I was reading a Houston Chronicle story about a homeowner defending his property and person from a criminal with a tire iron and had a couple of interesting thoughts.
First, the most fun I’ve had reading a news story comments in a long time. I love Texas. Normally threads on news paper websites are some of the worst on the net.
Second, was the paragraphs at the end about other homeowners defending themselves. Compare the main story and the last other shooting.
In the main story the homeowner had a 45 pistol, and fired 4 or 5 times and still doesn’t stop the guy. Eventually the guy does bleed out, after struggling for the gun, and dies trying to drive away.
In the last paragraph is says:
On June 17, a north Harris County man shot and killed a teenager who refused to leave his property in the 5500 block of Susanna. Sheriff’s investigators said Dwayne Austgen, 69, feared for his life when he fired a .22 caliber rifle at 17-year-old Vidal Herrera.
Here the guy uses a 22 and kills the assailant, apparently only shooting him once in the abdomen.
I guess the lesson here is that just because you shoot someone – maybe even leading to their death – they probably won’t stop.
Guess that’s why at Frontsight they teach, two shots to the chest, and if they don’t stop, one to the head.
I was just reading an article reviewing a course by John Farnam. Apparently he teaches a “zipper” approach, where you start at the navel and shoot 4 ascending shots ending in the upper chest.
While there’s something nice about the Mozambique Drill that Front Sight teaches, it’s hard to get off such shots (that head shot) in a true pressure situation, especially when you’re not shooting at a stationary piece of cardboard.
In the end, what matters is to put your shots in vital areas, and to keep shooting until the attacker stops. It may not be a 2+1, it may just be 1, or it may be emptying your entire magazine. Who knows. Bottom line is to put rounds in the vital areas until the attack stops.
.-= hsoi´s last blog ..Shotgun chokes for home defense =-.