Marc Victor is indeed a good guy, but he is not "gun friendly." He is a criminal defense attorney who markets to gun owners. Here is an email I wrote several years ago about the article he has on his website which he titled "Five Things Every Responsible Gun Owner Ought To Know," which I urge you to read:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8j3ujolhze06k9z/MJV-Magazine-proof-OL-singlepage.pdf?dl=0&inf_contact_key=6665fc4aa2b36e45c50413cbf36a20d0
There is much useful info here, particularly what Marc summarizes as “Just Shut Up,” and which I characterize as “Speak The Fewest Utterances” (STFU).
However, there are two matters with which I disagree, not because I think I know more about the law than Marc (I sure don’t), but because I am confident I know more about guns and the dynamics of personal violence.
“Carry with an empty chamber.” I happened to see Marc’s presentation at the ASU Law School recently. The friend I was with asked Marc, “Even a 1911? Carry an empty chamber on a 1911?” Marc replied “What’s a 1911? I don't even know what that is.” He knows nothing about guns; he is not a gun guy.
Apart from the serious tactical disadvantage of getting killed before you can rack the slide, the other problem with carrying an empty chamber is that it could lead to a whole different problem: firing accidentally when loading. There is a person trying to kill Joe. Joe racks the slide as fast as he can. Do you think Joe’s finger might be on the trigger as the round goes into the chamber? Or do you think he will have excellent timing, and keep his finger outside the trigger guard until the instant after the round is chambered? I think he is likely to shoot that gun before he gets a chance to aim it.
“Better to be punched in the face than pull your gun.” This is the attitude of people whose experience with getting punched in the face is watching Bruce Willis and Matt Damon take brutal punches to the face with not so much as a cut lip or bloody nose. That’s not how it works. A punch to the face almost always causes serious trauma – hemorrhage around the eyes, broken eye socket, broken nose, broken jaw, loss of teeth, permanent vision loss, permanent brain damage, paralysis, and often death.
A punch to the face can “knock you out” – that is, cause a concussion. As we know from recent discussions of concussions in football and other sports, a concussion is not a trivial matter. But the biggest danger of a punch to the face is that, if you are knocked out, you fall to the ground without protecting yourself. Your face or your head smashes into the pavement – very hard. If the punch didn’t cause permanent damage, the unprotected smashing of head/face into concrete just about always does. Watch the faces and heads hit the sidewalks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u85kXAxYeQ8
Would you rather risk being prosecuted, or risk smashing your head into the sidewalk like that?
According to the law regarding "justification - self defense," you are justified in shooting somebody to prevent imminent death or “serious bodily injury.” A punch to the face causes serious bodily injury, sometimes deadly serious. Which is worse, getting prosecuted, or losing your eyesight, or suffering permanent brain damage, or shattering your facial bones on the sidewalks, or dying? Do not voluntarily “accept” a punch in the face. Use your gun if it is necessary to prevent an imminent punch to the face.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2014/07/01/soccer-referee-punched-john-bienewicz-dead/11906323/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG2s4mBQqXI
Also, what are the chances that you will only be punched in the face once? Isn't it just as likely, or more likely, that you will be punched in the face numerous times? (And kicked in the face after you are down on the ground, unconscious and unable to protect yourself? Would you rather be prosecuted for using your gun, or would you rather take 10 or 20 punches to the face, and a kick or two?
Jurors (and prosecutors) probably believe, as Marc apparently does, that a punch in the face is a trivial thing, one click above being disrespected, not serious enough to warrant shooting. It is your defense lawyer’s job to educate them otherwise.
If I am prosecuted for using my gun, I want my lawyer to be a "gun guy," who can call BS if he hears the prosecutor telling the jury about deadly hollow points, and semi-automatic assault revolvers, and hair triggers, and cocking the hammer on a Glock, and carrying a round in the chamber, and not being justified because the person about to kill him was "unarmed."