Self Defense

Handgun Caliber vs. Stopping Power

January 4, 2021 By The Grey Beard Biker™️ 14 Mins Read

Many of your are aware that I write self-defense/Second Amendment articles each month for several widely read publications. So, besides having ridden millions of street miles on two wheels, I am very proficient and knowledgeable about firearms and self-defense. I have trained in self-defense for many years including the following disciplines: Close Quarter Combat (CQB) with firearms and fixed blade knives, batons and Krav Maga. Additionally, I have shot both pistol and rifle competitively for many years. While I am by no means an expert on ballistics and the physiology of a mortal gun shot wound – I am very well read on both.

So yesterday, I posted a poll on Twitter asking everyone what caliber pistol was their favorite. Twitter polling does not allow a lot of choices in their polls, so the options I provided were: .45 ACP, 9mm, .40 S&W and .357 SIG – the latter of which is my favorite caliber. More on this later. But lets look at the poll:

The poll is now closed and the final results are:

9mm = 54%
.45 ACP = 23.4%
.40 S&W = 13.2%
.357 SIG = 9.4%

These results do not surprise me in any way. 9mm is by far the most popular cartridge in semiautomatic pistols. I am sure .38 Special/.357 magnum would have done well also, but since I no longer carry revolvers, I only included the semi-auto calibers. The .357 SIG cartridge was included because it is my favorite caliber. If I had substituted .380 ACP in its place, I am guessing it may have changed the stacked rankings a bit.

But one comment on my poll caught my attention:

My response is as follows:

Let me just say this. Stopping power is not a myth. There are several things which need to be understood to understand what creates “Stopping Power.”

Key Factors Determining Stopping Power

Caliber
Distance to the bad guy
Kinetic energy of the projectile
Type, size and weight of the projectile/bullet
Placement of the shot

Many of these are interconnected. The size/weight/type of the bullet + the distance to the target determines the kinetic energy the projectile will deliver. The placement of the shot determines the amount of kinetic energy absorbed by the target’s tissue.

Caliber

Any caliber of gun, from .22 short rifle to a 50 BMG, can dispose of a bad guy. Period. But it is a proven fact that a larger caliber (diameter) projectile will create a larger wound channel.

Distance

Distance to the bad guy correlates directly to how much kinetic energy is slammed into the thug’s vital tissue. The closer you are to the bad guy the more damage a well placed shot will do.

Kinetic Energy

The release of kinetic energy into the violent thug is the most important of these five factors and depends wholly on each of these factors. And the kinetic energy directly correlates to the severity of the injury and how quickly the shitbag is incapacitated.

Bullet Weight/Type/Diameter

The weight and size of the bullet is key to determining “stopping power.” The type of bullet: hollow point, frangible, ball/full metal jacket (FMJ) or plated determines how the projectile acts when it hits the target.

Shot Placement

All things considered, shot placement is what will get the job done quickly with any caliber of bullet. If you plunk the thug in the heart or cranium it will take the fight out of them quickly. While you may be able to consistently hit the “10” ring on a paper silhouette or the head on a paper figure, that is not the real world. If you are using a .22 rim-fire out of a short revolver, hitting the head or heart in a scary, confusing, fast moving altercation is not easy. You certainly do not want to rely solely on luck to save your life.

Understanding Kinetic Energy

Any moving object creates kinetic energy. A coin dropped from a 100-story building is going to create kinetic energy as it falls to the ground. It will reach a certain speed in the fall, gain no more, and hit the pavement below. When it hits that pavement it will stop (and probably bounce) – the initial impact will release the majority of the energy of its mass into the pavement. In fact, it will probably crack the cement from that height. Each successive bounce will have significantly less energy than the initial impact – until the coin is at final rest and has no energy.

Now let’s look at a coupe real-world examples of the kinetic energy of my preferred calibers for personal protection. I hand roll all of my defense ammunition using Speer Gold Dot bullets, on shiny new Starline brass with Winchester primers. As I am working up the dopes (recipes) for a given caliber and bullet weight, I will try multiple powders and multiple powder weights. I will then shoot them through my chronograph to get the mean velocity of a batch – which has the best compromise between velocity and accuracy.

Here is an example of my preferred recipe for .45 ACP personal protection ammunition in a full sized 1911:

Caliber	.45 ACP
Reload Date	16 November 2018
Bullet	Speer Gold Dot HP
Bullet Weight	230 grains
Powder Mfg	Alliant
Powder Type	Power Pistol
Powder Charge	7.1 grains
Primer Mfg	Winchester
Primer Number	WLP (large)
Brass	Startline +P (New)
Cartridge Overall Length (COAL)	1.200″
Mean Velocity (as tested)	975 FPS

.45 ACP 230 Gr Gold Dot – Preferred Dope (recipe)
Note: This is for reference only – work your own dopes up slowly with a reputable reloading manual

Now, that I know the velocity, at 10 foot (where the chronograph was placed), and the weight of the projectile, I can calculate what the kinetic energy of this ammunition will be at 10 foot distance. I plug it into my custom built calculator and come up with this:

**This recipe will create 486 ft/lbs. of energy at 10 feet**

Now, here is the same calculation, with my preferred reload recipe for my favorite everyday carry pistol: my SIG Sauer P226 Legion in .357 SIG.

