Let's define a self defense situation. You are alone on your way home. A dark figure surprise attacks you. He is physically attacking and you need to do whatever is necessary to stop him and protect yourself.
Knife vs. Gun: what are you going to do
Advantages of the GUN
When you walk with a GUN you feel differently which makes you walk more confidently. With a GUN at your side you feel powerful, the weight and the hardness of the steel feels a certain way. Without a doubt the GUN makes you feel powerful and this sense of power can translate into a taller, more confident posture making the attacker, this hidden figure in the shadows prefer to let you walk by and wait instead for an easy victim.
The GUN has a force multiplier effect that evens the scale with one or multiple attackers. The GUN can either cause deadly injury or a flight reaction that sends the attacker running away in fear. The GUN also has the ability to create distance getting your attacker to back off and to stay back.
Typical GUN Reaction Strategy
- You surprise me. I break away and pull out my gun
- Strategy 1: Attacker gets scared. He runs away
- Strategy 2: I spray shoot at the attacker until he stops, runs away, or succumbs
Is the GUN the right self defense tool for you?
In self defense during an assault many GUN owners are not trained nor experienced using a GUN so this is a pragmatic problem. Average mentality thinks that in a fight you just pull out your GUN causing a magic force field of safety to swarm a sphere of protection around you and that there are magical bad guy magnets in the bullets drawing them into only the bad guy avoiding all other people in the area because they are not involved in the fight.
It is an important fact and common knowledge how extremely difficult it is to hit a moving target in a real-life situation even for the highly skilled and experienced. Many people are under the false belief that during a surprise attack with adrenaline pumping through the body that it is not difficult to shoot and HIT the attacker with a bullet. And this is just not true. The reality is that most trained shooters miss most of the time. A surprise attack is just too fast to react in time and to react effectively using the GUN.
Because of recoil, the first shot you fire has the best targeting setup for hitting your intended mark on the attacker's body. Another factor is the light conditions which play a role in your ability to focus on and shoot on your mark. Visible-light conditions makes aiming judgments like speed and depth perception more difficult. Daytime, night time, dawn and dusk affect how you perceive motion and how the shadows fall.
In Real Life (IRL) a surprise attack quickly becomes a messy brawl and scramble. Attempting to draw your GUN and if you are lucky to point it in the right direction without accidentally shooting yourself, your companions, nor anyone else nearby with your magic bullets is not at all smooth nor easy. Making an accurate shot also depends upon if your GUN has been properly maintained and oiled to prevent a misfire, click- nothing.
The gamble with the GUN is that once you have started shooting until your attacker is incapacitated his adrenaline and rage will escalate his attack even if he is shot. What if the adrenaline in your shaky hands caused you to miss all of your shots. Then you have a bigger problem.
For a GUN to stop the attacker during a surprise attack you must put a bullet in the bone, hit an artery, or shoot an organ or the head. Do you know this much about the anatomy of the body or will you count on luck and bang-bang-bang spray shooting. Lack of training and experience IRL; luck is not on your side.
The GUN has a purpose in self defense until the attacker begins to flee injured or scared which switches the legal dynamic. At this point the self defense situation is done and the role switches from self preservation to aggressor if you pursue. This fight has ended but your attacker can fight another day, he can target you again.
Someone looking to attack you wants an easy target and is coming at you sensing your weakness at a moment of opportunity. Is he a stranger or do you know the attacker? Is he a stalker? A psychopath? An Ex? A tweeker wanting to rob you because you are on a date?
KNIFE vs. GUN: what are you going to do
Advantages of the KNIFE
The KNIFE creates a different dynamic in this self defense situation that can increase or decrease the threat.
The KNIFE is non-lethal and can be escalated to protect and defend yourself. There are steps you can take to ensure he can no longer attack you because he runs away, he is too injured, or he is lifeless. The KNIFE can also be displayed to deter and discourage the attacker.
You are an expert already with using a KNIFE. You have daily expertise developed since childhood with handling them. The KNIFE is a normal everyday tool that can be carried and used in many ordinary situations. And the presence of a KNIFE is non-threatening and non-alarming.
The KNIFE never misses and is lightening fast to arm. A KNIFE is meant to be felt not heard and does not cut bystanders. The KNIFE can be shown as a warning without insinuating escalation. The KNIFE gives you the surprise element so that you can take the upper hand and end the fight. The KNIFE never needs to be reloaded, cocked, and it never fails to fire. The KNIFE fight can close out in four or fewer strikes- leg, leg, arm, arm; it is done.
The KNIFE is easily concealable. Walk tall and with confidence knowing you have what you need at your side to protect yourself at all times. This tall posture deters sneak attacks which are done by cowards that would rather avoid a strong, confident person and wait instead for an easy target.
Typical KNIFE Reaction Strategy
- 1. Cut: to disable, to bleed and weaken, to wound
- 2. Stab: to severely wound or to incapacitate
- 3. Display: to deter, to discourage
Is the KNIFE the right self defense tool for you?
More than 90% of surprise attacks happen in closer than 21 feet. Drawing the KNIFE is fast. Within this radius this distance it is virtually impossible for you to draw your GUN and begin firing effective shots. The KNIFE is much more effective within this short distance as evidenced by the Rule of 21.
The KNIFE can connect on every strike no matter what the lighting conditions are: nighttime, daytime, dusk, or dawn.
Your Self Defense Winner - The KNIFE!!
During a surprise attack, the comparison between the KNIFE vs GUN to defend yourself shows the KNIFE on top as the clear winner.
Since most people are not trained shooters and are inexperienced with GUN self defense situations the results are ineffective and disturbing for a surprise attack. No amount of expertise or training seems to change this. Trained professionals miss the majority of the time so you are dreaming if you think that an adrenaline fueled spray and shoot technique is going to have better results for you in a surprise attack when professionals miss two out of three shots in real life (IRL).
Imagine the risk your gun creates for innocent people in the area. It is extremely difficult to avoid hitting unintended people nearby with stray bullets in a public environment. Are you willing to risk this unintended consequence.
Owning a GUN does not mean knowing how to use one
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