CCW Safe

Lesson 1: The Goal of Self-Defense Is to Break Contact Breaking contact with an aggressor can mean using deadly force when justified, or simply walking away—with a range of actions in between, including verbal de-escalation techniques and less-lethal force options. By adopting a “break contact” self-defense mindset, armed defenders give themselves more tactical options while reducing the legal jeopardy resulting from a potential us...

After more than 25 years in law enforcement, Doug Deaton became a consulting and testifying expert witness for defense attorneys and armed defenders in self-defense cases. True self-defense trials are relatively rare, and sometimes the prosecutor and judge – and especially the jury – aren't aware of all the nuances of self-defense law. That’s when having a good consulting expert like Doug Deaton can ...

A Wisconsin man came home to his apartment late at night and was surprised to find his home had been the target of burglars. He was even more surprised when one of those burglars returned to retrieve some valuables he had left behind. The occupant of the apartment shot and killed the intruder in a justified self-defense shooting. Don West and Steve Moses join Shawn Vincent to discuss the legal prot...

An armed defender in Lapeer, Michigan was convicted of murder for shooting a man who was attacking him with a crowbar. It turns out, the shooter actually left the scene of the initial confrontation and came back. Also, evidence suggests the defender drew his pistol before the attack, making him the first aggressor. Don West and Steve Moses join Shawn Vincent to explore the lessons for concealed car...

Akira Fletcher had an ongoing feud with another woman, Nyema Norton, culminating in a confrontation where Fletcher shot Norton after an initial altercation had seemingly ended. The case touches on themes of de-escalation, managing emotional responses, and the dangers of following an aggressor. Fletcher’s decision to exit her vehicle and re-engage Norton verbally, after the initial threat had seemin...

A man in Spokane took it upon himself to livestream a video of a homeless encampment. When he felt threatened by some of the vagrants, he retrieved a firearm from his car, proclaimed he was “constitutionally protected,” and reengaged with some of the individuals who surrounded him while asking for him to leave. Feeling threatened, he fired in self-defense. Just because you have the right to be somewhere or do something doesn’t mean...

Shawn Vincent and Don West look at how retired MMA fighter Shannon “The Cannon” Rich found himself in an argument over a parking space when the other guy attacked him with a knife. Rich retrieved a pistol from his vehicle and fired a lethal shot in self-defense. Eyewitness accounts and security footage matched Rich’s statement to police and he was not charged, but the experience provides lessons for ...

A 77-year-old man in Oakland, California confronted three would-be burglars in his backyard. While one intruder escaped over a fence, the home defender shot and killed a second, while he held the third at gunpoint until police arrived. Steve Moses and Don West discuss the tactical and legal risks of exiting your home to confront intruders in your yard and the perils of holding a suspect at gunpoint...

One of the most common self-defense scenarios armed defenders may confront in their homes is dealing with a potential threat banging on the front door late at night. Many times, the stranger on the other side of the door turns out to be someone who is lost, confused, drunk, high, or injured. Sometimes the potential threat turns out to be a law enforcement officer, perhaps mistakenly at the wrong ho...

George Alan Kelly claimed he fired warning shots at a group of illegal migrants trespassing on his borderlands Arizona ranch. Later, one of those men was found dead, shot in the back. Kelly faced trial for murder charges. Seven of eight jurors voted for acquittal. One voted guilty. Kelly’s mistrial brings up issues of prairie justice, the trouble with warning shots, and the idea that no defendant e...