Caliber	.357 SIG
Reload Date	26 July 2018
Bullet	Speer Gold Dot
Bullet Weight	125 grains
Powder Mfg	Alliant
Powder Type	Power Pistol
Powder Charge	8.3 grains
Primer Mfg	CCI
Primer Number	500 (small)
Brass	Starline (New)
Cartridge Overall Length (COAL)	1.135″
Mean Velocity (as tested)	1,442 FPS

.357 SIG 125 Gr Gold Dot – Preferred Dope (recipe)
Note: This is for reference only – work your own dopes up slowly with a reputable reloading manualx

Once again, I know the average mean velocity of my most accurate recipe at 10 feet. With that, I can plug the numbers into my calculator to get the average kinetic energy of this round at 10 feet:

**This recipe will create 577 ft/lbs. of energy at 10 feet**

Remember, kinetic energy is the force which a projectile (bullet) will have when it hits the target (person) at a certain distance. How that force reacts – and how much force remains – is dependent on several factors: distance to target (the further away, the less energy), type of bullet used – FMJ, hollow point or frangible – and where your bullet strikes. Obviously, especially with a handgun, where the bullet slows quickly, the potential energy which hits the target will be far less at 30 feet than at three feet. That is just simple physics. I will only say one thing about the bullet type. If you are using anything other than a jacketed hollow point projectile, you are putting your life and innocent people’s lives in danger. And this is why:

FMJ/hardball ammunition was the ammo of choice for years. Whether it be in war, LEO use or personal protection use. But this type of bullet was replaced with a more effective bullet years ago: the jacketed hollow point. The reason that the FMJ has been kicked to the curb by law enforcement is because it does not expand. Without expansion it passes right through the bad guy’s body and perhaps into an innocent bystander standing nearby. And because very little energy is absorbed by the bad guy, unless you hit a major bone group, he is free to keep coming at you until he bleeds out.
A recent craze in personal protection ammunition has been frangible rounds. In theory, the frangible round quickly breaks up into dozens of little metal shards. I know, it sounds very good. Like a shotgun, right? It would be like a shotgun if it had the energy of the shotgun shell. But even if the person is wearing very light clothes, these frangible bullets essentially shatter and become very small pieces. The weight of those pieces determine the kinetic energy of each piece – in other words they lose all of their energy because they weigh next to nothing. They will not pass through a rib or a sternum effectively. If it is winter, and the person has layered their clothing and has on a heavy jacket, this problem will only be amplified.

Each of you can make the decision on what caliber of gun you carry and what type of ammunition you load in it. But, I would highly recommend staying away from every type of cartridge besides the jacketed hollow point. The modern jacketed hollow point is designed to get adequate penetration and unload every bit of its kinetic energy in the thug – while not passing through them – jeopardizing others. That is where “Stopping Power” comes from.

The physiology of a fatal gunshot wound

When a person is shot, it creates tissue damage. Some tissues, like skin and lungs, have low density and high elasticity. Most often, if these are the only tissues damaged, the person will not die as quickly (the caveat being the lungs – more on this later). This low density, high elasticity tissue, reduces the amount of energy the tissue has dumped into it – and the damage done. Muscle has higher density and less elasticity than skin and lungs, so more energy will be released into muscle than into skin and lung tissue. Bone has high density and low elasticity. When a bullet hits a heavy bone mass, it will shatter the bone (if it still has enough kinetic energy) and if it is a jacketed hollow point, it will greatly expand and cause severe tissue damage and bleeding once in the body. Organs like the brain, liver and spleen are severely damaged because they lack elasticity. Fluid filled organs like the heart, large blood vessels, bladder and bowels have higher density because of the fluids, so tremendous amounts of energy will be released into them by the projectile – usually causing them to explode – doing tremendous damage.

What will quickly incapacitate a bad guy – eliminating the threat he posed moments before? First, we must examine the effect a bullet has going into the human body. It creates a wound channel. The smaller the wound channel, the less damage it does (BIGGER is always BETTER). The penetration and quick release of energy creates a shock wave as it penetrates tissue, muscle, bone and organs. This shock wave slams through adjacent tissue, organs and bones causing extensive collateral damage. In the case of a FMJ bullet, the wound channel will be there, but the accompanying release of energy will not be as great, allowing the bullet to completely pass through. The optimum bullet is going to hold together, expand greatly and dump all of its energy in the body cavity. This dump of energy, and the damage it does to tissue surrounding the wound channel, is what causes rapid incapacitation. The shitbag will quickly go into shock and bleed out. And while the first paragraph in this section spoke about the lungs being of low density and high elasticity, today’s modern hollow point ammunition has to go through muscle, and also bone, to get to the lungs. By this time the bullet has fully expanded and is dumping its energy as it enters the lungs. The mushroomed bullet will tear apart the lung tissue with the lungs rapidly filling out with blood. The bad guy is well ventilated and will quickly cease to be a threat.

Because stopping power is a function of the size of the wound channel and the tissue damaged by the resulting shock wave, it would be good to look at the kinetic energy popular calibers create.

Kinetic energy of popular handgun calibers

Caliber	Kinetic Energy (at muzzle)
.22 Short (29 gr)	77 Ft/Lbs
.22 Win Mag (45 gr)	112 Ft/Lbs
.25 Automatic (35 gr)	74 Ft/Lbs
327 Federal Magnum (100 gr)	435 Ft/Lbs
.380 ACP (90 gr)	162 Ft/Lbs
9mm Luger (124 gr)	262 Ft/Lbs
.357 SIG (125 gr)	577 Ft/Lbs
38 Special (110 gr)	220 Ft/Lbs
357 Magnum (125 gr)	434 Ft/Lbs
.40 S&W (165 gr)	396 Ft/Lbs
10mm Automatic (180 gr)	590 Ft/Lbs
44 Magnum (240 gr) (long barrel)	1,008 Ft/Lbs
.45 ACP (185 gr)	371 Ft/Lbs
.45 ACP (230 gr)	486 Ft/Lbs

Sample table of Popular Handgun Calibers – Kinetic Energy

Conclusions

Any handgun caliber, from a 22 Short to a 44 Magnum, can be lethal. There is a tradeoff between high kinetic energy smaller caliber round, like 327 Federal Magnum, and a large caliber, high energy round like the 44 Magnum. You need to choose your handgun carefully and make sure you are comfortable shooting it. My recommendation is to shoot the highest energy round, in the largest caliber you can handle. Cartridges like .357 SIG, 357 Magnum, 10mm Automatic and 44 Magnum have significant recoil – and often a large muzzle flash/blast which will make you easy to spot in dim light. My recommendations for average shooters are:

9mm

The 9mm used to be much maligned by LEOs and self-defense instructors. Their observations were that it would often take several rounds to incapacitate a criminal and if they were wearing heavy clothing the bullets would not fully penetrate the body cavity. With today’s quality personal protection high-velocity 9mm ammo, the 9mm is a fantastic choice for self-defense and offers great stopping power – all with relatively low recoil.

