Bad Information from Instructors II

I wanted to follow up on the last blog I posted “Bad Information from Instructors”. In it I hit on “deadly force”. Now we need to look at “reasonable force” another apparently overlooked part of instruction. The two together will help to determine the level of force you can or should use to defend yourself and others and was that level of force justified. Again I am using the definition from Iowa Code Section 704 “Use of Force”. Please be advised that not all state codes or laws codes on “Use of Force” read the same.

Under Iowa Code 704.1 as it reads;

Reasonable Force.

“Reasonable Force” is that force and no more which a reasonable person, in like circumstances, would judge to be necessary to prevent injury or loss and can include deadly force if it is reasonable to believe that such force is necessary to avoid injury or risk to ones life or safety or the life or safety of another, or it is reasonable believe that such force is necessary to resist a like force or threat. Reasonable force, including deadly force, may be used even if an alternative course of action is available if the alternative entails a risk to life or safety, or the life or safety of a third party, or requires one to abandon or retreat from one’s dwelling or place of business or employment.

So, If a person in the same situation determines that you used reasonable force, force they themselves would have used, in dealing with and stopping a threat, including both deadly and non-deadly threats, you will be found justified in the level of force you used to stop that threat.

The level of force can be any of the following or combination of them;

1. Soft Hand Techniques; this includes nerve pressure points, joint locks, slaps, pushes that are applied to gain compliance or control of or distance from the attacker.

2. Hard Hand Techniques; this includes strikes, punches, kicks and others that may cause serious injuries without causing death. These serious injuries can be determined to be deadly force if the serious injury causes permanent disfigurement or the permanent loss or long term loss of the part of the body or organ injured.

3. Less Than Lethal; includes chemical agents (pepper spray), electronic devises (taser and stun guns), bean bag rounds, and rubber bullets. Here we find things that are designed to temporarily stun or incapacitate a attacker. These devises may cause death but are not intended or designed to do so.

4. Lethal force; this includes any weapon or empty hand technique that will in all probability cause serious injury or death. Includes firearms, knifes, sticks, and so on. This is where anything can be considered a deadly force weapon if used as a weapon with intent to cause serious injury and is capable of causing serious injury or death. Includes improvised weapon such hammers, screwdrivers, rocks, ball bats, and items that can cause blunt force trauma sufficient to cause serious injury or death or penetrate the body. Choke holds and augmentations of joints causing broken joints or strikes that break bone or cause serious injury due to blunt force trauma are considered deadly force.

Something finer points to consider on #3 Less Than Lethal. These items, devises and chemicals, often take time to take affect and may not cause immediate incapacitation. It depends on the attackers constitution and ability to fight through pain and discomfort and the amount of clothing in the case of electronic devises, rubber bullets, and bean bag rounds. In the case of chemical agent not everyone is affected by them and they can take as long as 30 seconds before they have an affect on the bad guy. Depending on the bad guys distance from you and whether or not he/she has a weapon these items may not be the best choice. Especially in a critical life threatening situation.

You may be required to use empty hand techniques (soft and hard hand) before you can safely get to and deploy your defensive weapon.

Keeping in mind if you are using force to resist a like force or threat you are only going to succeed and survive if your force level is greater than that of your attacker. The attacker isn’t using deadly force neither should you. If you are working on the same level as your attacker you are in a tie and the outcome will be decided by luck. It is reasonable to believe that greater force than that being used against you is required to overcome the attack presented to you. There are a lot of things that influence the level used by you. Is your attacker armed, is probably and understandably so going to have the greatest amount of influence and determine what level of force you use. If the bad guy is presenting you deadly force threat you are justified in the use of deadly force regardless of how he is armed. Deadly force is deadly force regardless of what weapon is being used. Other factors to consider are size disparity and multiple attackers. One good hit can render you unconscious opening you up to being kicked or having your head pounded against a hard immovable surface. These types of actions can cause a brain bleed or other serious injuries leading to brain damage, a permanent serious injury, or death.

We can come up with several examples that lead us to the different force options. One such example:

The bad guy is armed with a knife. He is about 20ft away and telling you he is going to cut and kill you. He has verbalized his intent to do you serious harm. However, because of distance he is not a imminent threat to you as long as he maintains that distance. Here you have the option to walk away. Something suddenly changes and he begins to quickly close that distance and will soon be able to reach you with the blade. The bad guy is presenting you imminent danger of serious injury. At this moment deadly force is justified. Only enough force to stop the threat. If for some reason the bad guy should stop his attack and disengage you should stop. It is your belief and the fear of serious injury or death that determine what steps you take.

