A REAL TIME GUNFIGHT
The following text plus pictures from a 2/9/09 New Smyrna Beach, Fl. robbery video, describe and show what happened in a real time life threat situation in which Point Shooting was employed.
The "stop action" pictures show parts of the action that easily can be missed when watching the video at "normal speed."
In the first picture below, the druggist is threatened, and in the second, the robber brandishes his gun in the direction of the guard (a retired Officer). The guard is standing behind a "privacy shield" that divides the counter.
The robber's attention returns to the druggist, who starts to move to get some pills. The guard's gun is seen in his hand in the second picture.
The following "stop action" pictures show what happens in the next 2 seconds.
The guard starts to move to confront the robber, and he continues to move throughout this sequence. The robber's attention is on the druggist who is returning from an aisle and is holding up some pills.
The robber notices the guard, and brings his gun around towards the guard. The guard's pistol is in a two handed Isosceles type grip, which puts the gun close to his centerline and also points it at the robber.
The robber points his gun at the guard. The robber is shot.
I was surprised that the guard was not shot when I saw the picture showing the robber's gun pointed at him. It clearly shows that the guard is a hairbreadth away from being shot. And that certainly would have happened, had the guard not shot the robber.
As to why the robber did not shoot, it could have been that he made the decision to shoot, and was physically in the process of doing that when he was shot.
I also wondered why the guard had not shot the robber, when the robber was bringing his gun around towards the guard. It may have been, as just mentioned about the robber, that the guard made the decision to shoot, and was in the mental/physical process of doing that. That process takes a fraction of a second, and during the lag-time, the robber pointed his gun directly at the guard.
Pictures freeze the actions being taken. So, it may look like things happened slower than they actually did. In real time, it took less than two seconds for the guard to move out from behind the counter, confront the threat, and then shoot.
The pictures show/prove that Point Shooting does work, and that it is deadly effective.
If the guard had attempted to use the sights, he probably would have missed seeing the gun being pointed at him, as per the basic marksmanship section of the Army's combat pistol manual that deals with Sight Shooting: "The eye can focus on only one object at a time at different distances. Therefore, the last focus of the eye is always on the front sight. When the front sight is seen clearly, the rear sight and target will appear hazy."
The first picture below is an illustration from the Army's pistol manual. The front sight is the solid black square, and the back sight and target appear as the hatched areas. The other picture shows sights imposed on a blurred and dark target like the robber's hooded jacket.
In the robbery situation, it would have been folly to attempt to line up the sights, and focus on the front sight with the target appearing hazy, whilst squeezing the trigger smoothly until the shot broke.
Had the guard taken the time to try to Sight Shoot, he in all probability would be the one who ended up dying on the floor.
And what your average home defender? What is he/she to do when someone is close approaching with murder on their mind? Would he/she have the time and the presence of mind to meet the must-be-met-requirements-for-successful-Sight-Shooting as specified in the US Army's Combat Pistol Manual?
I think not.
As added emphasis, the picture below is from the Marine Corps Pistol Manual. It shows a real pistol with real sights, rather than a drawing like the one above that misrepresents reality to make it easier for the soldier to see what one is supposed to be able to do.
Look at the picture, and ask yourself if you could really expect to focus clearly on the little dot that is the front sight (which you are supposed to), when a threat is fast approaching with a gun or knife in hand, and obviously your murder on his mind.
It is in such situations where your likelyhood of being shot or killed will be the greatest.
Lighting conditions most likely will be poor, and your would be killer will not be standing still and waiting for you to dispatch him/her to some "better" place.
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