.40 S&W

In the 1980s, with criminals using body armor, the FBI needed a more powerful cartridge than standard .38 Special and 9mm. After much testing the FBI selected the 10mm – which is also known as 10mm Magnum. But during agent qualifications, they found that many veteran agents could not handle the recoil of the 10mm. Their accuracy with this cartridge – especially on follow up shots – was terrible. So they went to famed shooting instructor Jeff Cooper – who along with Smith & Wesson – created the 10mm short – which was quickly renamed the .40 S&W. It offered significantly more “stopping power” but with noticeably less recoil and muzzle flash. Since its inception it has become widely used by LE – because it offers the best compromise of stopping power and manageable recoil. While this caliber definitely has more recoil than the 9mm – it has close to 70% more energy.

.45 ACP

The .45 Automatic Colt Pistol (ACP) has literally been around for 110 years. It does not offer the velocity of the .40 S&W or 10mm, but it is very easy to shoot and the recoil is very manageable. The fact that it packs over 450 Ft/Lbs of energy with a 230 grain hollow point, and creates a huge wound channel (nearly 1/2 inch entry wound), makes it very lethal. And with that much energy, the shock wave created around that large channel is devastating. This is why this caliber has lasted over 100 years.

This article is designed to be both informative – and entertaining. If you stay with the common handgun calibers, and use quality factory hollow point ammunition, you will have more than enough horsepower to take care of yourself. But you must practice ALL THE TIME! If you cannot hit your target, center-mass, nearly every single time, you either have too much gun or you have not practiced enough.

#2A #MolonLabe #ComeAndTakeThem

The Grey Beard Biker™️
gbb@TheGreyBeardBiker .com
@Biker4Life on Gab

Gun Talk

Proper Training & Pistol Drills

April 12, 2020 By The Grey Beard Biker™️ 5 Mins Read

Good evening fellow bikers, American patriots and Second Amendment freedom lovers! I hope that you have been getting a lot of riding in this spring. Soon, we will be celebrating Memorial Day weekend – a solemn weekend to remember those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Hopefully, you will come out and see me at Smoky Mountain Thunder – over Memorial Day Weekend. I will be with the great folks from Thunder Roads Magazine and should be easy to find.

For the past four years, you have counted on me for information on firearms, self-defense, politics, Second Amendment news and concealed carry. This month’s article is about proper training and pistol drills. If you carry concealed, for self-defense, you must practice. Unfortunately, I have talked to many individuals with Handgun Carry Permits (HCP) who went through the process of buying a pistol, applying for their HCP, getting fingerprinted, going through the background check and passing their live fire qualification – only to never practice again. These individuals might actually be safer without carrying a firearm than with it. Inevitably, if you are ever in a situation where you need to protect yourself, you will be under severe stress and your actions need to happen from muscle memory – not stress. That muscle memory is only developed by practice.

Dry Fire Drills

Living within the city limits, I cannot practice with live fire at home. My preferred range is a 45-minute ride – which is something I do not do every week. But, as I have learned over the years, the best practice routine is dry fire drills. The are simple, and because you are not firing live ammunition, they are free.

My practice routine is very simple. I practice with all of my different carry pistols. I start by removing the magazine and ejecting the round in the barrel (if you do not carry your pistol with a cartridge in the barrel, you have a paperweight – not a self-defense firearm). Double-check that the pistol is in fact cleared and then triple-check. We all know that many deaths and injuries have come from unloaded guns, correct? Remove all ammunition from the area you will be drilling in. Yes, go overboard. Be safe. Stay alive.

First, I practice drawing from my holster. I dress the way I would in public, with a shirt over my holstered pistol. I swipe my shirt away, draw, bring my pistol to low-ready, re-holster. I repeat this for a total of ten repetitions. Then I will repeat the drill, swiping the shirt away, draw to low-ready, bring the pistol up to high-ready and squeeze the trigger. Re-holster and repeat for a total of ten repetitions. This builds your muscle memory around drawing, coming to low-ready, high-ready and squeezing off a shot.

Next, I use my MANTISX System with my smart phone to practice trigger control. The Mantis system tracks barrel movement before the trigger pull, and afterwards. Practicing with the MantisX is actually better for me than live range fire. With instantaneous feedback, you can actually learn better trigger control, waste less ammunition and improve your live fire groupings. I practice with my dry-fire techniques way more often than I go to the range.

Live Fire Drills

While I do practice what I preach with dry fire training, there is still something special about the smell of cordite in the morning – in other words sending lead downrange. I like to feel the recoil and to see the physical evidence of where my shots are going. When I go to the range, I will typically start with shooting 50 – 100 rounds at paper. During this time, I am not looking to blast the bullseye out but to make sure my groupings are consistent, and my pistols are all functioning properly. Those of you that are only concerned about tearing the 10-ring up are missing the purpose of practicing for self-defense: a well placed first shot followed by an equally well-placed follow up shot. In a real-life situation, you are not trying to literally shoot out the eye of an attacker, but to incapacitate them quickly. This is done through ventilating their center-mass, making it impossible for them to breathe.

