IFF (Identification - Friend or Foe)

[Hoi Polloi]

So if you had a BG armed with a knife is in your home and, even possibly threating you or your family. So you draw your gun - he sees you reach for it and before you get it out and get a bead on him, he drops the knife and says "Alright, I'm sorry - Don't shoot!!" Then what?

Have him move well away from the knife, then prone him out through verbal commands, so that his feet are toward you. When LE is close enough, holster or put down your weapon. The BG won't be able to see that you've disarmed, and the cops should get him under their control before he has a chance to figure it out.

If he is in my house I will not take any chances. I am not a cop. I do not have to “Have him move well away from the knife, then prone him out through verbal commands”.
I am also not going to worry about him coming back to “visit” me when he gets out of prison.

When the police arrive he will have a knife in his hand and I will be cut guaranteed.

If you're following up on the scenario given where he drops the knife and you're saying that you'd shoot him and then self-inflict a knife would and stage the crime scene, I guarantee that that's a really bad idea. The angle and force of entry are quite different for self-inflicted wounds and wounds inflicted by others and that's not something you're going to duplicate.

Far better to say that a guy forced his way into your house and threatened you and your family at knife-point, so you shot. They'll see the knife there on the floor near the guy. If you believe you're justified then and that your life is in imminent danger, then you shouldn't have to worry about faking a crime scene.

[lonewolf]

Interesting topic.......IFF........It would be about 10 seconds later the bad guys were all wearing sashes, too. There are already gang colors, specific items worn in specific manners, certain tattoos, etc, that mark a lot gangs.

I don't belong to a gang of CHL holders.

Interesting thought: If we were a "gang", is there a circular restaurant where we could all sit with our back to the wall facing the entrance and keep the entire place in our view?

Back on topic, I would act as best I could in the circumstances, protect myself as best possible, and deal with the adrenaline as best possible. I've learned a phenomenal amount in all the "what if" scenarios on this forum, and appreciate the insight and experience that all have offered. If/when (hopefully never) I'm forced to take the action of drawing and firing my weapon, all I need to know at the end of the day is that I did the right thing for the right reason(s).

Sashes, badges, secret handshakes.....not for me. Thanks, anyway!

[bdickens]

If he is in my house I will not take any chances. I am not a cop. I do not have to “Have him move well away from the knife, then prone him out through verbal commands”.
I am also not going to worry about him coming back to “visit” me when he gets out of prison.

When the police arrive he will have a knife in his hand and I will be cut guaranteed.

Enjoy your stay in prison.

[TXlaw1]

If he is in my house I will not take any chances. I am not a cop. I do not have to “Have him move well away from the knife, then prone him out through verbal commands”.
I am also not going to worry about him coming back to “visit” me when he gets out of prison.

When the police arrive he will have a knife in his hand and I will be cut guaranteed.

Enjoy your stay in prison.

And LE won't cover for you but quickly discover your deception.

[Barbi Q]

If the home invader has a weapon, even a knife, shoot him. Don't tamper with the evidence but don't talk yourself into jail either.

That man broke into my home. He has a weapon. I had to defend my family.

[VoiceofReason]

If he is in my house I will not take any chances. I am not a cop. I do not have to “Have him move well away from the knife, then prone him out through verbal commands”.
I am also not going to worry about him coming back to “visit” me when he gets out of prison.

When the police arrive he will have a knife in his hand and I will be cut guaranteed.

Enjoy your stay in prison.

Chances are, if arrested, he won't even go to prison. If he gets more than probation he will be out in no time. Buy some soft body armor, keep plenty of fire extinguishers handy. Sleep lightly.

[xdfanatic]

That 911 tape is chilling, every time I hear it I think that he could have done more good in communicating over the phone to 911 to help his situation. Often times a description of yourself may be the best thing you can hope for but hopefully the guys arriving get that. I read that his wife is the person that told the third officer (who remained outside) that arrived on scene that her husband was armed holding the guy at gunpoint Personally I think the shooting was not necessary but I was not there on scene (nor a LEO) so my judgment of the situation may be inaccurate. About the sash though I think that anything you can do to make yourself more identifiable and help save you from being targeted as FOE is better than nothing. Just my 2 cents.

The pink diamond encrusted tiara is priceless!

[lonewolf]

For VoiceofReason, I respect that you and all others are certainly entitled to your opinions, but may I suggest that your statements do not appear to necessarily match your screen name? In my humble opinion, of course.

