On the season finale of season 3 of “The Walking Dead” Carl, Hershel, and Beth were hiding out away from the prison when the Governor and his army attacked. As the Governor’s crew ran away, an older teen came across them. Carl had him at gunpoint, and told him to drop his gun.
He made like he was putting it down, but kept moving toward Carl with the firearm in his hand.
Carl shot him.
Later, Hershel told Rick that Carl was wrong. Rick seems worried about his son now. But as a firearms instructor, I can say that Carl did the right thing.
In a defensive situation, you have a SPHERE OF INFLUENCE, and a REACTIONARY GAP.
The teen had a long gun. Even through it was not in an IMMEDIATE firing position, it could still make a pretty good club.
You maintain a REACTIONARY GAP to give you time to REACT to the ACTIONS of another. Keep in mind that ACTION is faster than REACTION.
The teen kept closing on Carl with the gun still in his hand. He was reducing Carl’s reactionary gap.
Carl had already told him to put it down, and the teen did not immediately comply. He instead chose to keep approaching Carl. His eyes were darting around, and it really looked like he was going to try something.
Carl did the right thing. He did what he had to do before the teen could eliminate his reactionary gap. It was a good shoot, and in the same situation I would have done the same thing with no regrets.
It’s just television, but sometimes even TV can provide good examples for training situations.