Self-Defensive Gunnery

The topic of self-defense with firearms is an extremely broad one. You could seriously write a few books on the different subjects it encompasses. You have to deal with legal issues, training, weapon accessories, and of course, the firearms themselves. Therefore the entire topic shall be broken up into a few posts regarding those issues. This one is just an introduction, for the most part. However, let's go over basic legality right now. Note, of course, that State laws vary intensely. What's legal in one state can very much get you imprisoned in another. I live in California, which just might be one of the most restricted gun-law states in the country. So everything I say regarding legal issues comes from my own state, it can be different in yours. Make sure you research them and know them, and if at all possible, talk with a local sheriff on some issues.

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The Most Important Rule:

Do not pull the trigger.

Yeah, it's kind of counter-intuitive in this case. But it's an extremely important one if you do not yet know the full problem regarding self-defense.

To sum it up: You will either kill something you do not want to kill, or you will go to prison.

So before we get onto anything else, make sure you research the area thoroughly, and in all modesty, you can start that by reading on the information below.

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Legal Issues of Self-Defense

The most important thing to know is of course, when you can and cannot shoot. In California, there is a law that specifically states when it is legal to use lethal force for self-defense. The requirements are as follows:
There must be a grave and immediate threat of death or great bodily injury to you or another.

What this means, is that the only and only time when you can shoot someone in self-defense, is when they are attacking you. Not when they already have attacked you, not if they threaten to attack you.
A criminal on the street can gravely injure you, kill your entire family, and walk away, and under California state law, you can not shoot him in the back. Because he is no longer attacking you, there is no longer a 'grave and immediate threat'.

It's ridiculous, I know. As far as I'm aware of, this shouldn't be a law in most other states, but again, you must look it up. Because if someone on the street is holding a knife and screaming at you, you cannot shoot them. Not until they actually start advancing toward you with it.
This brings us to the 'reasonable person' issue. California state law defines these kinds of situations by the 'reasonable person' example. What that refers to is the method in which we know whether or not the situation really is a grave and immediate threat. All it means is that if an 'average and reasonable' person in your shoes would have considered it to be grave and immediate, you're in the clear. The Court decides this by the opinion of the Jury.

Summed up, if your friend pulls out a pocket knife to peel an apple and you shoot him, you might have been truly afraid for your life, but an average and reasonable person in your place (The Jury) most probably wouldn't. So you of course, just did something illegal.
A better example is if a kid pulls out a water-pistol and squirts it at you, and you shoot them thinking they're trying to kill you...well, same principal.

However, California actually did one good thing, and they made Home-Defense much easier on us. If somebody breaks into your home, California State Law automatically provides you with the presumed threat of grave and immediate danger.
What this means is that if someone breaks into your house, you can shoot them. See, if a gangster was on the street outside, raving on cocaine and waving a gun, you could not shoot him. Not until he started shooting or turned the gun on you. But if someone breaks into your house, it doesn't matter. If they're holding a knife in their hand, you can shoot them. If they're even empty handed but advancing toward you, and you warn them and they refuse to stop, you can shoot them.

Note however, that once again, do not do the stupid thing and become trigger-happy. Do you really want to shoot a 14 year old teenager that just wanted to steal some stuff? A 14 year old that's standing at the foot of your stairs, unarmed, and pissing himself at the sight of a 12 gauge?
Remember, the 4 rules. Always, always, always be sure of your target. Do you really want to kill them? You have the power of judgment in that case, use it wisely.

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Safety:

The Four Rules of gun safety apply to home-defense and self-defense in general more than in any other case. Why? Because you are actively, deliberately, and skillfully killing somebody. And it is all too easy to kill someone you don't want to. In a life-or-death scenario, you will be under intense stress. If you've never had the experience, do not make the mistake of assuming you can keep your cool or that you can deal with it. I have been in life-or-death situations, involving people trying to kill me. No, you will not be thinking straight. No, you will not remember things you should. No, you will not be performing at your usual level of skill.
What this adds up to is that is is insanely easy to accidentally pull the trigger, or panic and shoot anything that moves.
When people are under stress, their bodies release epinephrine (adrenaline) into their blood-stream. On one hand, this provides a better chance of survival; it increases your blood-pressure, breathing, heart-rate, reflexes, and vision acuity. But in terms of self-defense with firearms, your bodies natural reactions become an enemy.

This is because humans have a very nasty tendency to do all the wrong things when under adrenaline, because they're no longer thinking straight. We have a natural impulse to death-grip our weapon, and if your finger is on the trigger, you could very easily end up discharging your firearm without even realizing it, even more so if it's Single-Action.
When under adrenaline, we don't think straight, and forget our safety knowledge of muzzle control. It becomes all too easy to sweep the gun around without thinking. Furthermore, and also extremely important, Rule 4. Know your Target. Know what is behind your target.

There have been too many incidents of people killing others on accident because they were panicked, thought they were under attack, and had no idea what they were shooting. People have woken up at night-time, sleepy, groggy, and scared out of their minds, and shot at the first thing they saw moving in their hall-way, which more often than not turns out to be a family member.
Bullets travel through walls, and insanely well. Bullets will go through car doors. Rifle-rounds will go through one side and out the other. A 9mm will go through over six interior house walls. Buckshot will go through over three. Rifle rounds just don't stop at all. If you miss your target, your round can easily go through a wall an injure a family member, or if you're outside, hit an innocent bystander.

So how do we negate these mistakes? Training. Train often, train hard, and train consistently. It is important to note that under stress, the only things that go through our heads is base-instinct. This base-instinct is often very simple, and also the reason we can very easily screw up. Therefore, it is necessary to condition that base-instinct to what we want it to be, and the way we do that is by sheer repetition. By training proper procedure and skills to the point of doing them in our sleep, that training will remain in your head when you're under stress, and allow you to perform in a skillful and safe manner.
Find a realistic training course, one that involves moving targets, simulated stress, and so forth. If this cannot be found, than train as best you can on a still-range anyway.

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Conclusions:

1. Maintain judgment before shooting, and know whether or not you should.
2. Train hard to maintain mental capacity under stress.
3. Train particularly strongly in maintaining safe handling.
4. Above all, know your target. Do not, under any circumstances, fire at an unidentified target.

Further posts will be made on the varying areas of firearms, techniques, and so forth.