Threat Management - Warning Shots
There seems to be some long-held notion that if armed and faced with a threat, an option would be to discharge the gun with the intention of missing the threat - the sound and/or proximity of the shot may scare the threat away. Whether this idea comes from films or television I cannot say, but it is not a logically sound action for reasons that may not even seem apparent and other that conflict directly with yet more debatable points regarding self-defense with a gun. Some of these are based on my observations, other come from a friend (and firearms expert) who has studied the very best way to ensure his family's protection and has trained his wife in defensive use of weapons.
The threat is at the door. Of course, don't open the door - which I've discussed in an earlier post on this particular subject. But, the threat breaks the door in to find the defender racking the slide on a 12 gauge riot gun. It should be obvious to the threat that a significant obstacle has just been encountered. That alone should serve as all (and more) warning than the threat deserves. However, the defender, really not yet of sufficient mindset to begin turning the threat into walking hamburger, decides to fire a round to further attempt to scare the threat. The riot gun is loaded with buckshot which, by the way, is the correct choice if you need to kill people. Loading the shotgun with light birdshot in an attempt to keep from penetrating walls in a home is an exercise for one who has never fired birdshot into structures. It will penetrate walls but does a poor job on people unless they are literally at the end of the muzzle. Since I'm a bit off topic, more on shotgun ballistics in another post. Back to our defender.
So, the defender fires one round somewhere upward. This leaves the threat blinded by the horrific muzzle flash of the 12 gauge. The defender is equally blinded. Both individuals are covered with dust and debris from what used to be part of a perfectly good ceiling. Both people are also virtually deaf from the blast's concussion, which can also leave one with temporary imbalance from inner ear damage and permanent ringing in the ears. The defender now has one less shell in the fight, having missed with the first shot. The threat has a window of time to return fire while the defender is racking the slide on the shotgun to chamber another round. And, as my friend astutely pointed out, mechanical things seem to break at the most inopportune times, which would be now. The first shot is discharged and the riot gun jams up or the defender short strokes it (does not fully cycle the slide all the way back and forth to load another shell from the magazine). Now the defender has a single shot shotgun and has used that single shot to attack paint, sheetrock and ceiling joists. A rather grim situation for survival.
It is best to leave warning shots and waving guns around to those actors in films who are not facing life-threatening encounters. Guns that are grasped to destroy a threat should be used for that purpose, not to scare off or to attempt a deescalation of the situation. There is no duty to attempt an arrest or to make the problem leave of its own volition. Once the threat breaks in or otherwise threatens your life, the fight is on. If they weren't scared before, they won't be now. Don't warn them, don't miss them, just kill them.
The threat is at the door. Of course, don't open the door - which I've discussed in an earlier post on this particular subject. But, the threat breaks the door in to find the defender racking the slide on a 12 gauge riot gun. It should be obvious to the threat that a significant obstacle has just been encountered. That alone should serve as all (and more) warning than the threat deserves. However, the defender, really not yet of sufficient mindset to begin turning the threat into walking hamburger, decides to fire a round to further attempt to scare the threat. The riot gun is loaded with buckshot which, by the way, is the correct choice if you need to kill people. Loading the shotgun with light birdshot in an attempt to keep from penetrating walls in a home is an exercise for one who has never fired birdshot into structures. It will penetrate walls but does a poor job on people unless they are literally at the end of the muzzle. Since I'm a bit off topic, more on shotgun ballistics in another post. Back to our defender.
So, the defender fires one round somewhere upward. This leaves the threat blinded by the horrific muzzle flash of the 12 gauge. The defender is equally blinded. Both individuals are covered with dust and debris from what used to be part of a perfectly good ceiling. Both people are also virtually deaf from the blast's concussion, which can also leave one with temporary imbalance from inner ear damage and permanent ringing in the ears. The defender now has one less shell in the fight, having missed with the first shot. The threat has a window of time to return fire while the defender is racking the slide on the shotgun to chamber another round. And, as my friend astutely pointed out, mechanical things seem to break at the most inopportune times, which would be now. The first shot is discharged and the riot gun jams up or the defender short strokes it (does not fully cycle the slide all the way back and forth to load another shell from the magazine). Now the defender has a single shot shotgun and has used that single shot to attack paint, sheetrock and ceiling joists. A rather grim situation for survival.
It is best to leave warning shots and waving guns around to those actors in films who are not facing life-threatening encounters. Guns that are grasped to destroy a threat should be used for that purpose, not to scare off or to attempt a deescalation of the situation. There is no duty to attempt an arrest or to make the problem leave of its own volition. Once the threat breaks in or otherwise threatens your life, the fight is on. If they weren't scared before, they won't be now. Don't warn them, don't miss them, just kill them.
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