You have to be able to articulate why you did what you did and the fear that lead you to it. Remember the part of reasonable force that states, “it is reasonable to believe such force is necessary to resist a like force or threat”.

I often get asked, “When can I use deadly force?” The better question is, “When should I use deadly force and will that force be considered reasonable force?” Hopefully this answers some of that question.

Bad Information from Instructors

I have heard a rumor. It’s something I feel, as an instructor, should certainly be addressed. It has been said that there are some instructors out there, some of them running Iowa Permit to Carry classes, giving some very bad advise in their lessons for CCW. First, let me say as instructors you are responsible for the information and advise you give your students. Teach your students to act responsibly and with knowledge and with experience (if possible) so they themselves do not become the individual sitting in a prison cell for what should have been a justifiable act of self defense or defense of others. The “Use of Deadly Force” is not something to enter lightly. Self defense is not black and white. It is full of gray and judgement calls.

The word is there are instructors out there are advising there students, “You shoot to kill your attacker. Your intent should be to kill your attacker.” If you are a student and your instructor is giving this advise, please be advised this instructor is giving bad information. The instructor who is putting out this type of information to students is WRONG for doing so and is acting irresponsibly. It has been long understood by Law Enforcement and Self-Defense Instructors across the country that, “We DO NOT shoot to kill our attacker and that is NOT our intent in a self-defense situation. Our intent is to use only enough force to stop the threat.” Deadly Force should only be used if there is no other effective option to handle the situation and if loss of life or serious injury will be the result of not acting with deadly force. If you enter a situation with this “Shoot to Kill” mentality in mind you will find yourself in a bad place, PRISON. Nothing against the lawyers out there but, a good prosecutor will draw that out of you and bring your intent to kill forward and result in a prison term or possibly a life sentence. If you should have to fire a defensive firearm in defense during a “Deadly Threat Incident” your point of aim should be “high center chest” in the attempt to “stop the threat”. Firing only enough rounds to get your attacker to stop. This may be one round fired or it may require you empty your gun and reload before the threat has ended. Shot placement of high center chest is the most reliable place in the body to bring on “incapacitation of the threat” and stopping the threat. Incapacitation is brought on by blood loss and lack of oxygen bringing on unconsciousness in the attacker. Shot placement in the ocular cavity will bring on immediate incapacitation of the attacker. Yes, there is a high likely hood that this will cause the death of the attacker but this death is NOT our intent.

Once the attacker has stopped being a threat your “Use of Force’ should have come to an end. Continuing to engage the attacker after he/she has stopped being a threat will make you the aggressor and remove the justifiable use of “deadly force” or the justifiable use of “reasonable force”.

In the State of Iowa as the law is written Iowa Code Section 704

704.2 Deadly Force

The Term “deadly force” means any of the following:

1. Force used for the purpose of causing serious injury.

2. Force which the actor knows or reasonably should know will create a strong probability that serious will result.

3.The discharge of a firearm, other than a firearm loaded with less lethal munitions and discharged by a peace officer, or corrections official in the line of duty, in the direction of some person with knowledge of the person’s presence there, even though no intent to inflict serious physical injury can be shown.

4. The discharge of a firearm, other than a firearm loaded with less lethal munitions and discharged by a peace officer, corrections officer, or corrections official in the line of duty, at a vehicle in which a person is known to be.

As defined in this section, “less lethal munitions” means projectiles which are designed to stun, temporarily incapacitate, or cause temporary discomfort to a person without penetrating the person’s body.

This is only a section of Iowa Code. Notice here; Nowhere does it say “deadly force” must cause death. Serious injury can be judged as “deadly force”. Also many states use similar wording in their laws.

I will leave you with a quote from Massad Ayoob, one of the worlds foremost expert in the “Use of Force”, “Deadly force is justified only when undertaken to prevent imminent and otherwise unavoidable danger of death or grave bodily harm to the innocent.”

Firearms Training Methodologies

Are you seeking out the firearms training methodologies that are best suited to you and your needs? There are four basic training methodologies available to students who are looking to become more efficient with their firearm. Each of these methodologies are suited to a particular group of people.

