It was a Dark and Stormy Night
by
Gary W. Burris

“It was a dark and stormy night.” How many writers have used that phrase to begin their stories? It’s a good catch phrase and it conveys a feeling that something ominous, foreboding or sinister is about to happen.

I get a lot of questions from family, friends and co-workers about the use of lethal force. They all know that I’m involved with competitive handgun shooting and am a certified NRA instructor in pistol, rifle and personal protection. So much misinformation and misunderstanding surrounding the use of lethal force exists that I felt compelled to try to explain in plain language what is involved.

First is the disclaimer. I’m not a legal authority, and I don’t play one on TV. The answers to questions addressed here are my own and may not be the correct legal or moral responses for a given lethal encounter.

The first question one needs to answer is, “Am I capable of using lethal force?” Almost everyone I discuss this with answers in the affirmative. Yet, I wonder if they have thought it through. I doubt that they have considered all the emotional and legal aspects of taking someone’s life. I’ll discuss these things later. Let’s limit our dialogue to what one needs to do now before being faced with a situation requiring the use deadly force.

You should have a personal protection plan and let’s limit this discussion to a plan for your home. I’ll write about the use of deadly force away from home in future articles. This plan should include things like keeping your doors locked while at home; have good lighting around the exterior of your house and perhaps a dog to alert you to intruders. I won’t go into any more detail about a personal protection plan for the home because I want to focus on the use of lethal force. I will assume that you have decided to include the use of a gun in your plan.

A gun is a tool and you should know how to use this tool just like you need to know how to safely operate a table saw or a sewing machine. Simply reading the instructions will give you an idea how it functions. But in order to become proficient with its use, you should get formal training and you must practice. If you are not willing to invest the time and money necessary to learn how to use your gun properly, then you should not include a gun in your personal protection plan.

Training and practice with your gun is the key to being able to employ it in a lethal encounter. And I’m not just talking to the macho man master of the household. How many men have kissed their wives good-by on their way to a business meeting or fishing trip out of town and said, “Honey, I left the gun on the night stand by the bed if you need it.”? Have they taken the time to teach their wives how to use the gun? Does she practice with that gun and is she capable of using it to defend her life or the lives of the children?

Mindset is another important aspect of being able to use deadly force. Mental preparation is important because most lethal encounters happen very quickly and if you have to think about whether or not to use deadly force, it’s too late. You have to decide before a situation develops if you are capable of using deadly force.

People do funny things when confronted with a life threatening situation. Some will freeze for a split second or even minutes. Others will surrender and plead for mercy or take flight and try to run away from the situation. Of these reactions, flight is preferred. However, if you are unable to flee then you must have the capability (training) and mental attitude that will allow you to survive and prevail in the situation.

I have written before about a woman who, when asked what she would do if someone broke into her home at night intent on doing her harm, responded that she would shoot them in the legs because she didn’t want to kill anyone. This is the wrong attitude and it will get you killed. If you employ a gun in your defense, you better be prepared to shoot until the threat no longer exists. That means that you may have to kill someone. Folks, this is why they call it lethal force.

Can I shoot someone who is stealing the lawnmower from my back yard? Well………..yes and no. You have to understand the laws in your state in order to answer this question. A lot of things must be considered before you decide to use lethal force in the scenario above. Ask yourself if your life or the life of another is in imminent danger. Is it better to lose a lawnmower or pay thousands of dollars into the legal system to defend my action? Here in Texas you could use lethal force if it were night but not in daytime. If I were in this situation, I would probably confront the thief but I would not even display a gun unless and until I felt my life was in danger. Keep in mind that if you’re involved in a lethal encounter, you will have to convince a grand jury that any reasonable person given the same circumstances would have used lethal force as well.

Let’s say that a home invasion has occurred and that you have triumphed in the encounter and the bad guy lays dead or dying in your hallway. What should you do now? Do not assume just because the bad guy is down that the threat no longer exists. There are documented cases were a bad guy was shot through the heart yet lived long enough to take the gun away from his victim and kill him with his own gun. Do not approach the bad guy to disarm him. Keep your distance and scan for possible accomplices.

What do I do next? Immediately call 911 and request medical assistance. That’s right, medical assistance. They will ask what the problem is and you should say something like, “A man broke into my house and I thought he was going to kill me so I shot him and he is bleeding all over my carpet. Get help here as quickly as you can.” Do not attempt to render aid because the bad guy could do you harm or he could be infected with aids. Remember that the 911 call is being recorded and that recording can be used in a grand jury hearing to establish the fact that you only intended to stop the threat not to kill him.

Let me pause just for a moment to make a couple of politically incorrect points. Point number one, you need to understand that it is best if the grand jury hears only one side of the story if you are involved in a lethal confrontation. Point number two, it is better to be judged by twelve than carried by six.

How many times should I shoot a bad guy? The easy answer is until the threat no longer exists.

In another scenario you have shot the bad guy and he falls just outside your house below the window he was trying to break into. Somehow people think that they should drag the bad guy into the house to make the shooting righteous. What ever you do, never try to fix a crime scene or modify it in any way. Because to do so is a felony and could be interpreted as trying to cover up a homicide. You are going to have enough legal problems to deal with and you don’t need to compound the issue.

