Have you ever shot anyone?

[WolfMansDad]

On what grounds? This is a gun forum. We do have military members, LEO's, and armed civilians.

It would be very useful to know how they reacted during a self defense shooting. After reading about the member that got shot at it got me curious.

I would also like to know how much training really sticks in situations such as these. I would imagine my self just unloading the whole magazine in the general direction. I know I have to consider what is behind the target, shot placement, and such but in such a high stress situation would that really occur? When watching cop videos you can even see officer training go wrong.

I don't see why this question is not discussable, I am not asking "Who did a drive by and popped a cap in someone?"

Two reasons. First, pretty much everybody who has had to use a firearm in self defense doesn't want to talk about it. Second, this site gets a lot of attention, and we don't want something said here that could be misquoted or used to cast us in a bad light later. Calguns has been tremendously effective in advancing our right to keep and bear arms in California, and anything even hinting at bloodlust posted on the forum could compromise that.

It's not that such things shouldn't be talked about. It's that they shouldn't be talked about here.

[rkt88edmo]

So, as no rules are being broken this thread isn't going to be deleted, closed or removed. Just throwing that out there.

As far as what training sticks, there is also a lot of evidence out there to read about, as well as anecdotes. "Training" isn't even a very good breakdown since there are so many variations in the type and frequency of training as well as the individual and their general experience. Some people do well under pressure and some fold, and for some they may have experiences with both in different situations.

Try a dedicated self defense forum or a forum that revolves around dedicated professional use of firearms and you may find more info, but I wouldn't suggest actually asking the question.

[Dr. Peter Venkman]

Yes. I saw this guy creeping around the corner of my building so I slowly raised up my rifle's sight, put him in the middle of it, relaxed to ease tension off of my trigger finger, exhaled, and left-clicked.

[Waingro]

Two reasons. First, pretty much everybody who has had to use a firearm in self defense doesn't want to talk about it. Second, this site gets a lot of attention, and we don't want something said here that could be misquoted or used to cast us in a bad light later. Calguns has been tremendously effective in advancing our right to keep and bear arms in California, and anything even hinting at bloodlust posted on the forum could compromise that.

It's not that such things shouldn't be talked about. It's that they shouldn't be talked about here.

This forum is obsessed with Zombies and Bear-People attacks. It is already cast in a negative light. This is a logical and useful question to be asked. It is not controversial either, such as many other topics such as illegal immigration. If you feel uncomfortable about your experience you are not required to post.

'Hinting at bloodlust' - would it make it better if I changed the name of the topic to "Has anyone here every shot a Zombie/Bear-People/Alien/all the crazy scenarios you guys come up with."?

Please - I asked a valid question at a valid place - if it makes you uncomfortable no one is forcing you to read it or post on it. One member in the first 30 min posted his brief experience.

[ohsmily]

On what grounds? This is a gun forum. We do have military members, LEO's, and armed civilians.

It would be very useful to know how they reacted during a self defense shooting. After reading about the member that got shot at it got me curious.

I would also like to know how much training really sticks in situations such as these. I would imagine my self just unloading the whole magazine in the general direction. I know I have to consider what is behind the target, shot placement, and such but in such a high stress situation would that really occur? When watching cop videos you can even see officer training go wrong.

I don't see why this question is not discussable, I am not asking "Who did a drive by and popped a cap in someone?"

If you can't understand why people who have been involved in a real-life shoot probably don't want to discuss it with random people on the internet, then you have a stunted sense of empathy, tact, and sophistication. Perhaps you don't dispute that.
It is a traumatic, personal issue for those who have been involved. Sure, some people like to go bragging about their military kills or police involved shootings (some are BSing); BUT, most people who have really 'been-there-done-that' don't go bragging about their experience or blabbing about it in public. In fact, I would question the credibility of someone who posted here with enthusiasm about the time they had to shoot and perhaps take someone's life.

Don't you have any friends who have served in the military? Relatives who are VFWs? Buy them a beer and hear all you can take.

[Waingro]

If you can't understand why people who have been involved in a real-life shoot probably don't want to discuss it with random people on the internet, then you have a stunted sense of empathy, tact, and sophistication. Perhaps you don't dispute that.
It is a traumatic, personal issue for those who have been involved. Sure, some people like to go bragging about their military kills or police involved shootings (some are BSing); BUT, most people who have really 'been-there-done-that' don't go bragging about their experience or blabbing about it in public.

I understand why people would not want to post because it might be very traumatic for them.

Simple solution: They do not have to post. No one is holding a gun to their head (no pun intended). No one is forcing you to post and if it upsets you just pretend like it is not here.

Please stop posting in this thread if you have nothing to contribute.

Thank You.

[ohsmily]

Please stop posting in this thread if you have nothing to contribute.

Thank You.

No, THANK YOU. I already contributed twice prior to this post.

[Kestryll]

What constitutes a 'contribution' is subjective.

While no one may want to answer the question, asking it is not forbidden nor wrong. If no one answers the questions sinks down in to obscurity.

