Episode 213 with Ben Branam
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Rob- Introduction-
Welcome to episode 213 of Self-Defense Gun Stories. We’re glad you found us if you’re well trained and also if you’re new to self defense. I’m Rob Morse and we’re joined this week by my friend and firearms instructor Ben Branam. What have you been doing since we saw you last?
Ben- Hi, Rob. I’ve been working and shooting and getting over Covid.
Rob- We received three more ratings and a new review on iTunes this week. (198/116) Listener Csharp was surprised at how many attackers were able to run away after having been shot.
Ben- Handgun wounds are not usually lethal. Most stops are psychological rather than physiological.
Rob- Please go to the iTunes store where you subscribe to podcasts and let new listeners know what you like.
Ben- We’ll talk about recent examples where gun owners were in life threatening situations. Were they lucky, or did they have a plan? The links back to the original news article are in our show notes. Our first story took place last week in San Diego, California.
They have guns in California?
Rob- The bad guys do..and some of the good guys too.
Rob- First story- Are you armed at work?
You own a small grocery store and taco shop. It is 10:30 on a Sunday morning, and customers are coming through to pick up their orders for Sunday dinner. You look up from fixing the next order and a young man is at the counter. He points a gun at you and demands the money from the cashregister. You open the cash drawer and hand him the bills. He points at the next register and you give him that cash as well. You own a firearm. You have a permit to own and carry your gun in this store and at your home. You’re armed. The robber takes the money and turns away. You draw your gun behind his back. You shout to him and he turns back toward you. That is when you shoot him twice in the chest, though one shot goes through his wrist as well as he raised his firearm.
Your attacker drops his gun and falls to the floor. You retrieve his handgun and then call 911. EMTs take your attacker to the hospital in serious, but not life threatening condition. The police say that your attacker matches the description of the man who robbed a liquor store and an ATM earlier that morning.
Ben- tactical patience, he waited his turn. The most dangerous times of any attack are the beginning and the end.
Ben- He did great after the shooting too! Securing the gun when other people are around, calling 911, and staying around until the police got there. This store owner did a lot of things right, including not getting into a gunfight.
Rob- The owner avoided a gunfight.
Ben- The store owner was in a shooting, but he avoided a gunfight.
Monday morning AB I’d like to make sure if our listeners were in this situation they would ask if anyone was hurt and check.
Rob- When do your students learn to avoid a gunfight? (What do they learn before they learn tactical patience?)
Ben- I try to teach them all from the first minute of class to avoid the fight if at all possible.
Rob- Anything else?
Ben- That is enough for now. Our second story happened in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Rob- Second Story- Are you armed at home?
Shotgun on roommate-
It is 1 in the morning on Friday. Your friend is living with you and your fiance. He is acting crazy after taking some drugs. You ask him to calm down, but he becomes more and more frightened and angry. You and your fiance retreat to your room where you grab your shotgun. Your crazy roommate comes through your door with a knife and stabs you six times. You shoot him twice with your shotgun. Now he turns away and you stop shooting. Your girlfriend calls 911. EMTs take you to the hospital. They declare your attacker dead at the scene.
Ben- done right, armed, retreated to defend girlfriend,
Ben- call the cops early, retreat early, let the crazy man break down the door to your room because you locked it, if you’re lucky, the police will find him beating on your door, and then they can deal with the crazy guy with a knife. On this situation, shoot early too. Average person can cover 7 years in 1.5 seconds. The average person takes 1.5 seconds to mount the gun and fire. You can shoot a crazy man with a knife after he breaks down your door and your girlfriend is behind you.
Ben- Know first aid and have medical supplies because knife wounds can kill you.
Ben- It isn’t safe to have a druggie live with you and your fiance. Have a plan so one of you can dial while the other one defends.
Rob- Do your students bring you stories of domestic violence and worse?
Ben- Yes, I just had a student that suffered a horrible rape. She wasn’t sure she should be in the class because everytime we talked about using the gun she was thinking back to that moment. When she did, everything came flooding back to her. She was one of the hardest working students I’ve ever had. People that suffer horrible violence have to work way harder at life then people who don’t. I want all our listeners to heed the warnings and learn from these stories so they don’t have to be one of the people dealing with this.