From the paper target range, I go to the tactical pistol training area. At most ranges this is the only area you can practice drawing, rapid fire shooting and tactical firing positions. I load five rounds in each of two magazines so I can practice a quick magazine change. With my pistol holstered, I walk up to the area I plan to fire from, get set in my isosceles stance, deliberately draw, concentrating on technique, take aim and fire the five shots quickly – concentrating on follow up shots on different targets. I do a quick magazine change, pull the slide back to put the pistol in battery, and fire the next five shots. I will typically run through about 100 rounds of ammunition at the tactical range. The benefit of tactical pistol practice is the instant feedback the metal plates provide.

Tactical Live Fire Pistol Drill with magazine change

Closing Thoughts

After years of training in self-defense, there is no substitute for practice. But you must practice smart. You must do a lot of dry fire practice – at least five times as much as live fire practice. Your muscle memory and trigger control will become much better ingrained from the dry fire drills. And remember, without continual practice, you will not be prepared if the unthinkable happens.

Until next month, #LIVEtoRide and #RIDEtoLIVE. I hope to see you at Smoky Mountain Thunder over Memorial Day Weekend.

The Grey Beard Biker™️
g bb@TheGreyBeardBiker.com
@Biker4Life on Gab

Gun Talk

Self-Defense Principles – Force Multiplication

November 29, 2019 By The Grey Beard Biker™️ 5 Mins Read

Good afternoon fellow biker Patriots! I trust you had a great Thanksgiving. If you are like me, you avoided anything to do with shopping today – which just happens to be Black Friday. But if you did happen to go shopping, with all the crazy people trying to get their gifts, you had an above average chance of running into someone who has lost their damn mind and could pose a threat to you. If that were to happen, it would be a good idea to understand force multiplication.

I read an interesting statistic the other day. Over 16 million citizens have a concealed carry permit. Over ½ of these permit holders are women. I was a bit surprised that there were more women permit holders than men. But perhaps I shouldn’t have been. If you look at the overall United States population, there are slightly more women than men. I find it interesting that when I go to my local gun shop these days, there are a lot of women shopping for guns. It wasn’t always this way. When I first started building my gun collection, I very seldom saw the fairer sex in gun stores. There is a reason for this – force multiplication. Women are taking their personal defense seriously and they recognize that an attack will probably come from the opposite sex and that men are typically larger and stronger than they are. There are of course exceptions to this general rule.

**Force Multiplication can be obtained with a gun, knife, pepper spray or baton**

What is Force Multiplication?

The United States Department of Defense defines force multiplication as, “A capability that, when added to and employed by a combat force, significantly increases the combat potential of that force and thus enhances the probability of a successful mission accomplishment.”

These same factors hold true for an individual in a self-defense scenario. I would define it a bit differently than the DoD: “the use of a tool to multiply force and successfully fend off an attack by a more capable, determined assailant.” A simple lever is a force multiplier as it can move a heavy object with less force than required without the lever. In self-defense, the force multiplier could be many different items: pepper spray, a personal defense taser, knife, baton or a pistol.

What many women have come to recognize is that the pistol is the most effective of all these tools. It levels the playing field in most any scenario and gives her a fighting chance against a determined attacker. And of course, force multiplication is just as important for a man who takes the defense of himself, friends and family seriously.

This whole concept is important to me as I have been having a discussion with a close female family member who is in her 20s and considering getting her handgun carry permit. She lives on her own and is often alone when driving to and from work and school. But we are approaching this cautiously and we have agreed that she needs training, a pistol she is comfortable with and will have to practice a lot before she can start carrying. (Not to mention going through HCP training.)

As a certified range safety officer (RSO), I encourage anyone who is concerned with their personal safety to consider a handgun. Seek out recommendations from knowledgeable people before you decide on which gun to purchase. Go to the gun range and rent as many as possible before you make a decision on which gun is best for you. Do not get caught up in the “larger is better caliber” debate. While I can easily handle my .357 SIG chambered pistols, and often carry .45 ACP pistols, they are not for everyone. These heavy calibers produce a large blast when shooting and have a stout recoil. A well placed first shot, and the ability to quickly, and accurately, place follow up shots, is more important than the size and speed of the projectile. If you are more comfortable shooting a .380 semi-auto, or a 9mm, that is what you should be carry. If you are not able to quickly clear a malfunction in a semi-automatic pistol, a 38 special revolver may be your better choice as you can continue to pull the trigger without worrying about a failure-to-eject of failure-to-feed making your pistol inoperable. Lastly, keep in mind the size of the handgun you are considering. Full sized models inherently absorb recoil better than small guns. But if you are of smaller stature, concealing a larger framed gun in a waist holster will be more difficult.

In Closing

Do not be overly concerned about the caliber of your carry pistol. Try plenty of different gun makes, models and calibers. If you are a lady, determine whether you want to carry on your waist, ankle or in a concealment purse. Try different handguns out in these rigs to find the one which works best for you. And most importantly, remember that the most appropriate force multiplier is not always going to be a handgun. The tool you use in any given self-defense situation has to be proportional to the force your attacker is using against you. For this reason, carry less lethal force multiplier defensive tools too. Watch the GreyBeardBiker.com for an upcoming article on proportionality.

μολὼν λαβέ,
The Grey Beard Biker™️
gbb@thegreybeardbiker.com
@Biker4Life on Gab

Gun Talk

Principles of Self Defense – Reasonableness

July 13, 2019 By The Grey Beard Biker™️ 5 Mins Read

This is the last post in the five-part series, Principles of a Self-Defense Claim and deals with Reasonableness. In review, the five critical components to a successful self-defense claim are:

If you find yourself in the unfortunate position where you have to defend yourself with lethal force, your continued freedom will depend on whether the police, prosecutors and courts believe all five of these components were properly met. If there is any doubt in their minds, that each one was met, your legal team will have to convince a jury that you did in fact meet them.

