Do you let people into your safety circle without noticing
them? Your safety circle really comes
into play in parking lots or other public areas. Think of a 21 foot circle around you. The average person can close that distance in
2-3 seconds. That doesn’t give you much
time to recognize a threat and respond.
This doesn’t mean you don’t let anyone into your safety
circle, it simply means if someone enters that 21 foot zone, you need to be
aware. Most people will be passing
through on their way to complete their own business. You can recognize and catalog them mentally
as no threat. Then…there may be one that
just makes you feel “off”. That is your
instinct. Trust it! Watch the person, tell them to stay back, be
prepared to respond.
Stay Safe
I have a colleague that's a former Ranger and one I shoot with occasionally. We were talking about that and he did a demonstration wherein he would pretend to be approaching me and then would charge at me when within about 15 feet. I had a gun in my holster (for the demonstration an actual gun wasn't used, as I was going to try and "fire" at him, it was a rice crispy treat which was about the right size to fit in the holster and grab and which was eaten after the exercise).
ReplyDeleteI KNEW he was going to rush me, and still did not get the "gun" out of the holster in time to get a "shot" fired. He had his hands around my neck and very gently gave me a little ticklish tweak to know he'd actually broken my neck.
It truly was an eye opener for me and I never walked the same way alone out in isolated areas again.