One and a half seconds
Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.
A second and a half from rest to first shot is considered a reasonably quick draw from concealment. Two is a bit slow. How slow is waiting for cops to show up after either bystander call them or you - if you survive an attack in any shape to call them and still have your cell phone…or wait, the muggers took it…so after you find somebody to call for you?
Pistol deployment isn’t rocket science. It can be learned quicker than any other kind of martial art. Carrying a handgun is no harder than carrying a cell phone - pistols are usually slightly heavier but also less fragile.
People who had been attacked, beaten, raped or robbed when defenseless by choice or by law often have PTSD. I have yet to see emotional regret or flashbacks in a person who successfully rebuffed a criminal attack with gunfire or other means. Every one of them viewed past experience with attempted victimization as resolved in a satisfactory manner. By contrast, people who had been and remain disarmed by law, usually relive the past as part of the worry about similar threats in the future.