What I find amusing is that there are 21 posts stating that no one will post in response to this question. I'm not entirely sure who is getting 'owned', for lack of a better word, by this thread but I suspect there is plenty to go around.

I'm getting a chuckle out of this if nothing else comes of it.

[Waingro]

What constitutes a 'contribution' is subjective.

While no one may want to answer the question, asking it is not forbidden nor wrong. If no one answers the questions sinks down in to obscurity.

What I find amusing is that there are 21 posts stating that no one will post in response to this question. I'm not entirely sure who is getting 'owned', for lack of a better word, by this thread but I suspect there is plenty to go around.

I'm getting a chuckle out of this if nothing else comes of it.

If noting else comes of it it will still give us insight.

[5968]

On what grounds? This is a gun forum. We do have military members, LEO's, and armed civilians.

It would be very useful to know how they reacted during a self defense shooting. After reading about the member that got shot at it got me curious.

I would also like to know how much training really sticks in situations such as these. I would imagine my self just unloading the whole magazine in the general direction. I know I have to consider what is behind the target, shot placement, and such but in such a high stress situation would that really occur? When watching cop videos you can even see officer training go wrong.

I don't see why this question is not discussable, I am not asking "Who did a drive by and popped a cap in someone?"

For those that have shot someone, it sticks with them. You do not forget about it by going to sleep. You remember it even after years have passed.
As far as training goes. If you half *** train then you are right, you probably will have about a 10% better chance of survival. If you truly train, and I don't mean a couple hundred repetitions, I am talking about thousands of repetitions and constantly go over scenarios in training and in your head (both). Ideally you will make your reaction to a situation a "reflex".

I am no way implying that I have ever been in a shooting either.

[tgriffin]

I literally got shot at last night, and it was traumatizing, but I posted about it so I could work through some of the anxiety of the event here today with everyone, getting their thoughts and opinions about what happened.

I'm trying not to thread crap here, but if I had shot someone last night, no one on this board would know about it unless they worked for the Contra Costa Sheriffs. I can't think of anything more deeply personal and terrifying than being forced to take anothers life. I pray that I never have to, but I'm sure as hell going to be ready if I do.

[CalNRA]

This forum is obsessed with Zombies and Bear-People attacks. It is already cast in a negative light. This is a logical and useful question to be asked. It is not controversial either, such as many other topics such as illegal immigration. If you feel uncomfortable about your experience you are not required to post.

the zombies.....well...you gotta not take it so literally.

and the topic of shooting people not controversial? I don't know what universe you hail from but I believe for many of us shooting humans is something we all love to avoid at all cost unles it's to preserve other lives. It's a VERY controversial topic

and good job putting illegal immigration and shooting people in the same post. I wonder when you were gonna pull that.



yes, it's much better to have the Brady trolls with evidence of how unhuman Calgunners are with discussion of shooting real people than a joke thread on "bear-calvary"

[BlackReef]

I was sitting at a Taco Bell and had a .22LR round blast through my back window and out my front. I distinctly remember a loud crack by my right ear and there was a lot of ringing. When I came to my senses and realized what happend, I just see the tail end of a red F-150 take off. Got out of my truck and realized they had shot TWO rounds through my windows. Called the Cops, ended up BS'ing with a LEO about College Football for awhile. Cool guy. To this day I have no idea why they tried to shoot me. But that round could have very easily got me in the back of my head. Just goes to show how quick life can actually end, because I had no idea it was coming.

I have pics of my vehicle after the incident I can post.

Be careful out there =)

[QuarterBoreGunner]

*sigh* Ok, for me personally, what I feel when this topic comes up (as it almost invariably does on gun boards.) is almost akin to... embarrassment. Let me see if I can explain. I don't mind sharing what happened to me, especially if my experience can benefit others. But it's weird volunteering the info... it feels like bragging or internet tough guy posturing. I didn't go out and try and get myself into a self-defense situation, I didn't put myself into risky areas and hang out with sketchy people. It just happened. It's been a long time but 5968 is correct; it never ever goes away. I had to use a firearm in the defense of myself and two other people. A bad man shot at me and I shot back; my aim was better and I shot him twice. He almost died. But he didn't and now he's in prison for a very very long time. Everyone called me a 'hero' and I surely didn't feel like one. It was a horribly traumatic experience for everyone involved. I've never had PTSD but every officer that I've spoken to and friends that have been in combat all say the same thing: it's in you and you never know when it might come out.
So like I said, I don't mind sharing info that will help others, but it still feels strange to just step up and say "Yes, I shot a man that was trying to kill me and two others."

[Bizcuits]

The most people I know of who've talked openly about the shootings they've been in are;

1) Liars.

and

2) People paid money to do so.

I have a few friends who have served in Iraq and Afghan. Only one of them ever talked of his trigger time. He was Marine and served during 2004 in Fallujah. It took many of weeks, to get him to speak of it.

While I do think this is an interesting topic. I don't think its the best for a forum / message board where people largely debate politics and are activists.