When to draw your weapon? - Road Rage Incident

[Chance Love]

You did fine. Easy to second guess afterwards.

I had a similar situation years ago. Had my pistol in my lap before the guy made two steps. He got to my window and the sight of me being "ready" turned that situation around in a hurry!

[eaglegolfj]

Good call not pulling, but again like said before maybe in my lap or at low ready where not to be seen. Man you never know now days what people are up to.

[Chew]

Good result. If you only shoot when you're in definite absolute 100% fear of your life then you will be okay. If you shoot out of anger or if you have to think about it before you shoot you will probably be screwed.

[Uncle_Milty]

You will always second guess yourself after the fact so don’t beat yourself up over it. However, given the fact of where you were and the escalating crime rate in mid-county, especially in Port Arthur I would most likely have move my firearm to my lap when he exited his vehicle. I would not have drawn down in the guy given the same mindset of don’t draw unless you intend to discharge your weapon.

All in all you did good, you left the situation in good health and without having to take someone’s life

[Beleg]

You made it home safe and that’s what counts. It can take time to draw your weapon so better to have it ready. A Dash-cam to document your side of what happened and pepper spray as a non lethal alternative to deadly force since the aggressor didn’t show a weapon. You can be sure the aggressor will lie when questioned by authorities.

[Flint knapper]

I would of def. had my pistol in my lap as soon as he got out of the car!!!!

If he would have broken my window and attempted to do harm to me or my family, he would have been met with some high velocity resistance!

[Acameron52]

I agree with above, by the time he got out of his vehicle it would’ve have been in my lap. People are dumb!!

[Dale Moser]

I would have had it ready as well, and have a few times. With family, I'd absolutely be looking for a way out, even if that meant through him or his car...but i'd have it ready. Have been there by myself and did not handle it terribly well in retrospect, but it worked out.

I did bump a guys car after he and his boys got out, several years ago, to let him know I would absolutely push it as far as I needed to to get out of there, but I was yelling out the window at them the whole way to let them know I was serious. It was not road rage, it was some democrats thinking they were gonna take advantage of a lost country boy in south Dallas...I don't think they were THAT serious, honestly. I did not have a firearm in the truck that day.

As I've gotten older I realize that even when my family is not with me, getting in a shootout, getting shot, or shooting someone who has it coming.....are none good ideas if I can drive off.

[bowhntrmatt]

I was in a pretty similar situation about 6 years ago.
I reached into the center console while the dude was screaming at me and had my pistol in my hand. He never even realized I went for it.
The difference was his punch to my window broke it. I instantly drew on him, but didn’t shoot. His tone changed very quickly and he laid on his stomach until the cops showed up.
Ended up very apologetic and paid for the damages. I spent the entire time waiting for the cops lecturing him (both of us in our mid 20s at the time) about how lucky he was not to be dead and to not be aggressive with people in the middle of the night.

[El Viejo]

It sounds to me like you did the right thing. This much I have learned (probably from reading a post on TBH), if you ever have to pull out your weapon, you better be dang sure that you call the cops before the other guy does, otherwise you will have to do a bunch more splanin' than you would if you called them first.

[Dale Moser]

It sounds to me like you did the right thing. This much I have learned (probably from reading a post on TBH), if you ever have to pull out your weapon, you better be dang sure that you call the cops before the other guy does, otherwise you will have to do a bunch more splanin' than you would if you called them first.

Huh? Re-read that, and edit.

[El Viejo]

Huh? Re-read that, and edit.

Nope, if you call them first, they get your story first and they investigate based on what you said. If the other guy calls them first then they will be basing their investigation on what that guy told them. They will be checking you out as the bad guy and you will have to explain more to them in order to get them to believe the truth.

[Dale Moser]

Nope, if you call them first, they get your story first and they investigate based on what you said. If the other guy calls them first then they will be basing their investigation on what that guy told them. They will be checking you out as the bad guy and you will have to explain more to them in order to get them to believe the truth.

The wording threw me off a little bit at first, but I get your meaning. At the end "Than if THEY did"...

[SmTx]

I may wear my hat too often but sometimes you gotta speak softly and carry a big stick

[El Viejo]

The wording threw me off a little bit at first, but I get your meaning. At the end "Than if THEY did"...

I get ya. When I read it, it sounded kinda funky.