Defeating the Carjacker
Although carjacking doesn't receive the notoriety that it once did in the news media, it still occurs within our society on a daily basis.
By Michael T. RayburnFrom Concealed Carry Magazine, April 2007
Although carjacking doesn't receive the notoriety that it once did in the news media, it still occurs within our society on a daily basis. If some thug out on the street decides one day that he wants your car, let him have it. Your vehicle is not worth dying for, and it certainly isn't worth killing somebody over. That's what you have car insurance for. However, there may come a time when you'll be forced to defend yourself to defeat a carjacker. Let's say that this street thug comes up to your driver's side window as you're waiting in line at the drive-thru of your favorite fast food restaurant. He shows you his gun and tells you, "Slide over. We're going for a ride." There's only one problem with this scenario. Thieves don't move their victims; killers and rapists do. A mugger will rob you as you're walking down the street. A killer or a rapist will snatch you off of the side of the road, throw you into a vehicle, and take you to where he wants to commit his crime. A carjacker will take your car; he's not going to take you along for the ride unless he has other plans for you. If that's the case, then you're going to have to defend yourself from this criminal. For the sake of argument, let's take this scenario a step further. You're waiting in line at the drive-thru when this thug approaches you, shows you his gun, and tells you to slide over because you're going for a ride. You could just slide over and jump out of the passenger side door to get help, except there's one big problem. Your two-year-old child is in the back seat. I'm sorry, there's no way you're taking my kid and me for a ride, especially for a ride to the unknown. If that's the case, then you're going to have to go on the offensive and defeat this would-be killer/rapist. After all, you are armed. If this isn't a reason to carry concealed, then I don't know what is.Your first course of action is going to be to distract the bad guy. You're working against the action versus reaction rule, in that action is always faster than reaction. With that being said, if the bad guy already has his hand on his gun, or already has his gun out and in his hand, you're going to have a hard time outdrawing him and getting a round into him before he gets one into you.You always want to be the first one to come up on target and place an effective shot into your opponent. A tie is not good. It's like tying for last place in the Boston Marathon; you still came in last. In any gunfight, the first person to place an effective shot into his or her opponent wins the gunfight. If you want to outdraw this bad guy, you're going to have to distract him first. You do this by simply pointing past the bad guy and yelling, "There's a cop!" It sounds so simple that you probably think it wouldn't work, but it does. It's going to be very difficult for this criminal (or for anyone) to not at least glance over their shoulder to ensure that there isn't a cop there. When he does this, you draw your gun. If you think that you're going to get some type of "sight picture" on your gun as you're sitting in your car with some bad guy standing next to you, you're sadly mistaken. So how do you place an "effective shot" into your opponent in this somewhat awkward position? You do it by what is called "handgun indexing." Try this out in your home first, and then try it in your vehicle. Sit in a dining room chair with your training gun or a safe and empty firearm in a holster, on your right side hip. As you're sitting there, draw your handgun out, and without crossing any part of your body with the muzzle of the gun, bring the gun over to the left side of your chest as if you were folding your arms in front of you. Lock your arm right into your chest and tighten up the muscles in your arm. (Tightening the muscles in your arm will help you absorb the recoil from the gun.) Once you do this, cant the gun slightly away from you so the slide doesn't get caught on your clothing as you're firing. Have your training partner--we all should have one--stand next to you as if he or she were standing outside of your car. Look for where you want the bullets to go. Chances are that you're not going to hit the bad guy in the center mass area. That's okay. At this distance, and at the speed with which you need to come up on target, all we're looking for is hits on a man-size target. A hit anywhere on the target is always better than a complete miss. You'll notice that if you lean to your right, your rounds will travel up your training partner's body. That's a good thing.If you're a left-handed shooter, sit in the chair with your training gun on your left hip. Do the distraction thing again; only instead of pointing with your left hand and finger, point with your right hand as you yell, "There's a cop!" As your training partner looks over his or her left shoulder, draw your handgun from your left side hip. As you do this, index your left elbow into your side and lean hard to your right. Remember to tighten the muscles in your arm to help you absorb the recoil from the firearm. Now go out to your vehicle and try this same drill. If you're in a sports car that is low to the ground, you'll have to lean a little further over to the right. If you're in a pickup truck that is a little higher off of the ground, you'll have to lean to your left a little. Practice this in your vehicle, so if or when the time comes, you'll be prepared to deal with the threat from a carjacker. If you have to, shoot through your car door and window. Most rounds will pass completely through the vehicle's doors and windows. As with any training drill involving firearms, we'll want to practice this drill out on the range as well. Take an old chair out to the range. The last thing I want to hear from you is that you shot your car during training. Set the target up so it's only a couple of feet away from you, as if it was a bad guy standing next to your car. Once you're set up and seated, draw your firearm out without crossing any part of your body with the muzzle of the gun, and index the firearm into your chest. If you're a lefty, draw your firearm out and index your left elbow into your left side. Remember to tighten up the muscles in your arm to help you absorb the recoil from the gun. Now fire two rounds into the target. Look for where the gun barrel is in relation to the target. Look at the target for where you want your rounds to go. Don't be surprised when your bullets hit the exact spot you're focusing on. Practice this drill and you'll be prepared for the day when someone wants more than just your car. Michael T. Rayburn is a 28-year veteran of law enforcement and is currently an adjunct instructor at the Smith & Wesson Academy. He is the author of three books, Advanced Vehicle Stop Tactics, Advanced Patrol Tactics and Basic Gunfighting 101. His video, Instinctive Point Shooting with Mike Rayburn, is a top seller in the law enforcement and combat shooting communities. Mike can be reached at www.pointshooting.org
Although carjacking doesn't receive the notoriety that it once did in the news media, it still occurs within our society on a daily basis.
