This is a tough video to watch, not so much for the actual outcome since the deputy came out alright, but for what could have been a far worse and more violent ending. However, it is an incredibly important video to view, because it so succinctly illustrates a point I have been screeching about for over fifteen years.

It does not matter who brings the gun to the fight. The person who controls the entanglement owns the gun. Period. It does not matter how fast or accurate you are, what kind of holster you run, or how awesome the gunsmithing that has been done to the pistol. None of that matters if you cannot win an entangled fight.

Watch how the deputy has zero control over what is going on. The criminal dictates every single thing that happens, including where it moves to, and when or if it goes to the ground. Then take careful note of when the deputy brings the pistol into the altercation, and how immediately the attacker snatches it away. The attacker had complete control and it was literally like taking candy from a baby. The deputy was utterly helpless. The only thing that saved her life was either luck that the gun malfunctioned , and that the attacker after he got the gun turned down his intensity and drive and seemed to slow down his movements and did not aggressively pursue her. The deputy had nothing else on her side because all she could do at that moment was run.

Think about this video the next time you hear someone say something along the lines of “if you try to wrestle me, I will just shoot you” or that the way to beat the jiu-jitsu practitioner or other grappler is to just get a weapon out. Would it have mattered what weapon was introduced there? Would a knife, a sap, or OC spray matter at all in that moment? The answer is simple. No, the outcome would have been the same. What gun-centric people fail to realize is that getting a weapon out is a fairly obvious thing in general, and if the other person is so dominating the fight that your only solution is to go to the tool, then they will see it with plenty of time to take advantage and assume the control of it. You may get it out and be able to use it. After all, the Hail Mary pass in football does work. Well, at least once in blue moon. Not exactly the kind of odds I prefer to stake my life on.