'Got this off a Field & Stream blog by Bourjaily and Petzal a while back. Some good humor and wisdom.

Drill Sergeant Joe B. Fricks Rules For A Gunfight
1. Forget about knives, bats and fists. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns. Bring four times the ammunition you think you could ever need.

2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammunition is cheap - life is expensive. If you shoot inside, buckshot is your friend. A new wall is cheap - funerals are expensive

3. Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.
4. If your shooting stance is good, you're probably not moving fast enough or using cover correctly.

5. Move away from your attacker and go to cover. Distance is your friend. (Bulletproof cover and diagonal or lateral movement are preferred.)

6. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a semi or full-automatic long gun and a friend with a long gun.

7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.

8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running. Yell "Fire!" Why "Fire"? Cops will come with the Fire Department, sirens often scare off the bad guys, or at least cause then to lose concentration and will.... and who is going to summon help if you yell "Intruder," "Glock" or "Winchester?"

9. Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on "pucker factor" than the inherent accuracy of the gun.

10. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.

11. Stretch the rules. Always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.

12. Have a plan.

13. Have a back-up plan, because the first one won't work. "No battle plan ever survives 10 seconds past first contact with an enemy."

14. Use cover or concealment as much as possible, but remember, sheetrock walls and the like stop nothing but your pulse when bullets tear through them.

15. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.

16. Don't drop your guard.

17. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees. Practice reloading one-handed and off-hand shooting. That's how you live if hit in your "good" side.

18. Watch their hands. Hands kill. Smiles, frowns and other facial expressions don't (In God we trust. Everyone else keep your hands where I can see them.)

19. Decide NOW to always be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.

20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.

21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet if necessary, because they may want to kill you.

22. Be courteous to everyone, overly friendly to no one.

23. Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.

24. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with anything smaller than "4".

25. Use a gun that works EVERY TIME. "All skill is in vain when an Angel blows the powder from the flintlock of your musket." At a practice session, throw you gun into the mud, then make sure it still works. You can clean it later.

26. Practice shooting in the dark, with someone shouting at you, when out of breath, etc.

27. Regardless of whether justified of not, you will feel sad about killing another human being. It is better to be sad than to be room temperature.

28. The only thing you EVER say afterwards is, "He said he was going to kill me. I believed him. I'm sorry, Officer, but I'm very upset now. I can't say anything more. Please speak with my attorney."

Finally, Drill Sergeant Frick's Rules For Un-armed Combat.

1. Never be unarmed.

Correction to# 11: Cheat.

Very good list!!

That's a good list -- tongue in cheek as it may be, the hyperbole makes the points better than careful instruction. When the poop hits the propellers, you're going to get some on you. Your mission is to come out of it covered in poop and alive.

But I have to vigorously disagree with no. 28 -- "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

You don't make ANY comments. Any attorney worth his billable hours can take ANY statement you make and work it to your disadvantage.

In the instance where you say: "I feared for my life, and I'm not saying anything else. Talk to my attorney." The prosecution will argue that you rehearsed this statement, just like you rehearsed the shooting.

Your ONLY statement should be: "I have the right to remain silent. I want to see my attorney." Period. Once you "lawyer up." The questioning stops.

No. 24 -- 9mm is bigger than a 4.

quote:

Originally posted by Wm.S.Ladd:


No. 24 -- 9mm is bigger than a 4.

Caliber is in (hundredths of)inches, 9mm starts with a 3.

Rules? For a gun fight? Absent a law enforcement or military scenario with codified policies and rules of engagement, there is only one. Survive.

Ditto TWL:

Gunfight Rule #1: WIN!


Chet

#7 says it all.

Your only statement should be:

"I would like to call, or speak to my attorney."

WM the lastest supreme court ruling just change on how police can question you. Now the standard is they can still ask you anything they want you just don't have to reply to them.

So just asking for your attorney now will not stop the questioning.

I have to agree, number 28 is just stupid. Say nothing except that I am going to say nothing without consulting my attorney. AND THEN SAY NOTHING! Not yes or no or anything. It can be used against you but NOT for you in a court. The officer will NOT testify for you.

This thread has drifted.

The only rule for a gun fight is to survive. What happens after that is an entirely different matter.

If we're going to continue with a two part question, answer number one is to win. The second answer is to envoke your rights at EVERY STEP of the process and let others speak for you. ( I made the assumption you know what your rights are. If not, put the gun down and go back to poker.)

Keep it very simple. Survive and envoke your rights. Let others speak for you. Period.