Good idea and good tactics. Welcome to our Community.
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I happen to have a ācabin in the woodsā and this very scenario enters my head every time I pull into the drive after being away for some time. Weāve been broken into twice over 30 years, booze, beer, TV, Boom Box, VCR and snack foods taken (Kids). I generally park my truck facing out which means I get to drive around the cabin so that I am pointing the right direction to leave. I also generally have my āAhhh Iām here!ā moment where I just take in the world and start to slow down. Usually that lasts 30 - 45 minutes, the local birds know when I am coming in and you can hear them in the trees āHeās here! Heās Here!! Weāre going to get fed!!!ā I go through the bird feeders and fill them up. THEN I will go into the cabin and usually I will just sit and take it all in for a bit and just enjoy the ringing in my ears which is as close as I can get to silence. It would be a well disciplined individual that could wait that long to confront me. Since we also have a small problem with feral dogs and such the standard rule is to load and carry a carbine when walking around so that happens immediately prior to the āAhhhh momentā. Iāve been attacked by a pack of dogs once upon arrival and 7 rounds was almost not enough so an EDC at the farm is a secondary.
As to someone coming out of the cabin with a gun, well it might be several months of litigation before it could be spoken about. That being said I am all over deflecting the threat from my family which hopefully has a clue, and getting lateral at speed to provide two divergent threats to the shooter. After that it is down to gun fight rules and there are none in a gun fight. Iām not escalating, Iām not de-escalating but there will be a solution. He!! if the poor bugger breaks down and gives me a decent reason I may feed him before I send him on his way, or not.
Cheers,
Craig6
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One unknown is, how well can he shoot anyway? What is his angle to you? He has pulled his gun, you have to expect him to start shooting. Nothing guaranties your not going to get shot.
Refer to Star Trek, when Captain Kirk cheats on a simulation and pisses Spock off, they have a scenario that is a no win situation, Captain Kirk cheats but he wins.
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Welcome to the family brother and you are in the right place at the right time.
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So lets spin the story a little more.
A woman steps out of your front door with a baby on her hip. āMister we donāt mean no harm but we didnāt have any place to go and you werenāt using this place, we took good care of it.ā Heās still got a gun, she has a baby and has de - escalated things to some degree (or not).
OR
A boy comes out of the woods from behind the cabin, āHey Dad! You found a cabin! Do you think they saw Scruffy?ā
The scenario as painted does not give a total picture which is of course what we get when surprised. The fact that the man pulled a gun on you when you asked if you could help is a bad sign. Perhaps his moral compass is not as straight North as we hope for and perhaps he is just as nervous as we are because he knows heās in the wrong and mebby has some history.
Then again it wouldnāt be the first time I have heard of a āmaintenance contractorā renting out a house that he/she is contracted to keep in good condition that the owner rarely if ever uses.
Cheers,
Craig6
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@James554. Welcome to the community, train hard and stay safe. 
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Train as you fight,fight as you train
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Escape, evade, de-escalate, use of lesser force, only in a life threatening situation that you can not escape, evade, or de-escalate can you use deadly force. But, you know that!
He could be international terrorist, He could be a scared, lost man who does not know were he is.
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All this is true however, with no cover except the car my family is in Iām not moving towards them. Secondly I didnāt threaten him so by pulling a gun he conveyed a threat of deadly force. I meet force with force. Escape is unavoidable do to fact of my family being present
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Hence my point to flesh out the story a bit more. What difference is there from a man on my property that draws down on me in the city and one that does the same in the country? I have been in enough gun fights to know I donāt want to be in another one but that experience has left me alive enough to know that if I have to be in a gun fight I want to be first and if I canāt be first I want to be first on target and delay, parlay or retreat is often not an option.
I dig where you are coming from as an instructor and the āWhat ifā scenarios are a good brain think for students. That said I would not use such open ended scenarioās unless you are leading the students down a path and are adding info as you go. To that end I would ONLY use FINALLY adjudicated cases as right/wrong scenarios in a class.
Cheers,
Craig6
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If you are aware that just having a gun on you does not make you safe and that there is such a thing as a," no win situation" and that awareness and observation will help to keep you out of a no win situation, then, you have gained from this scenario. In life though, we may find ourselves in a situation we did not see coming because of one reason or another and you have .5 of a second to be doing something. if a gun is drawn on you, going for your gun is futile. He has a gun on you, back down, back away, escape if all possible.
I do not want to sound ,ā¦ dilutional or dorky but, Dirty Harry movie did say," A mans gottah know his limitations." We die too easy, bullets do that!
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Thanks had two nephews over there around same time hope rest of our soldiers return home like you three did. we know some wont, an thats the ones we have too carry on for.
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Itās not the bullet that goes by with my name on it that I worry about. Itās the one that is addressed. To whom it may concern
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Yeah but, I still do not like to hear the crack sound.
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Get off the line and away from the car and draw my firearm. Yell to the family to āgo get helpā. I would want the man to know I am armed and more of a threat to him than my family, and draw his attention away from my family. If he shoots at me? Fine, I can shoot back. If he redirects his attention back toward the car I view it as an immediate and imminent threat and engage. My angle isolates him in my sights so the only potential collateral would be my cabin and my personal property. That can be replaced. My family cannot.
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