Tactical opinion....Did he grab the right weapon?

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013...-armed-holdup/

Scroll down a tad for the footage.

Do you think the AR was the proper choice for this situation? Seems like he had a problem maneuvering it.

Im fully aware this is nothing more than armchair quarterbacking.

its hard to tell where the AR was exactly, but it seems that he had to retreat to the rear of the business to access the weapon
its also hard to tell whether or not he has a pistol on his person. it does look like he has one on his thigh

him using the AR obviously did the job. he had it deployed in less than 8 seconds from the time the perp brandished his weapon and had both bad guys running out the door moments later.

now if that was a pistol on his thigh, he could have probably deployed that much quicker and probably would have ended the confrontation much sooner.

if i had to choose between the pistol on my side or the ar in the back room in a split second life or death situation i hope my first reaction would be to go to the pistol and start putting rounds downrange and if that wasnt enough to diffuse the situation fight my way back to the AR


now for the argument of whether the AR was appropriate for this type of situation in close quarters vs a shotgun or pistol is typically personal preference. he might just be more familiar with the AR than other long guns. he probably wanted the ammo capacity of the ar vs. a shotgun or pistol. i would personally choose my ar over my shotgun in a PD situation simply because i can legally have 2 more rounds in the firearm and i am more proficient with using it than my shotgun.

I think it was more of an issue of lack of SA than choosing an AR

For home/structure defense, a handgun is really used to fight your way back to your AR or SG

Guard did well though besides being caught off guard Brought the fight aggressively towards the threat

Handgun for me in close quarters.

So he missed?

if he had grabbed a straw and a handful of paper wads and the bad guys retreated, he would have still grabbed "the right weapon"

Originally Posted by NOVAbimmer

if he had grabbed a straw and a handful of paper wads and the bad guys retreated, he would have still grabbed "the right weapon"

Maybe some ketchup packets.

Sent from my HTC Glacier using Bimmer App

Originally Posted by blazedxjan

Maybe some ketchup packets.

Sent from my HTC Glacier using Bimmer App

if it got the job done, it was tactically correct in the situation

tru dat. he was just trying to scare them off I guess.

First rule of a gunfight: BRING ENOUGH GUN.

I would say he grabbed the right weapon. If you're able to use it correctly, a long gun is always a better option than a handgun. I've harped on it before, but it bears repeating that handgun terminal ballistics suck. Now he just needs to work on hitting what he shoots at.

Any weapon is the right weapon if he had it handy. What good does it do when it's out of reach? It looks like he had to go and fetch it - it should've remained within his grasp. That was just bad tactics. Some people may think I'm a gun buff, with all the different ways I carry and practice scenarios in all types of settings. Vids like this just support my "buffiness". You just never know when and where you're going to need to defend yourself and others.

I didn't mean if its the "right weapon" in terms of the only weapon. I meant he is an armed security guy, so I figured he would have a pistol at his side (can't tell.) It *seemed* to me that the few seconds it took to grab and "aim" the AR got him shot (he was hit in the thigh) and he didn't get a clean shot off (especially being in that tight room.) You even see him shoot through the wall which is probably a very bad idea. Obviously the threat ran away so the objective was successful I just think that split second could have save him a bullet wound and maybe put one of those animals down as a bonus. Again, clearly armchair quarterbacking here.

He made one significant tactical error in that he did not establish an order of precedence for his weapon systems, and the then did not stick with it. When you decide to operate in an environment that would necessitate the use of a firearm, you should have immediate access to it. It should not be something you need go run and get. If you have multiple weapons, establish a prioritization/precedence system. Is your rifle your primary weapon, or secondary? What is your pistol? He used his rifle like it was a primary weapon system, but treated it like a secondary. Your primary should always be on you or within reach. If he only had a pistol immediately available, his pistol was his primary and his rifle was a secondary.

Originally Posted by Reedo302

He made one significant tactical error in that he did not establish an order of precedence for his weapon systems, and the then did not stick with it. When you decide to operate in an environment that would necessitate the use of a firearm, you should have immediate access to it. It should not be something you need go run and get. If you have multiple weapons, establish a prioritization/precedence system. Is your rifle your primary weapon, or secondary? What is your pistol? He used his rifle like it was a primary weapon system, but treated it like a secondary. Your primary should always be on you or within reach. If he only had a pistol immediately available, his pistol was his primary and his rifle was a secondary.

good insight. he did have the rifle within 4 seconds of the handgun being drawn. figuring in reaction time, thats not incredibly slow. but i see your point

Need to ban ar-15s.... duh