Back to topic, IFF. It would be nice to be able to identify friend from foe, but just not always feasible.

[VoiceofReason]

For VoiceofReason, I respect that you and all others are certainly entitled to your opinions, but may I suggest that your statements do not appear to necessarily match your screen name? In my humble opinion, of course.

Back to topic, IFF. It would be nice to be able to identify friend from foe, but just not always feasible.

You are right. I went overboard with my last statement.

I still maintain though that I would take absolutely no chances with someone that has broken into my home. I would take no chance that he might drop the knife but have a gun in his waistband in back.

The only way I can think of that I would try to hold him for the police is if I was behind him, at least 15 feet away and had my shotgun aimed at him. Then if he kept his hands as far up as he could get them and did not move a muscle, he might see the police arrive.

Contrary to what is portrayed on TV, a person shot once with a pistol will not necessarily fall down and be rendered harmless. A person can get shot two or three times and still shoot you, especially if he is on certain drugs.

Now let’s say that you did manage not to shoot him and held him for the police. How many people on this forum would not worry that he might come back to visit you some night with a gun or 5 gallon can of gasoline? He might even threaten to do that if you didn't let him go. Believe me, there are people that would do that. They would blame you for getting arrested just like they blame a LEO for them going to jail or prison just because they had drugs, was driving drunk, or broke probation.

By the way, if I was the responding officer, I would figure the guy in his underwear with his hair flat against his head on one side is probably the homeowner. The other guy with wet pants is probably the burglar.

[lonewolf]

Definitely agreed on the fact that there are all kinds of loonies out there. If a guy with a knife entered my home and dropped it when threatened with a gun, I am relatively certain I can cover him and call 911. If he moves his hands out of sight, he's probably not scratching an itch, he's most likely going for another weapon of some kind, or getting ready to bolt out of there. Who knows? Who can know? Will he come back later? Maybe, maybe not. Be as prepared as ever. Could he follow you/the wife/kids, and cause more problems, whether he did jail time or not? Who knows? Not me, that's for sure.

We just do what we can, the best way we know how, as circumstances and necessity dictate. Sometimes we make the wrong decision. As a matter of fact, the only certainty I really have in life is that I will make both right and wrong decisions.

You are in fact a reasonable person, and your posting illustrates that. Someday it would be a pleasure to meet you and shake hands..

[VoiceofReason]

"Lonewolf 10 years Navy"
4 years myself (P3s).

[lonewolf]

Three surface ships, destroyer, repair ship, cruiser. Multiple deployments. Main engineering, auxiliary engineering, deck engineering. The nearest I came to flying was "winging it" on some repairs when spare parts weren't available......

[terryg]

"Lonewolf 10 years Navy"
4 years myself (P3s).

What did you do on p3's? I was in the Marine Corp - avionics tech on F-18 FLIR system. They didn't have training ready for FLIR yet, so they sent us to IRDS training on P3's at Moffett Field. We (3 of us) were the only marine students on the whole base. We had a good time there.

[Excaliber]

For VoiceofReason, I respect that you and all others are certainly entitled to your opinions, but may I suggest that your statements do not appear to necessarily match your screen name? In my humble opinion, of course.

Back to topic, IFF. It would be nice to be able to identify friend from foe, but just not always feasible.

You are right. I went overboard with my last statement.

I still maintain though that I would take absolutely no chances with someone that has broken into my home. I would take no chance that he might drop the knife but have a gun in his waistband in back.

The only way I can think of that I would try to hold him for the police is if I was behind him, at least 15 feet away and had my shotgun aimed at him. Then if he kept his hands as far up as he could get them and did not move a muscle, he might see the police arrive.

Contrary to what is portrayed on TV, a person shot once with a pistol will not necessarily fall down and be rendered harmless. A person can get shot two or three times and still shoot you, especially if he is on certain drugs.

Now let’s say that you did manage not to shoot him and held him for the police. How many people on this forum would not worry that he might come back to visit you some night with a gun or 5 gallon can of gasoline? He might even threaten to do that if you didn't let him go. Believe me, there are people that would do that. They would blame you for getting arrested just like they blame a LEO for them going to jail or prison just because they had drugs, was driving drunk, or broke probation.

By the way, if I was the responding officer, I would figure the guy in his underwear with his hair flat against his head on one side is probably the homeowner. The other guy with wet pants is probably the burglar.

That's classic and should be included in the "IFF Manual."