Why do you own a gun?
The obvious answer is to protect yourself and those you love from an attacker who poses a lethal threat, right?
But are you training the right way for the threat you’re most likely to face?
Reports of real close-quarters attacks reveal that when it comes to facing an armed attacker intent on taking your life, you’re in much more danger from a knife attack than from someone armed with a gun.
Don’t believe me? Here are five reasons a knife can be more dangerous than a gun.
1. Knives Are Deadlier
Yes, you read that right…
According to FBI fatality stats from officers killed in a fight, 10% of those who were shot died from their wounds.
But 30% of those who were attacked with a knife were killed as a result of being cut and stabbed.
2. Knives Don’t Have a Line of Fire
A gun can kill you only if you’re in the direct line of the path of the bullet.
That also explains why, even in ranges as close as three–six feet, only about one in four bullets actually hits the target — and these stats are from trained police officers!
But knives can do lethal damage from any angle, and they don’t miss their target.
3. Knives Don’t Run out of Ammo
In a close quarters attack, you could be stabbed three–five times in a single second.
A handgun is only going to give you about 15 rounds or so (on the high end).
Unless you’re behind cover or at a distance far enough to give you some time to reload, that’s all you’re going to get.
Considering that it may take several rounds to finally stop an attacker, you may find yourself with an empty clip and still facing an enraged criminal with a knife that’s not running out of metal.
4. Knives Take No Skill to Use
Since we were young, holding and cutting with a knife has been built into our natural abilities.
While it takes lots and lots of training to become an expert with a firearm, any scumbag with a pointy piece of metal can wield a blade like a master with even the crudest of movements.
Consider also that most gun owners who go to the range are practicing “target shooting” and aren’t prepared for how to shoot in a real close-quarters gunfight.
5. Knives Give Little Warning
Not only can knives be concealed and drawn easier than a firearm, but they’re silent killers.
When a gun is fired, you know you’re in a gunfight.
However, many victims in a knife attack claim they didn’t even know they were being stabbed until it was too late.
When under the influence of the adrenaline rush of a real attack, you may in fact not feel yourself being cut and mistake it for simply being punched.
Are YOU Training for the Right Attack?
Now, the purpose of this article isn’t to convince you to give up Ol’ Betsy for a pocket knife as your main defense weapon.
I’ll still stick with my trusty Glock 19 at my side any day.
But do you really think some scumbag with a knife is going to whip out his blade from 15 yards away and give you time to draw your weapon and get your sights on his center mass before he’s charging your way?
Hell no!
A desperate criminal is going to already be right up in your face — where he knows he can cut you — before you even know your life is in danger.
That doesn’t give you a whole lot of room or time to draw your weapon — especially when it’s already concealed and your heart’s racing.
Yet 95% of the people I see down at the range still expend all their rounds trying to get super-tight shot groups from 15–50 feet away when real gunfights usually take place less than nine feet away!
You know it’s true.
So don’t find out the hard way that you were training all wrong for the wrong threat.
Train for close-quarters gunfights rather than “target practice” and you’ll greatly increase your chances of saving your life — or the life of someone you love — if you’re ever attacked.