There are four basic groups and they are;

1.Military; The armed professional who serves our country and defends her on foreign and domestic soil. They are sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. Their mission is to fight the enemies wherever they may find them and protect our freedoms. For them the training is designed to support the team or squad and move forward and not give up ground. Training for the military is more offensive in nature even when fighting from defensive positions. The military equips itself for the type of fight they will find themselves in, heavier weapons and gear. There is training for regular units and then there is training for specialized elite units. Training starts basic and becomes more complex and extensive depending on the position held. This methodology is a good place to learn gun handling skills. The military puts it’s emphasis on training for combat not defense.

2.Law Enforcement; The armed professional who gets up and works the streets of our cities and rural areas of the country. They face danger and risk of life daily in there job duties. Also, as the military, sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. Add to that the Constitution of the State in which they are employed. Their mission is to protect and serve the public. Another part of that is to uphold and enforce laws. They require a different training methodology. They train for more of a defensive nature to do the business at hand. Equipment is suited to the daily duties and tasks. They don’t carry weapons for combative purposes. They carry weapons for defensive purposes. Defense of themselves and the public when facing criminals on our streets. They are required to act responsibly and protect life and only use deadly force in the extreme case where given no other choice. Using only enough force to stop the threat. Law enforcement is also required to contain and control threats. With law enforcement we have training for the officer working the street and training for the specialty teams. There are those officers who train for and fill both positions. The training follows training standards and qualifications to show competency for the departments liability. These standards are not always suited to defensive skill sets.

3. Private Armed Citizen; They are not armed professionals. They are the individual citizen who takes arms to defend themselves, family, or the innocent. These arms may be kept in the home for home defense or carried concealed on the person in public for defense. In this group the individual may never see the day in which the are required to use force to defend. Still because they have weapons for defensive purposes and have made that personal choice they need to train. Training here is defensive in nature and in many contexts depending on the individuals danger risks in their daily lives and the defensive purpose of the weapon. Defensive skill sets are critical to this group as is training in them in context. Equipment here is more personal and suited to the individuals needs and is not standardized as in military or law enforcement equipment and gear. Training for the armed citizen has no standards or departmental requirements. It is up to the individual to determine the level of training they seek out. For this group not only are skills defensive but even when required to go offensive we have the appearance of defense. The armed citizen also has to act with responsibility just as, if not more so, law enforcement. Strictly looking to stop the threat and no more.

4. The Competitive Shooter; They use the firearm for competitive purposes. Training is geared directly toward the shooting competition of choice. Training driven to reduce time and increase score. Here the training drills and skills are meant for gaming. In competition we know where the targets are, the number of targets, number of rounds required for each target, the movement required on our part, and the time requirements for a good score. The equipment is beneficial to competition and specifically designed to speed up the draw and reloads. Gun handling skills and accuracy are and can be developed through competition. Because we are gaming we find these skills don’t always work well in defensive shooting.

One of the reasons I broke the different groups down is to also let you know that there are trainers out there of different methodologies. We have trainers that are military based teaching skills from the military system. Training for combat in the war zone. Trainers from the law enforcement based will be teaching to those standards and using those qualification standards. Limited in defensive shooting skills and directed more at meeting standards. We have competition based instructors teaching competitive skills and gaming. Gaming is the practice of developing skills to increase score and win competitions.

The common thing with military, law enforcement, and competition methodology instructors is they will often try to pass these methodologies off as defensive. They are not or are very limited in defensive shooting skills. This is not to say they are bad choices in training. The armed citizen who seeks out military, law enforcement, or competition training methodologies will be missing out on the value of training for defense in context.

There is a fifth methodology. The defensive shooting instructor, it’s the one class that is different and stands alone is the defensive shooting instructor who teaches skills and concepts for the private armed citizen in context of defense. This instructor will teach you according to the context in which you are purposing your defensive firearm. Home defense or public concealed carry, or both. Add to the context scenario based training and force on force training to get more realism out of your training. There aren’t a high number of defensive shooting instructors out there. An interesting thing is that Law Enforcement can also benefit from visiting a defensive shooting instructor to improve and expand defensive skills. After all law enforcement officers are not carrying guns for combat but for the first use of defense of him/herself and the public. Defensive shooting instructors are thinking outside the box. Sometimes controversial according to law enforcement because law enforcement follows standards, qualification scores, and liability guidelines as set by the department.

This is just an overview of the firearms training methodologies and by no means did we cover all there is to know about them. Nor did this cover how the different methodologies affect the student or what the student will get from them.

Till next time. Keep training and be safe.