You Can't Lose a Fight You're Not In

From Grant Cunningham we get the following: The best defense is still not being there. (Title of the post is a quote... see below.)

Is there ever a foregone conclusion or a no-win scenario? Some times, maybe.

First, (and I know some people are really going to be disappointed about this), you are most likely not going to be in a gunfight tomorrow. I can say this with some confidence, because statistically very few people ever need to fire their gun in anger. This isn’t to say it doesn’t happen, of course, because it does, just that you’re unlikely to need to do so tomorrow.

You know what’s orders-of-magnitude more likely tomorrow? That you’ll be in an auto accident or be near someone who is having a heart attack. A gunfight, not so much.

He is writing about the way in which people sell self-defense and tactical classes. I don't think he likes their tactics, at least as far as the marketing tactics go.

I hate to keep bringing up reality, but a very large number of defensive gun uses are actually avoidable. I’ve talked about this many times over the years; John Farnam’s prescription for safe living (avoid doing stupid things, going to stupid places, and hanging out with stupid people) eliminates a surprising number of potential self defense scenarios.

So does learning to say “I’m sorry”, and mean it. So many cases of social violence come down to two people (almost always men) who can’t let something pass because neither has the cojones to admit that maybe they were wrong. Even if you’re not wrong, de-escalating by accepting the blame is often a very good way to defuse a tense situation.

There is a lot more to the story. Click thru. It isn't that long.

Hat tip to Tam at View from the Porch: QotD: Best Defense Edition.... Her quote also forms the title to this post.

You can't lose a fight you're not in.