I’ve was asked recently what your supposed to do for self-defense against a gun. The two answers that came to mind were kiss you’re ass goodbye and have a good insurance plan.  The instructors at my school always taught me that treat knives and guns like you would touch something that was on fire i.e. - quick touches/pushes so you don’t get burned. This way they cannot get a clear shot at a vital area.

The program Martial Arts Explorer explored this a little further and looked into a technique for gun defense. They also added several more rules that make this self defense more practically and I think it is something more people need to know.

1) Pose yourself the question “After this person gets what they want, are they still going to shoot me?” If the answer is yes, then you need to defend yourself. If they just want you keys, wallet/purse, or anything on their person, give it to them.  They can be replaced, you can’t.

2) Gage the situation and know if you have to shield. If you have you’re family with you , try to get them behind you and out of the way of the asailant. This hopefully gets them out of the way of any bullet fired directly at them before o during your disarming of the asailant.

3) Be aware of the gun. You are not going to use the same technique to defend yourself from a handgun as you will a shotgun most-likely. Additionally, you may use a different technique for a semi-automatic than you would a revolver.

4) Treat the gun as any other tool of the Martial Arts, with respect. This is as important after as much as before the attack. It makes perfect sense to know it while you are actually defending yourself. Most self defense for guns are designed to place the gun in the hands of those defending. With that knowledge you should NOT have you finger on the trigger of the gun if you are holding it. You SHOULD be pointing the gun towards the ground between you and the asailant.  Once you have control of that gun, you are the aggressor and are in an actionable state legally.  If that gun goes off and shoots someone in the chest you are responsible for taking a life. Also, as you back away from the situation, make sure to slide backwards as opposed to walking backwards because the last thing you want to do is to trip over something and have that gun end up going off or losing control of the situation.

Just a reminder, the first rule is the most important.  If someone points a gun at you and you engage them, a bullet WILL be shot out of the gun. It doesn’t matter if it misses you and yours by 10 ft or 1 inch, however, it is important to know some rules in regards to your protection before and after.