When it comes to old “spaghetti western” movies, my favorite part is always the “standoff” in the street.Two men… face to face… one will be quick… the other will be dead…
… and only a fraction of a second will determine which is which!
While you may not have a cool gunslinger name like “Mustang McGee”, you could find yourself in a similar situation where it’s you vs. an armed home invader and it’s critical to your very survival that you get the decisive “first shot” in a gunfight.
I spoke with firearms expert Tony Walker about just what that means to you… and some key tips to pull it off…
Gaining The “Half-Second Advantage” In A Gunfight…
How long is a “long time” in a fight?
We think of seconds as tiny intervals of time, but are they?
Go ahead… say it out loud in your head: “One-Mississippi.”
If you think about it, in the time it took you to say those two words – which is roughly one second of time – a lot of actions could have taken place.
Your arm or your leg can move quite a bit of distance in that amount of time.
If you have a gun, you can conceivably aim it and shoot it in less time than it takes to say “one-Mississipi.”
When it comes to guns, a half-second is a long time – and can mean the difference between life or death!
Your opponent may even have a gun in his hand, but if you understand the nature of that half-second advantage, if you “get” the many actions you can accomplish in that fraction of a second, you can gain and keep the initiative and win that gunfight.
How To Screw Up Your Chances Of Gaining A “Half-Second Advantage”…
Ok, let’s take a look at what NOT to do…
A guy breaks into your house in the middle of the night.
You call 911 but you’re concerned about the safety of your teenager who’s sleeping in a downstairs bedroom so you decide to confront the intruder with your firearm drawn.
Now if you shout out, “I have a gun and I’m coming downstairs!”, you’ve given up the element of surprise and the bad guy will be the one who’s ready and waiting for you.
If he’s armed and decides to fight back, he’s going to shoot as soon as you appear on the stairway.
Now, obviously, if you don’t have to confront a gunman like that, you wouldn’t.
But let’s take another look and see…
How To Seize The “Half-Second Advantage” In A Gunfight…
There are any number of ways you can gain a critical element of surprise when it comes to getting off the first shot in a gunfight.
For example…
- Using your cell phone, you can call your home phone and the sudden ring would startle the home invader…
- Using a high-power LED tactical flashlight on “strobe” would surprise them long enough for you to get the drop on them…
- You can even do the trusty old, “throw a book at the other side of the room” trick to get them to look in the opposite direction of where you enter the room.
Of course there are all sorts of other factors to contend with here…
… shoot-don’t shoot decisions… cover and concealment… stealth… etc.
But the lesson here is that, when you engage in self-defense with firearms, a second is an incredibly looooong time.
Your actions can take advantage of (or waste) that critical “half-second advantage”.
And if you know enough “sneaky tricks” – and practice with them ahead of time – you can gain that advantage, you can win the fight, and that means YOU can protect your own life and the lives of your loved ones.
