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stopped at twenty-one feet, restarted and then reached
thirty-two feet. Reality is quite different. If you accepted that
logic, the time would be about two-point-two-five seconds. In
reality it would be less than two seconds.
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could run well over thirty-two feet in far less than six
seconds, and we all know that the officer can't run
backwards even half as fast as the bad guy can run
forwards.
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immediately harm you. However, if that same man starts
running at you with the obvious intent of doing you bodily
harm, one would think it prudent not to wait for him to reach
the twenty-one foot mark before firing your sidearm. It would
probably be even more prudent to keep obstacles between
yourself and the threat so that the time it takes him to close
distance is even greater.
Finally, we can all foresee the juror who says, "How much
damage can an injured man armed with a knife do against
an uninjured police officer armed with a gun?" Well, you all
know that bullets do not instantly stop anyone unless you
achieve the more-than-rare central nervous system hit. As
all officers are trained to shoot for "center mass" since it is
the largest target and therefore presents the best chance of
actually hitting the armed assailant, there is little chance
that the rounds, if they hit the assailant, will pass through his
body exactly on center to impact his spine and immediately
stop his threatening actions. So, excepting that central-
nervous-system, you know that the assailant can function as
described above, for another six to fourteen seconds or until
his system finally runs out of oxygen and adrenaline.
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he could stab you anywhere from twelve to twenty-eight
times, everywhere he can reach, substituting slashes for
stabs as he sees fit. That doesn't sound like a good time.
Further, no where in any cop's job description does it say
you have to fight an assailant with a knife since you are
specifically equipped and trained to avoid getting into that
situation.
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an imminent threat, but when he starts to move toward you,
the threat he produces easily becomes imminent.
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same bad guy to close thirty-two feet and do you bodily
harm. After you've shot the bad guy, he has enough oxygen
and adrenaline in his system to close another two-hundred-
and-ten feet (seventy yards!) and do you bodily harm. The
next time you are in an "Edged Weapons Defense" class,
bear this in mind. The next time you pull up on the scene of
a violent domestic and that guy has a hammer in his hand in
his front yard, bear this in mind. The next time you decide to
park you cruiser within twenty feet of a vehicle on a traffic
stop, and you officers on the street will all have to do exactly
that, bear this in mind! You rarely know who the bad guy is,
and you never know what the bad guy is bringing to the
fight. As an instructor friend of mine is so fond of saying:
"You always want to bring a gun to a gun fight. What do you
want to bring to a knife fight?" Many of the people in the
classes he teach respond with, "A knife." He smiles a
knowing smile and says, "No; a gun."
10 Seconds To Fight
By: Armando Basulto
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receiving end of an enemy's attack, but were expected to
keep their wits and respond in kind. In knighting ceremonies,
the newly minted knight was often struck a blow across the
face with the admonition "let that be the last blow left
unanswered!"
In more recent history, during the Civil War and the Indian
Wars, the subject of the "Dead Man's Ten Seconds" was
often mentioned in accounts depicting battles. In many of
these stories fighting men continued to fight heroically for
ten or more seconds after taking a fatal blow, oftentimes
mortally wounding and defeating their opponents before
succumbing to their injuries.
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"Ten Seconds". One account (a first hand account in the
book A Texas Ranger by N.A. Jennings, circa 1870's) tells
about two Texas Rangers that had a huge dislike for each
other but, both handy with the gun, knew that the other
"...would have his "Ten Seconds" to do what he needed to
do. I have heard several men tell another man in the heat of
a bitter dispute to take his best shot if he wanted but he
'Would have his ten' as well. I never witnessed it go past that
point knowing full well they meant that they would follow
thru."
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Michael Platt, who was involved in the FBI's "Miami
Massacre" (1986), was hit with a non-survivable wound
within seconds of the initial gunfire. He continued fighting
and killed two agents, and managed to wound several more
before dying. Ed Mirales, an FBI agent, was shot in the arm
with a crippling round, yet was able to work the action on an
870 shotgun one handed, and end the fight.
The only shot that will instantly stop a fight is one which
disables the central nervous system (brain or spinal cord). Dr
Martin Fackler, the director of the wound ballistics laboratory
at the Presidio of San Francisco in the 1980's, did the
definitive work on this subject (Wound Ballistics Review,
Volume 5 Number 1, Spring 2001). It followed the 1986
Miami FBI shootout, and helped the FBI (and others) reach
decisions in handgun calibers and bullet design.
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motor skills caused by the adrenaline rush but also to
prepare one tactically and mentally for being able to return
fire and "stay in the fight", even after having received a
wound.
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managed part of your training, but a good coach will lead
you to it without you even knowing it. You should incorporate
this mindset development into all facets of your training.
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