quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
When I was a cop and a sailor were were taught about weapon retention. Over time we were given holsters with more retention devices. At one point in my career a PCP hopped up suspect grabbed my pistol. We were using a safari land triple retention holster that involved a thumbreak, a retention strap that had to be unsnapped just behind the trigger guard and the weapon had to rocked back to disengage the interior portion that kept the gun from being drawn straight up-some kind of plastic doo-dad that fit into the area of the ejection port. When the guy grabbed at my gun, I instinctively grabbed it first and held the pistol’s grip while keeping it pushed into the holster. Two of the straps were defeated within seconds and the only reason he didn’t get my gun was that I was forcing it into the holster.

I found out that all of my training kept me from losing my gun. Also, while “fighting” with one hand on your gun, you can do little damage to the adversary. I managed to beat the guy with my taser after it had no effect on him. Read that again, I had tasered him before he grabbed the gun, i tasered him while fighting him, and used the taser to drive stun him in the neck and head and eventually broke the taser beating him with it. I fought the guy for about four and a half minutes....and it was the longest time in my life.

After eventually beating the guy into cuffs I learned some things.

After suffering several broken ribs due to the fight, I placed a cold steel safe maker 2, behind my magazine pouch on my belt-worn at my 11:00(just to the left of the belt buckle). And practiced to stab someone in the neck if it ever happened again. A gun grab is a deadly force situation and needs to be answered with deadly force. I also revisited the “why” of why I didn’t just kill the suspect- and I found I was too wrapped up in arresting this guy instead of realizing he was trying to kill me- and I should have just killed him.

I’m retired now, carry a gun in an inside the waistband holster that provides little retention, certainly not the three levels the duty holster did. I still wear the safe maker in the 11:00 position and won’t make the same mistake twice.

My advise is get a push knife, wear it opposite of your gun hand and get your mind right about killing someone who might grab your gun.