.

It wasn't your fault Vincent. You did what you had to do.

 

[Critch]

I'm really glad that I have never had to shoot someone...I'm also glad that I was armed in those two situations and knew what to do...

 

[inthefrey]

NO and NO.
Never ever-ever want to be in that situation.
However, I train for it bi-weekly. As everyone should.

 

[Historian]

As Joe citizen...four times i cleared leather...but never shot.

As a copy i drew more times than i can count....far fewer than I launched.

 

[n2g]

OP, just keep in mind that Glock Talk has many military and law enforcement members, so your poll isn't going to give a realistic picture for civilian self defense encounters.

 

[G26-Has-my-6]

I have.

I was in downtown L.A., on business, when my cab driver, Max, drove me to a client's residence to get some documents signed. While I was inside two guys robbed Max at gun point and took my brief case out of the backseat of the cab as I was coming back outside.

I saw them walking away with my briefcase and said "Yo homie, is that my briefcase?"

One of the attackers came back and put a gun in my face and demanded my wallet. When he got close enough I swiped his gun out of my face and drew my H&K USP from my waist band and speed rocked two into his chest and then transitioned to the other guy, who was in the process of drawing his gun and I put two in his chest and one into his head. The first assailant I shot was attempting to point his gun at me while he was down, so I put a third round into him.

That event changed my life forever, and I'll never go back to being the man I was before that night.

 

[PIC123]

I'm assuming your question is for those who carry as civilians? Military I can say I have, yes. As a civilian in 50 years I've only had to draw against another person once, back in 2014, but the moment they realized I had drawn a weapon, all 4 of them through down their bats, got back into their vehicle and sped off. The second incident involved a pit bull who broke from it's yard and charged my father, unfortunately I did have to put the dog down, one shot to the top of the head using a 45acp 230gr JHP.

Good shot ! Was the dog charging ?

 

[Lt Scott 14]

4 years ago, attempted car jacking at 12:30am. Guy approached my driver side with a Craftsman screwdriver(the long version, like 8 in blade) in hand. He says "hey man, can you....I had a Glock19 aimed chest high, he fell backwards to like crab walk in reverse to escape. I opened the door and retrieved the tool, then noticed the blade was ground to a point like an ice pick.
As I drove away, threw it into a drain pond, and holstered the Glock. Now I carry a 3D cell maglite between the seats, and a Cold Steel fixed blade knife with a razor sharp Tanto blade clipped to the door panel. Add a can of First Defense OC handy too. Not fooling around anymore.

 

[bruscifer]

It's Memphis, that's not even he stupidest thing I've ever seen down there....druggies, gang members, stupid criminals, you never know what they will do..

If ya gotta pull the pistol and gotta push it into somebodies stupid face then, I can't think of a sexier pistol to use than a BHP. The picture looks sexy.