Reasonableness

Reasonableness of your actions is judged both objectively and subjectively. In the event that the police turn your case over to the prosecuting attorney, objective reasonableness will primarily be determined by interviews with witnesses, physical evidence – and if the case goes to court – testimony by expert witnesses. Subjective reasonableness is primarily going to be determined by your actions and any statements you make (Hint: a subject of an upcoming article). Let’s examine both of these.

Objective Reasonableness

Objective reasonableness is an imaginary litmus test. Essentially, it implores someone to consider if a reasonable person would make the same decisions and take the same actions you did if in exactly the same situation.

This imaginary person is a law-abiding citizen, does not have anger issues, does not do drugs and never drinks to excess. He/she would be cautious by nature. Average in every way, he/she would not have above average intelligence or super human strength.

When considering objective reasonableness, the police and district attorney may well transfer your physical characteristics to the imaginary person. If you are old, frail, small or handicapped you would likely fear for your life more quickly than a healthy man in his mid-20s. As such, a lower threshold would have to be exceeded before you began to become fearful and the fight-or-flight instinct kicked in – that point in time when you believed the threat was imminent.

In a self-defense case the court may also allow Mr. Reasonable to have specialized knowledge which you possess. A good example would be if you knew the person was extremely violent, unstable or had a reputation as a vicious fighter. If you were to find yourself in a position where he was coming quickly at you with clenched fists, and in an obvious rage, you may believe the threat to be imminent more quickly than if you did not have this specialized knowledge. Having this knowledge transferred to Mr. Reasonable is only fair because a reasonable person with such knowledge would be more likely to react quickly.

Other specialized knowledge, such as your previous understanding of the Tueller Drill (for more information see the article on Imminence) can be passed to Mr. Reasonable – and he, like you – will know that a knife wielding man is an imminent threat at 21 feet – which may not seem reasonable to everyone. But if you were to find yourself in court, you will most likely need to prove that you knew this before you used lethal force. Owning a book which cites the Tueller Drill, with a receipt, would be proof. Attending a self-defense class, prior to the incident, which provided information on the Tueller Drill may well suffice as proof.

If Mr. Reasonable would have taken the same actions you did, you have passed the litmus test for objective reasonableness. But that does not mean you are out of the “proverbial woods” yet.

Subjective Reasonableness

Subjective reasonableness takes into consideration all of the things you did and said. Just because Mr. Reasonable would have acted like you did, from an objective standpoint, if you did not believe you were innocent, there was not an imminent threat or your actions were not proportional, you are at risk of not passing the subjective reasonableness test. You may be wondering, “How would the police or prosecutor know I did not believe this if I did not tell them?” This is where your statement to the police may come into play. If you were to say, “I was not afraid for my life,” or “I could have taken him with my fists,” you are in jeopardy of losing your self-defense claim because there was not an imminent threat and your actions were not proportional to your perception of the threat.

Other things which can cause police and prosecutors to fail your self-defense claim, due to subjective reasonableness, would be running from the scene, hiding from police or tampering with evidence. These actions will immediately cause them to believe you were not the innocent party.

In Closing

In closing, remember that you must be able to prove the following to claim self-defense: you are INNOCENT, you believed there was an IMMINENT threat of death or serious injury, your use of force was PROPORTIONAL, there was no reasonable avenue of AVOIDANCE and a REASONABLE person would have taken the same actions.

The Grey Beard Biker™️
gbb@TheGreyBeardBiker.com
@Biker4Life on Gab

Note: Neither the Grey Beard Biker or Michael are an attorney. While he has been involved in self-defense for many years, this article is provided for informational purposes only. Check with an attorney to understand your state’s laws.

This article was originally published in Thunder Roads Tennessee/Kentucky magazine and is used with permission. It was written by Michael Noirot – a/k/a the Grey Beard Biker.

Other articles in this series can be read by clicking on the following links:

2nd Amendment in Action

West Virginia Mom Shoots Rapist

June 14, 2019 By The Grey Beard Biker™️ 2 Mins Read

A West Virginia woman, catching a 53 year old pedophile/sex offender in her 12 year old daughter’s room, uses the Second Amendment to take care of business.

As reported in Concealed Carry Magazine:

Hearing a commotion in her 12 year old daughter’s room at about 2 a.m., a Morgantown mother armed herself with a shotgun and proceeded to investigate. Upon entering the daughter’s room, she found a strange man struggling with her daughter. When the assailant turned to face her, the mother fired one blast from the shotgun, catching him in the face and taking off most of his head. The daughter was physically unharmed, though traumatized by the attack. Authorities described her attacker as a notorious pedophile with a string of known offenses against young victims. West Virginia is a Castle Doctrine state, and charges against the 42 year old mother appear unlikely at this point.

This is your Second Amendment in action and your Grey Beard Biker approves of this mother taking care of business.

The Grey Beard Biker™️
gbb@TheGreyBeardBiker.com
@Biker4Life on Gab

Note: Concealed Carry Magazine is the monthly publication of the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, the operating entity of Delta Defense, LLC. USCCA is an approved Grey Beard Biker company and offers USCCA members Self Defense Education, Training and Legal Protection. Grey Beard has been a proud member of USCCA since November 2013 and highly recommends them to his readers.

Gun Talk

Principles of Self Defense – Proportionality

June 13, 2019 By The Grey Beard Biker™️ 6 Mins Read

Grey Beard Biker’s last blog post on Principles of Self-Defense dealt with Imminence. This post will deal specifically with Proportionality – the third component of a successful self-defense claim if you use deadly force. In review, here are the five components which must all be answered affirmatively for you to prove you acted in self-defense:

From a law enforcement and legal perspective, pulling a gun during a fist fight would not be considered a proportional response. Doing so would fail the third component and would certainly put you at risk of being charged and spending time in prison. But before I get ahead of myself, let’s take a look at weapons that are always considered deadly:

Guns and other firearms
Bows
Crossbows

That is the entire list. So, would it be correct to assume only these projectile weapons are considered deadly? NO! Common items can be used as a contact weapon and be deadly: baseball bats, hammers, clubs, walking canes, bowling balls, bricks, tire irons, etc. Even one’s fists can be used to deadly effect if the attacker is much larger, he’s choking you or you are no longer able to defend yourself. But the use of any of these other weapons would have to clear the AOJ Triad hurdle in order to be considered deadly-force:

Ability – The attacker has the ability to cause death or grave bodily harm
Opportunity – The attacker can get to you with the force to cause death or grave bodily harm
Jeopardy – The attacker intends to do grave harm to you

As an example, if you were having an argument at a softball game with the batter and he poked you in the chest with his bat, he would have ability and opportunity. But unless he intended to attack you violently with it (jeopardy), you could not immediately resort to using deadly force. Your self-defense claim would fail the third leg of the triad.

