ABC's of Concealed Carry by Terry Joseph

Author:Terry, Joseph
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: F+W Media

Chapter 14

N: Never Out of the Fight

When I was on the police force I had a 3x5 card pasted up in my locker. Every time I went on duty I recited aloud what was written on that card:

I am extremely skilled with my weapons.

If necessary I will use them without hesitation.

If I am shot, I will fight through the pain.

I will never be out of the fight.

The sports-psychology name for this kind of exercise is “positive self-talk.” And the fact that I never had to shoot a criminal to affect an arrest, including those who were carrying guns at the time, I attribute to luck and my ability to project a willingness to put them down without hesitation if they did not instantly comply with my shouted commands. This projection of willingness was a combination of easy familiarity with the weapon in my hand and an attitude of resolve, communicated by forceful instructions and aggressive non-verbal cues. All are teachable behaviors.

Cops I have chatted with who have survived gunfights report that from the instant they made the decision to fire, they were on auto-pilot and kept shooting until the subject was down. They had little recollection of getting a sight picture (it’s possible they did but just don’t remember) or the number of rounds they fired (usually more than they think). But they knew one thing for sure. The abstract concept of law enforcement just got intensely personal and no scumbag was going to keep them from getting back home to their families at the end of the shift.

Another balloon goes pop right now. The vast majority of cops never fire their weapons in applied law enforcement. If they go into the worst parts of town every day and don’t shoot people, this lends great credence to my argument that the armed citizen has even less of a chance of ever having to shooting anybody. Fortunately, as an armed citizen you only have an obligation to obey the laws, not enforce them.

Tragically, some cops who are shot while on duty die from entirely survivable wounds because they lost the fight mentally and fell victim to the media nonsense that all handgun hits are lethal. The cops and service veterans I know who were shot and survived, describe some version of it feeling like getting hit with a baseball bat, followed by a red-hot poker being pushed through the wound.

Imagine it just like that — a tremendous swat with a bat and then searing-hot pain. Pain is not going to kill you. (Bleeding out may kill you, but not the pain of the hit.) Fight through that pain. Put down your adversary if you must with aimed fire, then call 911, stop your bleeding with something — anything — that will plug the wound, then put hard direct pressure on it or direct bystanders to do so.

The survival literature is filled with stories of individuals who fought back from incredible wounds by thinking of their families. How much they loved them. How they would not leave them.

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