Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Close to Home DGU; .45 Revolver and Dog


A friend of mine had a Defensive Gun Use (DGU) a few days ago.

He had parked a bike near the front door, cable locked to a metal chair. It is a decent cable lock. The dog started alerting at the door, in the middle of day, during the week.  There was no knock or doorbell. My friend keeps odd hours.

My friend accessed his house gun, a S&W N frame model 28, that had been converted to .45 ACP.  The security door was locked.  He opened the inside door with his left hand, the .45 revolver in his right. In the entryway was a 16-18 year old young man with a shaved head and tattoos down his neck.  My friend is very observant, and had not seen this young man in the neighborhood before.

The young man was studying the bike, the lock, and the chair.  My friend held the revolver in the attitude shown in the picture.  You do not see more of him because he wishes to remain anonymous.  In the actual event, he was in the doorway, visible through the locked security door.

In fluent Spanish, he asked "May I help you?"

The tattooed youth looked up. He did not say anything.  My friend said that he did a very credible 100 yard dash.  My friend did not pursue.  There was no reason to pursue.  He never pointed the pistol at the youth.  He never threatened anyone.  He never reported the incident to police.  What was there to report? No crime had been committed, except perhaps trespassing.

In Arizona, you are allowed to threaten deadly force to prevent trespassing.  As the young man immediately left the property, it is unlikely a judge or jury would convict him of trespassing.  My friend had only asked him if he needed help.

This is a good approximation of the "typical" if there is such a thing, DGU.  No shots fired.  The mere presence of the firearm defused the situation.  If no firearm were present, the youth might have been emboldened to further action.

As it was, there was no physical confrontation.  It appears that a guilty conscience was sufficient to command flight.

It is not hard to believe that such incidents occur between  500,000 and 3 million times a year, as noted by the CDC in 2013 (pdf):
Almost all national survey estimates indicate that defensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals, with estimates of annual uses ranging from about 500,000 to more than 3 million (Kleck, 2001a), in the context of about 300,000 violent crimes involving firearms in 2008 (BJS, 2010).
There is no incentive, actually a negative incentive, to report an incident such as happened to my friend.  There is a small but real potential for it to bring trouble to him; there is almost no potential for it to prevent trouble for him. It is not an incident that would make even a local news cycle.

 ©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had a one time friend come by one day, He did not know that I knew he was the one that stole some of my medications. the last time he came over. I do not need friends like that. Him, knowing I keep my 12 ga. shot gun loaded with double O buck seemed to help him leave faster. I told him to get off my property and never come back. entering a pickup after you see the pump action worked seems to create very rapid movement. and so far he has not tried to come back. Where I live I have to be ready and on guard for trespassers and thieves. Nobody I can count on for back up. the known thieves in his area never come by. I think it is because they know I open carry. Several things have come up missing so far as yet none of those people have come up missing; they disappear from time to time for getting caught and doing their time. but that ex friend is the only one I have had to chase off.

Anonymous said...

I had a very similar situation occur last Thursday in Racine Wisconsin. My brother asked if he could share the story with you so I assume it will be forthcoming but may take awhile as he is living abroad. I too was very hesitant to notify the authorities and did not despite many people urging me to do so.

Anonymous said...

I wrote a letter some time back to the local county government. I put my concerns in writing. I say what I think and do what I think is right. if the cops have a problem with me, I told them I have a telephone and if they need to talk to me they can call me, But they are not to step foot on my property for any reason. Any time the local law enforcement come on to my property, and I said this in the letter. If they come on my property I will consider it another criminal assault and will respond appropriately. because they committed crimes against me I consider they have violated their oath of office, committed crimes under color of law and will not tolerate any further episodes. because of their violations I believe thy have no legal authority and I will not submit to their illegal authority. according to the written law if any one violates their oath of office they loose all power and authority of that office. the crimes against me are well documented. No attorney would take my case. Now it is left to me to defend myself and I will.

Unknown said...

So why didnt he just buy a Model 22? Is he strange?