Now, if you were approached in an alley by a thug carrying the same bat, and he gets in your face, saying he’s going to kill you, the shit-bag has ability, opportunity and there is most certainly jeopardy. In this scenario, your use of deadly force should be considered justified. But only if you are innocent. You cannot be the person who started the altercation, you have to be in a place you are legally allowed to be and the threat to your life has to be imminent.

The last thing which must be considered is escalation of force. If you are arguing with someone and they throw the first punch, you have the right to defend yourself with non-lethal force. Your fists would be the most logical response. But if you are overpowered and the attacker is on top of you, pounding you in the face, this could represent a deadly threat or an attack which could cause grave bodily harm – the amount of force has escalated and you have the should have the right to protect yourself with escalated force. But again, you must be the innocent party.

My son-in-law is a sheriff’s deputy in Florida. He carries roughly 25 pounds of gear on his belt when he is working. His defensive tools include pepper spray, a TASER and his service pistol. Law enforcement officers are trained to use what’s called the “continuum of force.” This would involve going up-and-down the ladder of lethality of their available tools. Their first tool is yelling, “Stop!” This is obviously everyone’s first tool. Next would be pepper spray, then their TASER and lastly their service pistol. Obviously, if they are experiencing an imminent threat from a gun wielding robber, they are not going to start by pulling out their pepper spray or yelling, “Stop!” But if, during a routine traffic stop, the person becomes belligerent, they may well go to the pepper spray and escalate force as necessary. This is a useful illustration because many civilians often carry only their fists and their firearm. And while some of you may carry a knife, as your lovable Grey Beard Biker always does, don’t fall into the potential legal trap of thinking it is considered less lethal than your pistol. If you are in close combat with a thug, pulling your knife is the same a pulling a gun and can certainly be considered an escalation of force. Remember, from a legal perspective, it is just a deadly as your gun.

**Darrel Ralph Designs**
Keychain Kubotan

So, what other non-lethal weapons should you consider carrying? Pepper spray is the most obvious. It is quite effective and will give you time to separate yourself from the bad guy and call 911. But pulling pepper spray may also be considered an escalation of force if the threat is not imminent. Case law in many states has shown that juries will convict a criminal of aggravated assault if they use pepper spray in the commission of a crime. So, remember, you must always be the innocent party before you do so. Another tool which you might consider is a key chain mounted kubotan. A kubotan is essentially a mini-club and is quite effective at taking the fight out of an attacker if used correctly. But training and speed are essential with such a tool. And again, you will still need to be the innocent party in order to justify your use of a kubotan – and it must be used only when an escalation of force is required.

In summary, you cannot use force that is not proportional to the force an attacker is using against you. During a fight, your attacker may escalate their force against you, and you may escalate proportionally to their force.

Watch for the next Grey Beard Biker blog post on Avoidance!

The Grey Beard Biker™️
gbb@TheGreyBeardBiker.com
@Biker4Life on Gab

Note: The Original Grey Beard Biker™️ ids not an attorney. While he has been involved in self-defense for many years, this article is provided for informational purposes only. Check with an attorney to understand your state’s laws.

This article was originally published in Thunder Roads Tennessee/Kentucky magazine and is used with permission. It was written by Michael Noirot – a/k/a the Grey Beard Biker.

Other articles in this series can be read by clicking on the following links:

**From Grey Beard Biker’s Friends at USA Carry! Like their website!**

Gun Talk

Principles of a Self Defense Claim – Imminence

June 3, 2019 By The Grey Beard Biker™️ 6 Mins Read

Greetings, fellow bikers. This article deals with the second critical component of a self-defense claim: Imminence. The first column in this series dealt with Innocence and can be found HERE.

As stated in article one, the use of lethal force is justified if you are acting in self-defense, protecting yourself, your family, friends or another person. But in order for a self-defense claim to be successful, all of these components must be successfully proven:

In the event that you have responded to a situation with lethal force, you first need to be the innocent party – meaning you were not the aggressor or provocateur. Without innocence, your claim of self-defense will quickly fall apart. Next, there has to be imminence. A quick Google search of legal websites will lead you to Black’s Law Dictionary. Imminence relates to their discussion of homicide in self-defense and is defined as:

“….immediate danger, such as must be instantly met, such as cannot be guarded against by calling for the assistance of others or protection of the law…. such an appearance of threatened and impending injury as would put a reasonable and prudent man to his instant defense.” – Black’s Law Dictionary

In other words, you have to respond immediately to the threat or risk being seriously maimed, injured, disfigured or killed. Lethal force, or for that matter non-lethal force, used too early, or too late (after the threat is gone), will fail the imminence test.

Massad Ayoob has been training in self-defense principles for years and I have read several of his books, most recently, “Deadly Force: Understanding Your Right to Self Defense.” Mas has written much on building a self-defense case and it might be helpful in our discussion on imminence to bring into play his concept of imminence, which is often referred to as the AOJ Triad: Ability, Opportunity, Jeopardy.

Ability: Is your attacker able to hurt you?
Opportunity: Can the attacker get to you?
Jeopardy: Does the attacker, who has ability and opportunity, intend to use illegal force against you?

