21 Foot Bubble Of Death

To anyone who thinks the ability to put accurate shots on target at distances beyond 15 yards is silly, let us discuss the application of deadly force against humans and how accuracy is important. There are only couple areas on a human body that when struck by effective gunfire will produce the needed/desired results. Not all hits are going to be effective in influencing an assailant’s behavior. There are three ways of stopping an assailant – psychological stop, bleed-out, and central nervous system (CNS) disruption. We have no control over psychological stops, so that leaves bleed-out (timer) or CNS disruption (switch) as the means of creating a controlled stop. Bleed-out still allows the threat to fight, so a CNS disruption is needed to stop the fight.

Watch this if you are not familiar with the concept of still having a fight with a threat that is bleeding out- https://youtu.be/y_FwUfFhFHs

You are not getting CNS disrupting shots, in a three-dimensional space, with you and the threats moving unless you are:

1. Lucky

or

2. Trained and Skilled

I have heard from several people who urge the need to spread shots out in a human torso to increase effectiveness of those hits. Small shot groups do not translate to spreading out the damage. 🤣 Spreading out the hits is only unnecessarily lengthening the duration of the fight. It seems the biggest proponents of this concept do not have the ability to provide accurate fire. This concept gives them a deceptive way out from needing to show they can shoot. It is a big “oh yeah, I meant to do that” copout. Ultimately, when applying this concept in a deadly force encounter, you are giving your opponent(s) more opportunities to kill you if you are intentionally trying to spread shots out.

I have read over and over about some magical distance where deadly force is deemed murder – a bubble of death. There is no magic distance where deadly force turns into murder nor is there a distance where deadly force will be deemed illegal/legal. The “Tueller Drill” is not a drill nor is it a gauge for deadly force. Tueller is merely demonstrating reaction time between a defender ready to draw and shoot, and an attacker armed with a knife closing the distance to attack. The Tueller 21ft is outdated and has since been adjusted to beyond 36ft. There are unarmed, blunt instrument, and knife attacks as well as shootings. We cannot predict when, where, at what distance, or what weapon will be used against us – so train for the worst and hope for the best. Oh yeah, Tueller has absolutely no bearing on attacks involving firearms.

We live in and around open areas – malls, parks, parking lots, grocery stores. Any one of these places can have violent encounters. Do I put my head in the sand because someone is engaging from outside this fake bubble or do I train and practice to engage beyond what I am comfortable to gain better skill to extend my effective range? 

I am not leaving my well-being to chance, so I am going to stack the deck in my favor with optimal weapons and support equipment reinforced by training and practice. Shooting guns is not a natural skill. Having a controlled explosion in our hand is especially not a natural occurrence. We need to establish those neural pathways and strengthen them through effective training so they aren’t overwhelmed by our other instincts. Really, the bottom line is we all need professional relevant firearms training from reputable instructors if we intend to use firearms to defend ourselves and our families effectively. Notice I said instructors – plural. Get training from different people having different perspectives. Use what you learn to get closer to mastery. If you grew up with guns and shot all your life and do not find you need any instruction, I can assure that you especially need training.