Straight Talk on Armed Defense Quotes

“Gun Free Zones” have thus become hunting preserves for psychopathic murderers.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“It is important to remember that these efficiencies come from actual physical changes to the structure of the brain.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“subconscious recognition of danger cues” to define this scientific explanation of a hunch.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“we fear what we do not understand, and we fear what we cannot control. Ask yourself if there is anything you’re afraid of that doesn’t come under one or both of those headings.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“Tell the officers you wish to cooperate with them and will sign a complaint because you are the victim. Use “sir” a lot in speaking with them. Tell them you were in fear for your life or the life of another and had no choice. Don’t say you are sorry or that you didn’t mean to kill the suspect, just scare them off, or that your gun “went off.” If the officer asks for details, state that you are pretty shaken up right now and would like to be able to recover from this traumatic event so that you can provide accurate information, and that you would like to have your attorney present when you do.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“The three rings of safety that protect the armed citizen include: the message, the welcoming committee, and you. The most critical information that will be repeated in each of these will be the descriptions, location and current status of the armed citizen and the suspect(s) and their weapons and the need for emergency medical response.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“Once it appears there is a pause in the armed confrontation – because the suspect is no longer a threat or has fled the area – take cover, reload, and scan the area to be certain the suspect is not trying to flank you or for other threats like a backup bad guy. Slow your breathing and determine your own status, as you may have been wounded and are not aware of it. Tell anyone in the area that you are a legally armed citizen and that you were attacked and that you are the victim. Ask if any of them were hurt or if they saw the incident.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“Never leave the scene (flight = guilt) unless staying in that area would be too dangerous, and then let law enforcement know where you have relocated as soon as possible.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“WHETHER ARMED OR NOT, THE BEST WAY TO HANDLE AN ATTACK IS TO AVOID IT ALTOGETHER.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“Law enforcement tends to think of the first involved party that calls as the victim, so it is to your advantage to get your account of an incident heard first.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“The number one target for rapid mass murder has typically been “laws and facilities that forbid the honest, law abiding, state-vetted and otherwise legal concealed weapon permit holders to have a firearm on their premises.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“the unprepared, the surprise is greater, as is the processing of denial, the fog of confusion and chaos. The prepared and practiced always act quicker.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“First, the revelation that only about half of rapid mass murders were ever stopped by anyone. This meant of course, that this half of the mass murdering was only stopped when the murderers said it stopped. Then, in the other half when rapid mass murder was stopped by someone, there was my astonishment that about two thirds of that half were stopped by on-site citizens (mostly unarmed) or on-site security, not off-site police officers!”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“Being outnumbered was the single greatest predictor of losing a violent encounter than any other factor I tracked.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“Armed citizens who were faced with only one robber, efficiently deployed a working firearm from on-body carry, and employed a ruse or distraction to create an opening to respond, have won 100% of the time.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“According to testimony from eye witnesses, the student had handed over his wallet and cell phone and was standing there with his hands in the air when he was shot in the face and killed. “Give them what they want and they’ll go away” may not be the best strategy. What if what they want is your life? If you wait to see if they’re really going to kill you, and they do, it’s too late to stop them from killing you.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“Over that 18-year period, we trained about 45,000 students for a state issued carry permit, and about 45% of those went on to further training. Over that period, we had 65 students that I know of involved in defensive gunplay. These are students that reported back to the school or were reported to me through law enforcement channels. Of these, we had 62 victories, 0 losses and 3 forfeits. Of the 62 students who were armed on the Big Day, all 62 won. However, we had three students that were unarmed when their moment of truth came, and they all died. All three were murdered in separate street robberies, and ALL THREE WERE UNARMED AT THE TIME.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“take place during the conduct of one of three activities: traffic stops, bar enforcement and domestic violence calls.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“First, the police officer has a sworn duty to seek out, confront, and arrest very bad people for doing very bad things, and to press forward in the face of armed resistance. This is the opposite of what the citizen should be doing, namely avoidance, deterrence, de-escalation and evasion. Using the firearm is a last ditch, desperate measure, as a last resort for the armed citizen.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“To be entitled to an opinion in a technical field, one should have specialized training, education and experience in that field.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“Thus, the great irony: the person who is prepared to kill if they must to stop a murderous transgression by a human predator is the person who is least likely to have to do so.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“lawyers call malum prohibitum, which means in essence “it’s bad because we passed a law against it.” This stands in contrast to malum in se, which translates to evil in and of itself: “we passed a law against it because it’s bad.” Much gun law follows this pattern.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“The San Bernardino massacre of the innocent by jihadis saw a very swift response by local law enforcement: they were there in about four minutes. But, by that time, 14 people were dead and 22 wounded.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“WHETHER IT’S A STORE DEFENSE GUN, A HOME DEFENSE GUN, OR A CONCEALED CARRY GUN, IT’S A PIECE OF EMERGENCY, LIFE-SAVING RESCUE EQUIPMENT DIRECTLY ANALOGOUS TO THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER OR THE AUTOMATIC ELECTRONIC DEFIBRILLATOR.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“The object is for the defense team to convince the jury of two things: that the shooter did what he or she was trained to do, and that what they were trained to do was in fact the appropriate thing to do.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“This is because the yardstick of judgment in use-of-force cases both criminal and civil is the ancient common law doctrine of the reasonable man. The judge will instruct the jury, “You must ask yourself what a reasonable and prudent person would have done, in the same situation, and knowing what the defendant knew.” This is a three-pronged test. (1) What would a logical, cautious person have done (2) in the exact same situation as reasonably perceived by the defendant, and (3) knowing what the defendant knew.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“Possession of arms is a right, not a privilege, but the law nonetheless punishes negligence when it causes harm to others.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“Power and responsibility are commensurate.” They must be in dead equal balance, because things get ugly when that particular scale tips in either direction. Power without responsibility tends to become tyranny. But responsibility, without the power to fulfill it, is the very definition of futility.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“Backwards movement is expected by any bad guy and it’s quite easy to “steer” the uninitiated pretty much anywhere, once this basic reaction is understood.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know

“Career criminals are adept at these ruses, and the best way to manage these problems is to have a verbal “play-list” that avoids protracted dialogue, halts encroachment, and doesn’t create unnecessary hostility with a benign stranger.”
― Massad Ayoob, Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know