What if you were forced to shoot?

[xd40_jim]

After reading Jeepin's thread about wife defense, it got me about being forced to draw and shoot with your children around. Actually I have been thinking about it for a while. I have a 3 year old and another on the way, and I was wondering how you guys would react if you were forced into a situation where you had to draw and shoot with you children in very close proximity?

Hypothetically speaking, say you were out walking somewhere, and you were "approached" by undesirables and they wouldn't back off. You know you are in danger. You have your children around and they still will not back down. It escalates to the point of having to draw and they still continue.

I carry a .40 and I know how it hurts my ears without protection, so I can imagine how much it would hurt a child's ears, possibly blow out the ear drums and permanently damage their hearing.

So my question is, what would you do to lessen the affects of the noise on the children's hearing? I know with one child you could hold the child in your arms, and cover their ears, but what about two?

I know the chances of being forced to shoot with children would be slim, but it's not unfeasible. Say you were out walking a trail, and were attacked by a wild animal?

What would you guys do?

[PaTom]

Would you rather that your kid has a hearing loss or is mauled by a bear? Has hearing loss or is kidnapped? Has hearing loss or is stabbed? Has hearing loss or has to grow up after watching his father be murdered?

It does not seem like a hard decision to me.

[cakeshooter]

I've thought about that myself.....having kids in the home....hopefully I'll never have to deal with that...but if so, my thinking is that benefit should always outweigh risk (as with anything with children).

So if some guy is about to rape and/or kill me in front of my kids, the risk to my kids' ears and emotions by them watching me shoot the guy is going to be the lesser evil to them having to watch me be assaulted and possibly killed, and then possibly being victims themselves.

Of course they may need medical attention or a bit of counseling....but the alternative would be much worse.

We would hope none of us would ever have to face that.

[Curmudgeon]

A single gun shot, or for that matter, a dozen gun shots, even in close proximity, will not cause permanent hearing damage.

If it did, every single person returning from Iraq/Afghanistan would be deaf. Basic training alone would do it. Think about it.

Hearing protection is advocated because of the potential for hearing loss from sustained and prolonged exposure to damaging and extreme sound pressure levels. Not single occurrences.

[RXM]

Hearing loss should be the least of your concerns if you or your family is facing imminent death or bodily injury. Dead family vs. loss of hearing. Not hard to chose. If it bothers you that much, you could always switch to a 9mm but you'll still hurt your ears.

[350CI]

Would you rather that your kid has a hearing loss or is mauled by a bear? Has hearing loss or is kidnapped? Has hearing loss or is stabbed? Has hearing loss or has to grow up after watching his father be murdered?

It does not seem like a hard decision to me.

what more needs to be said...

[overthetop]

I don't think the OP's question was whether he would shoot or not, it's how to mitigate the effects on the hearing of one's kids. It's a good question that I've been pondering myself. I think when out and about, there isn't much one can do besides what you've mentioned (trying to cover their ears somehow-however unlikely that option may be given the extremely short timeframes). I've been seriously considering the suppressor route for my home defense...for the sake of my kids and myself!

[RXM]

I've been seriously considering the suppressor route for my home defense...for the sake of my kids and myself!

+1

I've already decided to buy a suppressor - not it is just a matter of choosing which brand I want to go with.

[twoguns]

Simple solution; show your kids how to cover their ears with their hands if they see Daddy draw his pistol in a bad situation.

[NuclearSociety]

Not delving into the entire situation and only looking at it in a prevention of hearing loss, how about you tell your kids that if they ever see you draw your weapon, hide behind the nearest cover and cover your ears.