I will take a deeper dive into Ability in this series’ next article on proportionality, but it is worth mentioning now that anyone has the ability to hurt you. Be it with their fists, an impact weapon – like a knife or hammer – or with a gun. It is, however, germane to the next leg of the AOJ Triad, opportunity.

Opportunity relates specifically to whether or not the thug can get at you. If you are in your locked car, at a stoplight, and the thug approaches you with nothing more than his fists, yelling he is going to kill you, he does not have the opportunity to get at you. Using lethal force in this scenario will likely fail in a self-defense litmus test. However, if the same thug is coming at you with a large brick in his hand, he may well be able to get to you. The car, in the first scenario, can be an obstacle and obstacles are something you need to use to your advantage.

Let’s consider another scenario. You are walking to your car in a dark parking lot. You are being approached by a person that appears intent on doing you harm. Can you put an obstacle between you and the thug? Perhaps you can get behind a car in the parking lot and use it as a shield against a potential attack? In this scenario, immediately resorting to lethal force on the individual would be a bad idea.

Distance is also a consideration when speaking of opportunity. If the same thug is coming at you with a gun, distance becomes a non-issue since he can reach out to you with hot lead. But if he is brandishing a machete, distance is certainly an opportunity limitation. Granted, he might throw the machete at you, but he is unlikely to hurt you from more than a few yards away. The same holds true with other impact weapons like a hammer of a knife. But at what distance does the hammer or knife wielding thug become a substantial threat?

This is dependent on how quickly you can bring proportional force into play. A good rule of thumb is the Tueller Drill. Sergeant Dennis Tueller, of the Salt Lake City police department, came up with this drill by measuring how much ground a knife wielding attacker could cover in 1.5 seconds – the time it took an average police officer to un-holster his service pistol and accurately fire two rounds, center mass. Using many volunteers, Tueller came up with a distance of 21 feet. Your Tueller Drill distance will likely be greater than 21 feet since your ability to draw your pistol and fire two rounds accurately may well take longer than 1.5 seconds.

The last leg of the AOJ Triad is the most important – Jeopardy. Does the person intend to use illegal force against you? An armed police officer standing next to you has the ability and opportunity to hurt you. But the AOJ triad would fail because he does not intend to hurt you. However, a thug standing less than 21 feet away from you, brandishing a knife, does possess all of the elements of the AOJ Triad.

In review, if you are the innocent person, and there is an imminent threat of severe injury, or death, you have two of the five components of a self-defense claim.

Watch for the next blog post on Proportionality.

The Grey Beard Biker™️
gbb@TheGreyBeardBiker.com
@Biker4Life on Gab

Note: Neither the Grey Beard Biker or Michael are an attorney. While he has been involved in self-defense for many years, this article is provided for informational purposes only. Check with an attorney to understand your state’s laws.

This article was originally published in Thunder Roads Tennessee/Kentucky magazine and is used with permission. It was written by Michael Noirot – a/k/a the Grey Beard Biker.

Other articles in this series can be read by clicking on the following links:

Gun Talk

Principles of a Self-Defense Claim – Innocence

May 31, 2019 By The Grey Beard Biker™️ 6 Mins Read

Hello fellow bikers. If the proverbial “shit hits the fan,” and you have to use your firearm to protect yourself, you may find yourself in a world of legal trouble if the law believes you did not operate within some basic rules. Your freedom will inevitably require you to have a legitimate self-defense claim. There are five basic principles of a successful self-defense claim:

This particular blog post will focus on the first principle: Innocence

Your actions will have to satisfy all five of these principles for a successful self-defense claim. If they are present, you will prevail. If they are not all present, you may spend a very long time in prison. This month we will focus on Innocence.

Innocence

After the dust settles, you must be viewed as the innocent party. While this may seem easy enough to prove, there are many things which can happen which makes you the aggressor.

In an altercation, the aggressor is generally going to be viewed as the person who threw the first punch, brandished a knife or pulled a gun. In some states, words alone can cause you to be the aggressor. Tennessee’s laws are a bit vague with regards to who the aggressor is:

Tennessee 39-11-611

(e) The threat of force against another is not justified:

If the person using force consented to the exact force used or attempted by the other individual;
If the person using force provoked the other individual’s use or attempted use of unlawful force

Provocation is the key to Tennessee’s innocence claim and the fact that Tennessee has not clearly defined provocation, you must CLEARLY be the innocent party – not the provocateur.

Additionally, you can easily find yourself in a position where competing narratives of the event may portray you as the aggressor – especially if the witnesses are friends of the thug you were protecting yourself against. If this proves to be the case, an overzealous prosecutor may well pursue charges against you.

Proportionality, or the lack thereof, can also cause you to be viewed as the aggressor, not the innocent party. If the thug you are protecting yourself from throws the first punch, but you immediately escalate the encounter by pulling a concealed firearm, you will be in serious jeopardy of losing your innocence – and your claim of self-defense.

While the rules of being viewed as the aggressor vary from state-to-state, the Federal court system has simplified it somewhat with their finding:

“An affirmative, unlawful act reasonably calculated to produce an affray foreboding injurious or fatal consequences…” Michael J. Edwards v. United States

The keys to this are affirmative – meaning not accidental, unlawful – meaning well, unlawful and calculated to produce an affray – meaning the aggressor was the one who deliberately escalated the situation beyond what was necessary. And lastly, foreboding injurious or fatal consequences – meaning there was imminence that you are in serious risk of being maimed or killed. If it can be proven the thug exhibited these, your claim of innocence may be sustained and you will likely be cut loose and not face criminal prosecution.

There are a couple other actions which may cause you to lose your claim of innocence:

Pursuit/Sustainment – If you pursue or sustain the altercation you will no longer be considered the innocent party. In other words, if the thug decides fighting you is not in his best interest, and verbally communicates he is disengaging, and you try to sustain or further pursue him, you will become the aggressor.

