# What Really Happens In A Gunfight?



## Cait43 (Apr 4, 2013)

The conclusions from twenty-five years of lethal force investigation.
By Dave Spaulding

What Really Happens In A Gunfight?


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

Toward the end he mentions the shocking situation you may find yourself involved in.
After fighting off an attack , an being the victor, you may very well be the victim once again.
The prosecution will look at the situation very closely , and you will possibly face a civil suit from the family of the bad guy. 
:smt024


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## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

pic said:


> Toward the end he mentions the shocking situation you may find yourself involved in.
> After fighting off an attack , an being the victor, you may very well be the victim once again.
> The prosecution will look at the situation very closely , and you will possibly face a civil suit from the family of the bad guy.
> :smt024


You are always going to be open to possibly both prosecution and civil litigation. If your actions are pretty clear cut, your chance of being prosecuted drop dramatically. Civil suits are an entirely different matter.

In my state we have what is known as "affirmative defense". This makes it more difficult for a prosecutor to win a case where the victim freely and openly admits that he shot the perp and would do it again under the same set of circumstances. As for civil litigation, that is pretty rare here. I once asked a commonwealth's attorney and a man running for sheriff in a neighboring county if they were common and neither of them could recall having heard of a civil suit brought against someone who's actions were found to be justifiable or excusable.

But even so I would recommend that folks who go armed, or have a firearm at the ready at home, obtain a good personal liability insurance policy. I did just that after the fiasco in Florida with the Zimmerman case. They're inexpensive and they can go a long way in protecting your assets should you be sued.


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## GCBHM (Mar 24, 2014)

I think I posted this a little while back. No one knows what will happen in a gun fight, so your best bet is to train like hell and hope you come out alive.


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## Bisley (Aug 24, 2008)

Great article - based on trends and perceptions of the survivors, rather than cold, hard statistical data that can easily be misinterpreted or re-cast to fit someone's pre-conceived notions. The author freely admits that it lacks the scientific integrity that expensive studies made by genuine scientists employ, and admonishes the reader to take it for what it is worth.

The bottom line I take from all of it is that a person with decent handgun skills, who has mentally prepared himself for likely scenarios, and can make the decision to shoot soon enough, has a good chance to survive an attack...*IF* there is enough time and space to acquire a sight picture. On the other hand, a sudden attack at close range heavily favors the attacker, because he already knows what he intends to do, while the victim has to overcome the startle reaction and try to catch up. The attacker should win unless the 'victim' either gets lucky or has good enough skills and determination to capitalize on any mistakes or hesitation from the attacker.

Of course, anybody else may have a completely different take from the article, because we all cherry-pick the information that backs up what we already believe. I have simply done what the author suggested - take from it what you can use. Nobody can be prepared for all of the thousands of possible variations that can present themselves, so you prepare for the ones that you think are important, and hope you can adapt that to account for the variations.

In my opinion, the most important factor is the time it takes to understand what is happening and come to the realization that you must fight to live.


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

Y


SouthernBoy said:


> You are always going to be open to possibly both prosecution and civil litigation. If you're actions are pretty clear cut, your chance of being prosecuted drop dramatically. Civil suits are an entirely different matter.
> 
> In my state we have what is known as "affirmative defense". This makes it more difficult for a prosecutor to win a case where the victim freely and openly admits that he shot the perp and would do it again under the same set of circumstances. As for civil litigation, that is pretty rare here. I once asked a commonwealth's attorney and a man running for sheriff in a neighboring county if they were common and neither of them could recall having heard of a civil suit brought against someone who's actions were found to be justifiable or excusable.
> 
> But even so I would recommend that folks who go armed, or have a firearm at the ready at home, obtain a good personal liability insurance policy. I did just after the fiasco in Florida with the Zimmerman case. They're inexpensive and they can go a long way in protecting your assets should you be sued.


Good idea on the personal liability insurance, more so if you have assets for the attorney representing the dead bad guy , to pursue in a civil lawsuit.
Unless the attorney know's there is a pot of gold to be had, he would need a great retainer $ fee from the party initiating the civil suit. I would suppose. :smt1099


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## high pockets (Apr 25, 2011)

pic said:


> Toward the end he mentions the shocking situation you may find yourself involved in.
> After fighting off an attack , an being the victor, you may very well be the victim once again.
> The prosecution will look at the situation very closely , and you will possibly face a civil suit from the family of the bad guy.
> :smt024


In some states, civil liability is codified. In Georgia, a justified use of a firearm precludes civil liability.



> *O.C.G.A. § 51-11-9*
> *Immunity from civil liability for threat or use of force in defense of habitation*
> 
> A person who is justified in threatening or using force against another under the provisions of Code Section 16-3-21, relating to the use of force in defense of self or others, Code Section 16-3-23, relating to the use of force in defense of a habitation, or Code Section 16-3-24, relating to the use of force in defense of property other than a habitation, has no duty to retreat from the use of such force and shall not be held liable to the person against whom the use of force was justified or to any person acting as an accomplice or assistant to such person in any civil action brought as a result of the threat or use of such force.
> ...


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## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

GCBHM said:


> I think I posted this a little while back. No one knows what will happen in a gun fight, so your best bet is to train like hell and hope you come out alive.


Absolutely.


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## Goldwing (Nov 5, 2014)

Amongst other things that I found interesting was Spauldings comments on contrast in relation to gun sights. I experimented drawing and aiming at a 7 yard target a few dozen times with my trijicon sights in normal lighting. I then painted the front sight bright yellow. (not the part that glows, but the background) I went back to my draw and aim drill and could immediately tell that I was lining up my sights faster than with the background black. I wouldn't have believed it had it not. come from a man who has spent 25 years studying gun fights. It cost me $2.00 for paint and $.29 for the brush.
Goldwing


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## KeithC. (Dec 24, 2013)

Good article. Thanks for posting it.


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