Our third story happened in Palo, Iowa.
Rob- First this message from FASTER CO
Rob- Third story- Do you have a gun nearby at night?
You and your family are asleep in your home. You hear glass breaking in your daughter’s bedroom. You get out of bed and go see what’s happening. Your daughter doesn’t know what is going on either. A moment later you hear glass breaking at the front of your house. You grab your gun from your bedroom and head toward the front of the house. A man is standing in your entry hallway and you shout for him to stop. He moves toward you and you shoot him once in the chest. Your attacker stops and turns away before he falls to the ground. You check on your family and call 911.
EMTs declare your attacker dead at the scene. Police say he crashed his car and then smashed three other houses before he came into yours. The county pathologist measured significant quantities of cannabinoids, fentanyl, and methamphetamine in his system.
Ben- This is our worst nightmare, someone breaking into your child’s room. Here, like our earlier story, go to the gun early. Have it when you leave the bedroom.
Ben- A drugged out person poses a serious threat to you and your family. PCP was bad years ago and gave people super human strength.
Rob- What would you want your students to do if they hear breaking glass like this?
Ben- Go get your family and consolidate them in your safe room, but take your gun with you. Call the police and let them deal with it, if at all possible.
Rob- That is a hard plan of action to invent in the middle of the night.
Ben- have a plan with your family.
Rob- What does that plan look like?
Ben- Everyone goes to one room to barricade themselves in and call police. Keep your plan simple and big picture. This is something you want your kids and wife to remember in one of the scariest moments of their lives.
Ben- Our forth story took place in Columbus, Ohio.
Rob- Fourth story- Are you armed at work?
You’re working late at night at a small convenience store. Two more customers come into the store, only these customers are wearing masks and carrying guns. They wave their guns at everyone near the counter and demand the money.
You’re armed. You shoot the attacker closest to you, and then shoot the other attacker. The second attacker shoots as he runs. He wounds you and another customer. You check on the customer and call 911.
EMTs take you and the customer to the hospital. They treat your wounds and send you home. Police tell you that one of the attackers died at the scene. The second attacker is in the hospital being treated for his wounds. Police charge the wounded attacker and the 18 year old woman who was acting as a lookout with murder.
Ben- armed, outnumbered. Don’t give up, get in there and fight. Surprise, Shockforce, and Violence of Action can win the day.
Rob- How do you not get shot when two bad guys have their guns out?
Ben- Move, take cover, or tactical patience. Wait until they are distracted and then go for your weapon.
Ben- planning, and practicing, better tactics can beat anything
Rob- What else should we do during our defense.
Ben- respect the customers..who are also the witnesses.
Store video.
Rob- how common is it for there to be more than one attacker?
Ben- about 50% of the time, there will be more than 1 robber. Always assume there is more than you see. This one was pretty average, usually an armed robber, a lookout, and a driver.
Rob- There is a dying man on the floor and you shot him. What do you tell the police when they arrive?
Ben- Watch out! He’s got a gun. I think he’s still dangerous. I’m the store clerk he tried to rob us.
Last point on this one. You have to shoot until the bad guy is no longer a threat.
Exit- Rob- that wraps up this episode. Ben, thank you for helping us again. Where can we learn more about you?
Ben- Contact for me at Modern Self Protection.com. I live in San Antonio, and most of my classes are in central Texas. I teach armed self-defense and church security. Listeners can see my class schedule at my website, and they can also listen to my weekly podcast Modern Self-Protection.
Rob- After you look at Ben’s website, then leave us a message on the podcast facebook page. Ben, my concealed carry renewal class was more like your “beyond concealed carry”, so I received a new appreciation for how you teach.
Ben- We share this podcast with you for free.
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Rob- This show is part of the Self-defense radio network. Find more pro-freedom podcasts at sdrn.us
I’m Rob Morse. We’ll be back next week with more Self-Defense Gun Stories.