If you ever have to use your firearm in a self defense situation…..HAVE A PLAN!

I can’t stress this enough. If you ever have to use your firearm in a self-defense situation…..HAVE A PLAN for what comes next!

A few weeks ago EHP Training LLC put on a women’s personal protection class. Mike Cole instructed the class and the point he made over and over to these ladies was this: Have a plan. If you are dining at a restaurant, or you are a realtor showing a house, work alone in an office or have car trouble and are stopped on the side of the road….have a plan if things go wrong.

I want to use that thought to get you to think about something that most people do not think about. Have a plan for what many have labeled as  “after the shoot”, meaning if you ever have to shoot someone in self-defense (God forbid) what do you do immediately afterward. I wonder, have you given this much thought?

I am not a lawyer and I am certainly not telling you what to do or giving you legal advice but I will echo what was taught in our last class….”have a plan”!  In order to have a plan that means you will have to actually think about different scenarios that you could find yourself involved in that ends in you having to use a firearm.

“It has been said that half of all convictions involving self defense shootings have been
obtained from 911 recordings”

Your headed to your car in a dark parking deck and a someone starts toward you. He is at a distance so you change direction to avoid him. He changes direction also. At about 50 feet you yell out, “do not keep coming toward me” and you change direction again. He again changes direction and is now 30 feet away. You now say, “I have a gun and I will shoot you”! He is now at 25 feet and you realize the decision to shoot has to be made immediately. You have now pre-staged. He starts running at you and you now see the knife in his hand and at about 15 feet you start firing your weapon. He falls and doesn’t move. What now?

It has been said that half of all convictions in self-defense shootings have been obtained from 911 recordings. Those recordings are recordings of you at perhaps the most frantic and stressful moment in your life. Remember, what you say can and will be used against you. The officers that arrive on the scene see this only as another shooting and anything you say is probably being recorded and once again, can and in many cases will be used against you. At this very moment, law enforcement is not your friend! At this moment you have no friends. Please remember this!

Your world has just changed forever in ways you have never imagined. It might be justified and you might be hailed a hero but taking a human life is not easy. Most of us are not John Rambo. We have emotions, we have feelings etc. but that discussion is for another day. The plan you need to have and should have thought out long before being faced with it is what do I do right now. Do I call 911? What do I say? How much do I say? Do I stay on the phone until police arrive? What do I say to them when they arrive? Do I say anything at all or just shut up. Remember that your voice on the 911 recording will be replayed for weeks on end in the media! Someone well said that “It is better to avoid a gunfight than to win one” because the media will have no mercy on you even though you acted in self-defense. Can you take it? Your life will be laid bare for the world to see. You will be second guessed, judged, misunderstood and anything they can use from a recording will be used.

My advice (and again I am not a lawyer) is to say as little as possible even better yet say nothing to the 911 operator other than tell them your name, where you are at, what you are wearing and that you had to shoot someone in self-defense because they (fill in the blank). Send the police and an ambulance and then hang up the phone. Even though they might try to keep you on the line hang up. Tell them you are upset, sick (and you will be) and can’t talk. If they want to stay on the line and put you on hold remember that the recorder is still running and recording everything you might say or someone else might say. Why hang up you ask? Because at this moment you will not get the facts straight but whatever you do say will be recorded. If the prosecutor is a liberal he will look for anything that can be an excuse to charge you with a crime.

I will not go as far as to tell you to say nothing because nothing is stupid! Who are you? Silence. Where do you live? Silence. Why did you shoot this person? Silence.  More than likely you’re going to jail at that point. In Alabama, you cannot be arrested without probable cause but if you act like a deaf mute and the perpetrator is dead and you’re silent well what do you expect. Each circumstance can be different which dictates as to how much to say. I still think “this person tried to assault me and I was in fear for my life so I defended myself”. and you might go on to say “I am very upset and do not want to talk anymore without a lawyer present”. Be sure you have done your research before you get into this situation and you already have a good lawyer that you have spoken with before, got to know and can call him for just such a time as this.

One writer makes it clear that if faced with a self-defense shooting that you should do the same as police do. If an officer is involved in a shooting what do they do? The officer is removed from ALL outside contact and they say nothing. The Agency speaks for them! We should learn from this don’t you think? The officer does not talk to the press or the public and for two weeks they are on administrative leave and paid while off.

So why would we not want to do the same thing? Let your attorney do your talking because that is the reason you are about to mortgage your home and cash in your 401K…to pay him.

Alan Korwin says that a “citizen-involved shooting should follow similar procedures as an officer-involved shooting”. An officer told me one time that if he were involved in a shooting Internal Affairs would be on the spot immediately and an officer would have to speak with them and issue a statement so likewise, a civilian should have to talk with the officers. That is true but the conversation between IA and the officer cannot be used in court but your conversation with the officers can and will be used in court. Just like an officer and his conversation with IA can’t be used against him neither can your conversation with your attorney be used against you. It is privileged. So my advice is to give the basics. He attacked, I feared for my life, I defended myself and I have nothing else to say for now. You will never see an officer in a shooting standing before the press making statements. He will not interview on Fox News. He will not give interviews with newspapers and magazines. What you will see after weeks of being in hiding is a press statement made by his superiors. The problem is there seems to be a double standard. The officer is always assumed not guilty in an officer-involved shooting while you and I will most likely be treated as just another shooting suspect to investigate and convict. Sorry if that is blunt and hard but it is the way it is.

I encourage you to find a lawyer. Find one that deals in firearm related issues. They are out there but you will have to look for him or her. This is not the time to consider your family attorney or visit the Bar Association website. You want a firearms savvy lawyer. Join the NRA and especially join your local gun rights group in your state. They will have recommendations of attorneys plus you will be networking with people who have excellent suggestions and answers to hard questions. BamaCarry Inc. for those of you that live in Alabama is a great gun rights organization that you really ought to be a member of. They are the premiere gun group in this state and are actively involved in gun rights and educational programs for gun owners.

That’s it for this time. We will have more on this subject in the future. Be sure and join our mailing list and receive practical advice for gun owners. You can join by clicking here and filling out the short form on the sidebar. Also be sure to visit BamaCarry and consider becoming a member. Membership dues are just $20.00 annually and It will be the best $20.00 you will ever spend.

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