Mutual Combat – If after a brush up with the aforementioned thug, you agree to meet him, or take the fight outside, you will have lost your innocence – and perhaps sunk your entire self-defense claim.

Escalation – This was mentioned earlier, and should be reinforced. If you find yourself in a fist fight, or a war of words, do not escalate the encounter beyond what it is – a nonlethal fight. If you pull your pistol at this point, you will be considered the aggressor or provocateur – meaning you are in serious trouble.

Now, if you find yourself in a position where you may have lost your innocence in the altercation, you may still be able to regain your innocence.

Tennessee 39-11-611(e)

The person using force abandons the encounter or clearly communicates to the other the intent to do so; and
The other person nonetheless continues or attempts to use unlawful force against the person

The Tennessee statue is clear here. You must attempt to disengage from the altercation and most importantly, you must verbally (preferably loud enough to be heard by everyone nearby) communicate your desire to end the affray. At this point, if the thug pursues the fight – or escalates it – you may well regain your innocence.

One other consideration you must keep in mind. Being under the influence of alcohol or drugs will sink a self-defense claim. If you are planning on enjoying some adult beverages, leave your gun at home – or locked up where you cannot gain access to it. If you are under the influence and find yourself in a life-or-death situation, your best defense is not going on the offense. If you pull your sidearm under these conditions – even if you are the innocent – you are in serious legal jeopardy. If you have your weapon you must make the choice between potential death and a very long incarceration. But you risk much if you put yourself in this situation.

Watch for the next blog post on Imminence.

Molon Labe,
The Grey Beard Biker™️
gbb@TheGreyBeardBiker.com
@Biker4Life on Gab

Note: Neither the Grey Beard Biker or Michael are an attorney. While he has been involved in self-defense for many years, this article is provided for informational purposes only. Check with an attorney to understand your state’s laws.

This article was originally published in Thunder Roads Tennessee/Kentucky magazine and is used with permission. It was written by Michael Noirot – a/k/a the Grey Beard Biker.

Other articles in this series can be read by clicking on the following links:

Gun Talk

Situational Awareness

May 31, 2019 By The Grey Beard Biker™️ 5 Mins Read

If you are reading this, you are most likely a defender of our Second Amendment. You may even conceal carry a handgun when you leave the house. If so, congratulations on taking your safety, and the safety of your family and friends seriously. We all know that the best defense against a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. But do not fall into the same trap many people do: that carrying a handgun makes you “bullet-proof.” It simply does not.

In fact, if you have become lazy because of that gun on your hip, you may be in more danger than an unarmed citizen who is very vigilant. Vigilance is the key to your safety and those with you – and vigilance starts with situational awareness.

According to Wikipedia, Situational Awareness is defined as:

“…the perception of environmental elements and events with respect to time or space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status after some variable has changed, such as time, or some other variable, such as a predetermined event.”

And while situational awareness is a key component to riding a motorcycle safely – Eg. Is that car approaching from the side road going to run the stop sign and pull out in front of me? – many riders leave their situational awareness with their helmets when they climb off their scoot. In other words, they become unaware of everything going on around themselves.

Increasing your situational awareness starts with PAYING ATTENTION! Pay attention to everything going on around you. If you are like many people, that smart phone you are self-absorbed in is putting you at risk. Do not walk around in public with all of your attention focused on your social media networks. I have walked up to friends who are on their iPhone and greeted them several times before they were even aware I was there. That same person will never be able to defend against an attack by a thug if they are only paying attention to liking their friends’ Facebook posts.

It would be helpful to look at the way a thug intent on doing harm thinks. First, you must think of these people as being like a tiger which is stalking their next meal. Like that tiger, they purposely scope out the weakest animal in a pack before they spring forward to attack. Shit-bag thugs do the same thing. If they are going to commit an armed robbery they will look for the softest of targets – that person least likely to defend themselves when they spring forward to attack. Perhaps it’s that person peering intently into their smartphone. Perhaps it’s that person walking along the dark sidewalk talking to their girlfriend on the phone. Or perhaps it’s that person in the restaurant sitting with their back to everyone else. These are their easiest targets – those who due to their total lack of situational awareness have left themselves the most vulnerable – and least likely to be able to fight back. Even if they are packing a concealed handgun, they will be unable to act quickly enough to use it in their defense – and may even have their gun taken away from them and used against them.

Here are some suggestions which will help you increase your situational awareness:

Avoid dangerous areas – Do not put yourself into a situation where you will be more likely to have to defend yourself.
Remove your smartphone from your consciousness when you are in a public place. It is okay, even preferable, to have it with you, but your attention should not be focused on it.
If you are walking into your corner gas station put your phone in your pocket. Look around the establishment before you enter. Is it well lit? How many people are in there? Are there any people who look dangerous? (Yes, it is okay for you to profile people.) What can you use for a barrier if the proverbial “shit-hits-the-fan?” Where are the exits? Have you examined the people present well enough to describe them for a police report? If not, you are not situationally aware of your surroundings.
Do not sit where you have blind spots. Avoid sitting with your back to everyone else in that restaurant. I personally like to find a corner table and have my back to the corner.
Events change and you need to change with them. Closely examine newcomers entering the restaurant, pub or gas station.
Most importantly remove anything which can become a distraction.

The more you practice situational awareness, the easier it becomes. Be aware of the people around you. Be aware of the structure you are in. Search out exits. Scan faces. Stay away from dark areas where you can easily be ambushed. Do not ever become the prey because your concentration is elsewhere.

Molon Labe,
The Grey Beard Biker™️
gbb@TheGreyBeardBiker.com
@Biker4Life on Gab

This article was originally published in Thunder Roads Tennessee/Kentucky magazine and is used with permission. It was written by Michael Noirot – a/k/a the Grey Beard Biker.