This is an extremely compelling account of an armed altercation. With the exception of the wounds the author received, I am very pleased with the outcome. Life and property defended? Check. Scumbag got his just desserts? Check.
I do hope the author has recovered.
I also think this is a great example of something that's not often said, because in most self-defense company, it's a social death sentence. While training and repetition are key to a solid self-defense system that stays five steps ahead of the bad guys, the basic human animal is capable of some incredibly quick responsiveness when threatened. The author maintains that his training had lapsed, and he does not know what to attribute his admiral responsiveness to. In one of several Red situations I've been in, I was asleep late at night (circa 2 AM), when several drunken black men fumbled up to my door, without knocking, or making any signs that they'd mistaken my house for someone else's. Upon them making a loud noise, I found myself upright, in a kneeling stance, holding the AR-15 that lives by my bed pointed at them, with the safety off and the sling around my arm in a hasty wrap. This is something I'd never before practiced, I'd never done one repetition, and still my brain went from asleep to automatic to awake and cogent, with everything that needed to happen going on automatically in between. Would I trust that level of training? No. But, sometimes, a simple, constant mindset will be enough to save your life.
The only technical comment I have is that I've always wondered about the potential downsides to the 1911's grip safety. It seems here, my concerns were vindicated. In an era before good drop safeties, I can see the use for such a device, but it seems to do more harm than good these days.
H/T to Tam
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