Take control of the situation, disarm your adversary, and secure him. Do those three things from behind cover. Do them forcefully with clear and menacing commands. And be ready to shoot him every second. That is the formula for handling nonshooting situations.
THIRTEEN
WEAPON RETENTION
AND COMBAT
COUNTERMEASURES
Never hit a prisoner over the head with your pistol, because you may afterward want to use your weapon and find it disabled.
One of the most important rules of tactics is to maximize your distance from all potential danger areas or human threats as much as the geography will allow. This is a good thing to keep in mind, but it is also sometimes difficult to implement. The very nature of modern society demands that you must sometimes move in close proximity to a danger area. Clearing the interior of urban structures, for example, particularly demands closequarters work.
One of the biggest concerns for someone operating in such an environment is the possibility of a hidden adversary's mounting of an unexpected physical attack at close quarters. Such an attack often leads to the person under attack being disarmed or even killed. There is even the possibility of encountering a nonshootable adversary who is nonetheless uncooperative and potentially combative.
Each one of these situations has its own solution. Let's discuss the issue of weapon retention first. When you move in a close-quarters environment, your weapon should be in some form of ready position. Only idiots search for adversaries with holstered or slung weapons. Other than wariness, the best solution to weapon retention is prevention.
Normally, the best position for close-quarters operations is the muzzle-depressed, or ready, position. When you maneuver close to a potential danger area, however, you should retract your ready position so that your weapon is closer to your body. When armed with a pistol, this position is the close-contact position. This involves keeping the pistol close to the firing-side chest area, yet aligned on the potential threat. You can also add the support hand to the grip and simply pull the firing position in closer to the chest. You may fire on a close-quarters threat from the closecontact position or, if there is room, simply extend your arms toward the adversary to complete the Weaver stance.
The speed rock is a reactive close-quarters technique that is used when the operator cannot move to gain standoff distance because of the terrain. (The speed rock is discussed and depicted in more detail in the next chapter.)
If you need one hand free to open doors or to move something, your weapon goes to the close-contact position. The support hand simply relinquishes the grip and attends to its other duties. This is also the case when you arc moving through very close quarters, particularly in the dark. Your support hand is out in front and slightly to the side to feel your way or deflect physical attacks at contact distance. An attacker must reach all the way to your chest to get at your gun. By that time, you will have caused him to change his plans.
When clearing similar areas with long guns (such as shotguns, carbines, or submachine guns), simply switch temporarily to the underarm assault, or close-combat position. In tight quarters, it is sometimes preferable to the indoor ready position. The closecombat/underarm assault position allows you to keep your muzzle oriented directly on the danger area as you clear it. It will also give you more control with long-barreled weapons if you must release one hand for other duties. As soon as the particular closequarters area has been negotiated, resume the shoulder-mounted low ready position. The final word is that firing a weapon from the shoulder is more accurate and therefore preferred.
Practical application with training guns.
If you find yourself struggling over your firearm with a hostile, be as violent and as vicious as you can to win the fight. Remember, if you lose, you die!
Many close-quarters problems involve weapon retention.There is only one reason why someone will attempt to take your weapon!
So let him have it, instead of wrestling with him…
… and then let him have something else!
These modifications to your ready position will make it exceedingly difficult for someone to pop out of a hiding place and snatch your weapon. Prevention is better than any cure, but making it difficult for an adversary to get close to you does not mean that it is impossible.
Statistical analysis of "gun grabs" tells us that the vast majority of disarmed individuals end up getting shot by their disarmers. It is prudent to assume that the man who tries to grab your gun has the unfriendliest of intentions toward you. You are also quite justified in dealing most harshly with him.
Your first reaction when a hostile grabs your weapon must be to get the muzzle pointed toward him. Your intention is to shoot the attacker, not just to get your gun back. Don't wrestle, don't try a wrist lock; rather, shoot the @#&*! Note that if he has a solid enough grip, you may not be able to force the weapon around to point it at him. You must then move your body around using the muzzle as a pivot point. If the grab occurs while you are in a compressed ready position, your reaction will be quicker and stronger. If the attack occurs when you are in a low ready, you must drop your body down low and simultaneously pivot the muzzle up toward him. If you arc attacked from the side, you may need to sidestep as well as drop down.
In some cases, a self-loading (semiautomatic or selective fire) weapon may fail to eject the spent cartridge case after the first shot has been fired because the adversary's hands may have covered the ejection port or impeded the bolt (or slide) from operating. Therefore, it is imperative that you hit with the first shotyou may not get a second one. If you are armed with a long gun and you cannot manage the leverage required, you might con sider letting him have your long gun and then using your pistol to solve the problem with two or three well-placed rounds.
Close-quarters activity may also mean simply moving someone, either a friendly or a passive resister, out of the way.
There are times when an adversary might not present an obvious enough threat to warrant a lethal response from you. He might be unarmed, but still be aggressive. Your response to him depends on the disparity of force existing at the time. If you are a six-foottall, 200-pound, power-lifting, SWAT-trained, ex-Special Forces karate expert, then shooting the 100-pound teenage burglar who says he's going to kick your ass would probably not be seen as reasonable. However, if you are a 75-year-old grandmother with a bad back, no one will question your use of lethal force. You must use good judgment to determine what is "reasonable force."
Regardless of the disparity of force present, you must keep control of the situation. If you cannot shoot, and the attacker or intruder is not obeying your commands, hold your ground. Do not get in close proximity to him. If he begins to close on you, and the disparity — of-force situation discourages your shooting, you must use physical violence to control him. This situation is quite prevalent in urban police work where the bad guys know exactly what the officer's rules of engagement are and believe that they can close the distance without getting shot.