What should I do when the police arrive? Just remember that they are arriving at a crime scene and they don’t know who the players are. Expect to be treated like a criminal until they have done a preliminary investigation. You could even be placed in handcuffs and taken to jail. Be polite and do everything they tell you to do especially in the first few minutes after they arrive. Be careful not to give too much information without legal counsel. When asked to tell your side of the story, simply state that you thought your life was in danger and you understand the officers are trying to do their job but that you do not feel comfortable answering any more questions. You have the right to have an attorney present during any questioning and you need to exercise that right. Where can I find a good attorney? This is simple. Just look in the yellow pages of the phone book for a criminal attorney. Most good criminal attorneys have 24 hour services.

New Shooter
by
Gary W. Burris

During this past Thanksgiving holiday I had the opportunity to introduce my ten year old grandson to the fun of shooting.

William had not expressed much interest or desire to participate in his crazy grandfather’s outdoor activities. The day after Thanksgiving the family was content to sit around and nibble on leftovers, watch football on TV or just engage in small talk. I had to go to the shooting range to take care of some business and asked William if he wanted to ride along. So being bored with all the inactivity, William agreed to accompany me.

I got my old Stevens single shot .22 bolt action rifle out of the gun safe and grabbed an ammo can filled with .22 caliber ammunition and put it in the truck, just in case. This gun was given to me on my 15 th birthday and I thought William might enjoy shooting grandpa’s old rifle.

We got to the range and I conducted my business rather quickly. I then proceeded to explain the four rules of gun safety to William. We set up a plate rack that had five 4 inch plates. And at a distance of approximately 60 feet from the plate rack I made a rifle rest using a table, chair and gun bag.

William got off to a slow start and had trouble hitting the targets. But after a few minutes of explaining the finer points of sight alignment and trigger control, William started hitting the targets with some regularity.

I could see that he was trying to shoot too fast and suggested that we have a little contest. Each of us in turn would shoot until we missed a target. The contest was to see who could run the most plates. The plan seemed to work because he slowed down and started making better hits.

Before long William was really enjoying this activity. In fact he said, “Grandpa this is really fun. It’s like a video game except you don’t have to plug it in.” His shooting improved to the point that he ran the plate rack three times in a row.

I could tell that he was starting to get a little tired, so I suggested that we quit for the day and head back to the house. He agreed that his fingers were getting tired cocking the gun for every shot plus he had gun powder residue on his hands. I love the smell of gun powder in the morning. As we were leaving the range William said, “I want to do this again when we come to visit at Christmas time.”

Well it is just a few days until Christmas. This time I’ll take the Winchester semi-automatic .22 rifle so his fingers won’t get tired.

Close the Barn Door
by
Gary W. Burris

A co-worker of mine had a very close brush with death at the hands of some punks recently. John Smith (not his real name) and his wife were returning their nephew to his home in an exclusive neighborhood in Houston. They pulled into the driveway and a car pulled right in behind them.

Before they knew what was happening, a couple of young punks were on either side of John’s car banging on the windows demanding money. One of the criminals produced a handgun and shot out the car window. John and his wife fumbled around and produced all the money they had.

The people living at the home were observing this robbery from their front window and the punk with the gun shot the window of the house. The felons were gone as quickly as they appeared. Fortunately nobody was injured in the incident.

This story has made its rounds here at work and a number of people have expressed the desire to get a gun for protection, including John. In my mind it’s like closing the barn door after the horses have fled. But, it has given me the opportunity to counsel them on gun ownership and what it takes to employ a gun in a self defense plan

TOP 10 GUN SAFETY TIPS

New Year and Direction for the Tactical Shooters Club
by
Gary W. Burris

The decision to quit holding monthly matches was a difficult decision to make. Basically, there are so many other shooting opportunities during the month that participation is less than is needed to generate enough revenue to support the venture.

I have decided to take the Tactical Shooters Club in a new direction. Instead of monthly matches, the club will host a few special shooting events during the coming year. Here are a few ideas for matches:

• Billy Swift Invitational: Loosely based on a gang member who is arrested after a drive-by shooting. He shoots his way out of jail and holds up a bank. Then he kills his girlfriend and her lover and has to deal with her family. He then continues his life of crime. Why call it the “Billy Swift Invitational”? No real reason other than it seemed like a catchy name.
• Team Match: Teams of two shooters compete against each other. Team scores for each course of fire are totaled. Many of the courses of fire are designed so that both team members are shooting at the same time. I’ll make up some team rules to try to level the playing field for all teams.
• Single Stack Match: Is there anyone that does not know what a single stack match is?
• Turkey Shoot: I envision this to be similar to a three gun match. Real turkeys will be given to shooters based on about one turkey for every five shooters. The turkeys awarded will not necessarily be for best scores. I’ll come up with some creative ways to award the turkeys. Some will be random.
• Law Enforcement ONLY: I’m not sure I can get enough cops interested in shooting in a competition. And if not, then maybe I’ll make it LEO and Ladies only.
• Weak Hand Only: An entire match shot weak hand only. I’m thinking this would be an interesting match.
• Class III Match: For all my full automatic friends. Pistol caliber only guys. Some of you may remember the match we held in Lufkin a few years back.

There are a number of other fun matches that could be set up. I welcome suggestions for special matches. So, if you have a fun idea for a match, contact me and maybe we can work something out. Keep in mind that it must be fun and something we can safely do.

I also plan to have T-shirts available for all these special events. Shirts will be available for purchase on Tactical Shooters Club web site a couple of weeks prior to, and for a week or two following the match.