By Michael T. RayburnFrom Concealed Carry Magazine, April 2007
Although carjacking doesn't receive the notoriety that it once did in the news media, it still occurs within our society on a daily basis. If some thug out on the street decides one day that he wants your car, let him have it. Your vehicle is not worth dying for, and it certainly isn't worth killing somebody over. That's what you have car insurance for. However, there may come a time when you'll be forced to defend yourself to defeat a carjacker. Let's say that this street thug comes up to your driver's side window as you're waiting in line at the drive-thru of your favorite fast food restaurant. He shows you his gun and tells you, "Slide over. We're going for a ride." There's only one problem with this scenario. Thieves don't move their victims; killers and rapists do. A mugger will rob you as you're walking down the street. A killer or a rapist will snatch you off of the side of the road, throw you into a vehicle, and take you to where he wants to commit his crime. A carjacker will take your car; he's not going to take you along for the ride unless he has other plans for you. If that's the case, then you're going to have to defend yourself from this criminal. For the sake of argument, let's take this scenario a step further. You're waiting in line at the drive-thru when this thug approaches you, shows you his gun, and tells you to slide over because you're going for a ride. You could just slide over and jump out of the passenger side door to get help, except there's one big problem. Your two-year-old child is in the back seat. I'm sorry, there's no way you're taking my kid and me for a ride, especially for a ride to the unknown. If that's the case, then you're going to have to go on the offensive and defeat this would-be killer/rapist. After all, you are armed. If this isn't a reason to carry concealed, then I don't know what is.Your first course of action is going to be to distract the bad guy. You're working against the action versus reaction rule, in that action is always faster than reaction. With that being said, if the bad guy already has his hand on his gun, or already has his gun out and in his hand, you're going to have a hard time outdrawing him and getting a round into him before he gets one into you.You always want to be the first one to come up on target and place an effective shot into your opponent. A tie is not good. It's like tying for last place in the Boston Marathon; you still came in last. In any gunfight, the first person to place an effective shot into his or her opponent wins the gunfight. If you want to outdraw this bad guy, you're going to have to distract him first. You do this by simply pointing past the bad guy and yelling, "There's a cop!" It sounds so simple that you probably think it wouldn't work, but it does. It's going to be very difficult for this criminal (or for anyone) to not at least glance over their shoulder to ensure that there isn't a cop there. When he does this, you draw your gun. If you think that you're going to get some type of "sight picture" on your gun as you're sitting in your car with some bad guy standing next to you, you're sadly mistaken. So how do you place an "effective shot" into your opponent in this somewhat awkward position? You do it by what is called "handgun indexing." Try this out in your home first, and then try it in your vehicle. Sit in a dining room chair with your training gun or a safe and empty firearm in a holster, on your right side hip. As you're sitting there, draw your handgun out, and without crossing any part of your body with the muzzle of the gun, bring the gun over to the left side of your chest as if you were folding your arms in front of you. Lock your arm right into your chest and tighten up the muscles in your arm. (Tightening the muscles in your arm will help you absorb the recoil from the gun.) Once you do this, cant the gun slightly away from you so the slide doesn't get caught on your clothing as you're firing. Have your training partner--we all should have one--stand next to you as if he or she were standing outside of your car. Look for where you want the bullets to go. Chances are that you're not going to hit the bad guy in the center mass area. That's okay. At this distance, and at the speed with which you need to come up on target, all we're looking for is hits on a man-size target. A hit anywhere on the target is always better than a complete miss. You'll notice that if you lean to your right, your rounds will travel up your training partner's body. That's a good thing.If you're a left-handed shooter, sit in the chair with your training gun on your left hip. Do the distraction thing again; only instead of pointing with your left hand and finger, point with your right hand as you yell, "There's a cop!" As your training partner looks over his or her left shoulder, draw your handgun from your left side hip. As you do this, index your left elbow into your side and lean hard to your right. Remember to tighten the muscles in your arm to help you absorb the recoil from the firearm. Now go out to your vehicle and try this same drill. If you're in a sports car that is low to the ground, you'll have to lean a little further over to the right. If you're in a pickup truck that is a little higher off of the ground, you'll have to lean to your left a little. Practice this in your vehicle, so if or when the time comes, you'll be prepared to deal with the threat from a carjacker. If you have to, shoot through your car door and window. Most rounds will pass completely through the vehicle's doors and windows. As with any training drill involving firearms, we'll want to practice this drill out on the range as well. Take an old chair out to the range. The last thing I want to hear from you is that you shot your car during training. Set the target up so it's only a couple of feet away from you, as if it was a bad guy standing next to your car. Once you're set up and seated, draw your firearm out without crossing any part of your body with the muzzle of the gun, and index the firearm into your chest. If you're a lefty, draw your firearm out and index your left elbow into your left side. Remember to tighten up the muscles in your arm to help you absorb the recoil from the gun. Now fire two rounds into the target. Look for where the gun barrel is in relation to the target. Look at the target for where you want your rounds to go. Don't be surprised when your bullets hit the exact spot you're focusing on. Practice this drill and you'll be prepared for the day when someone wants more than just your car. Michael T. Rayburn is a 28-year veteran of law enforcement and is currently an adjunct instructor at the Smith & Wesson Academy. He is the author of three books, Advanced Vehicle Stop Tactics, Advanced Patrol Tactics and Basic Gunfighting 101. His video, Instinctive Point Shooting with Mike Rayburn, is a top seller in the law enforcement and combat shooting communities. Mike can be reached at www.pointshooting.org
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