Deadly Force is any force that carries a substantial risk that could result in the death of any person.

Here are a few instances where a person could exert a force that could cause death. The use of deadly force is:

Shooting someone with a firearm
Stabbing or cutting someone with an edged weapon
The recent phenomenon of using of a motor vehicle to plow people down
Even using common everyday items like hammers, screwdrivers, or a baseball bats can be used as weapons
If you carry a gun or knife for self-defense, these carried weapons are intended to deliver deadly force. You must remember that your carry weapon or EDC (Every Day Carry) is not intended to be used as a scare tactic or intimidate someone. In most places, that is a crime in itself (which will be covered later.)

Your EDC is not intended to make you “feel” safer. If you wouldn’t normally do something while unarmed, you definitely shouldn’t do it while armed. Everyone has seen that person who after a few drinks develops “beer muscles.” Beer muscles cause normal people to act out in ways they would never act without alcohol. Just like beer muscles can make you act out abnormally, so do “gun muscles.” Gun muscles also can make people act out in an abnormal manner. Never carry a firearm with the mindset that you can feel safer doing dangerous things or that can act out in ways that put you in harm’s way just because you have a firearm and no one could harm you.

Your defensive firearm is intended to give you the capability of delivering deadly force under the proper legal circumstances.
You must become confident about when you can use these tools to defend yourself and people you love.
You must educate yourself to the point that this information is embedded deep in your subconscious. Remember that every deadly force situation is different. A defensive shooting can be as little as a single shot fired at close range which lasted only a few seconds. On the other hand, it could result in 40 or 50 rounds fired during a running gunfight at distances up to 100 feet away that took up to several minutes.

You do not have any time to waste. Plan ahead for the fight and prepare yourself mentally. There is no time to hesitate. The greatest source of hesitation is not being mentally prepared. The two main sources of hesitation are that the people have doubts about using deadly force based on their religious or social concerns or doubts about the laws regarding when deadly force can be used.

A defensive shooting is about self defense and never about revenge; otherwise, it is murder. You cannot be Judge, jury, and executioner. – By: First Liberty Foundation

Well, that is until the time comes that we have to put all of that training into practice. Then we quickly realize that our house is not set up like the range. We remember that there are a couple of kids that weren’t at the range when we were slinging lead and getting our “tactical” on. We remember that the targets at the range weren’t armed with crowbars, knives or guns, and that those targets at the range were not trying to eliminate us from the equation. Those targets were not shooting back, hiding in the dimly lit corners, or waiting for us to come to the bottom of the staircase.

Now in the real world, tragedy, turmoil and danger never come to us at the moment of our choosing. They are not broadcast to us in advance, giving us time to prepare. They happen when least expected, and the familiarity we have with our surroundings is often nullified by the element of surprise. It does not matter how well armed you are, or how fast you can get sights on target if you are trying to wrangle up the kids, tripping over the cat, or half way into your slippers when the bad guys are already in the house.

It’s already accepted that your level of hand-eye coordination and general motor skills will diminish in a crisis situation…given that fact, and the added stress of not knowing exactly what the threat is…you quickly realize that there is a lot to be said about Training Beyond The Range.

Your home is not only your castle, it is your chosen battlefield. You must know every inch of it. Where are your blind spots, your points of egress, points of access? Where would someone hide if they got in and heard you rustling about? Where are you most and least vulnerable? Where in your domicile do YOU have the upper-hand if someone were to come in unexpectedly…with violent intent?

Great…you have answered the aforementioned…but what about your family? Do your kids know what to do if you should have to engage a perpetrator? Do they know where to hide, where to run, or in the worst case, how to defend themselves? Does your family know what to do to remain out of the line of fire? Do they know how to get out of the house and to some place where they can be safe…and what they need to do when they get there?

Yes? No? Maybe? These are all crucial points that you need to be able to address as YOU are the primary defensive weapon for your family. Yes…YOU. Not your handgun, not your rifle, not your shotgun…YOU. All of those are just the tools you may have at your disposal. The most important tool however, is your plan…the plan you have for peace, the plan you have for combat, and the plan you have for the aftermath.

The better coordinated that you and your family are in the event of an emergency, the more likely you are to come out safe, and alive.

With that in mind, it is your primary responsibility to not only plan for the worst, but to practice those plans. The very same way you would run a fire drill, you need to run drills for other threats. Not only do you need to have a plan for being armed, you need to consider the times when you might not have immediate access to a means of defending yourself. What do you do if it’s 3am, your family is all asleep, you’re in your skivvies, and you’re sneaking a snack from the fridge and someone comes crashing through your back door? What is your plan? Have you practiced it?

While it may all be a little overwhelming to try to create scenarios in your mind to account for, and it may also be a little far-fetched to imagine a dozen zombies bursting through your windows all in a search for brains, there are several instances that you can plan for and practice…repeatedly.

The idea is to not only give yourself a level of tactical training at the range, but to give yourself as many home-field advantages as possible, and the ONLY way to do that is to put yourself in the mind of the bad-guy, explore your vulnerabilities, and figure out how to limit those vulnerabilities in whatever way you can. This is your life, your family, and your home…all of which need to be able to act together when, and if, the time comes. – By: Frank Johnson