The shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida, a few months ago as raised many issues about the rights a person has to defend themselves against both real and perceived threats to their safety – I am staying out of the debate as to whether the shooting was justified but will use it to illustrate certain points that might help us avoid adopting the roles of both Martin (the victim) and George Zimmerman (the shooter).

Many people who carry weapons, despite being technically proficient in their use, have never really considered the decision making process that they would have to go through before actually pulling and using it, whether it be gun, knife, stick etc. Most people hold to an innate belief that they will “just know”, when it’s the right time; and although this may be true in certain cases, there will also be those times when a situation could be interpreted incorrectly – when considering the use of lethal force, relying on an “it’ll be alright on the night approach” is one hell of a gamble.

I have also seen many unarmed fights start because an individual hasn’t considered the times and situations when they would get physical. I am certainly not suggesting that a person should over analyze a situation – in reality there is not time – but instead work off “triggers” that indicate an aggressor’s emotional state, and/or think/work through potential scenario’s both mentally and if possible physically using role play to discover possible disengagement and conflict resolution options that may be an alternative to physical force e.g. if you’ve been sitting in a bar for a while and somebody comes over and says that you are sitting in their seat/chair, what are their potential motives/reasons? What are your possible solutions? Etc. Are you prepared and comfortable in making a principled stand, that you’re prepared to back up with force, over a chair?

Pulling a gun on somebody is an extreme response and signals an intent to use lethal force, making a pre-emptive unarmed strike on somebody is also an extreme response. In both instances the process that brings you to the conclusion that such actions are effective solutions to the situation, should be considered and thought about before you find yourself in the middle of such an incident, running in real time.

There are people who don’t understand the role of having a de-escalation stance and learning to fight and defend yourself from such a posture. If at the first instance of trouble you adopt a fighting stance you are immediately giving a person, even if they are the initial aggressor, the right to defend themselves. If they are carrying a weapon, your action may be the “trigger” that causes them to draw it. What started as a verbal dispute over a chair etc, could now have escalated into a gun/knife threat/fight scenario simply because of the adoption of an aggressive stance.

Such an escalating situation as the one above may seem extreme or ludicrous however only George Zimmerman, if we work from an innocent till proven guilty position, can say what it was that Trayvon Martin did which triggered him to not only pull his weapon but use it. It may be he misinterpreted an action, behavior, movement and genuinely believed that any one of these represented a real and immediate threat to his safety. It could be that his motives were more sinister…but these are for others to investigate, debate and discuss.

The decision of when a situation deserves a physical response (be it armed or unarmed) is one that needs to be considered beforehand. Adopting an aggressive posture/stance or behaving in an aggressive manner towards someone carry’s a risk, and this has to be accepted. It doesn’t matter if this is done in response to someone else’s aggression. In a country where it is a legal right for somebody to carry a sidearm, that risk is always going to be a high stakes one.

Don’t get me wrong, when it is time to act you should do so, unwaveringly and with full commitment and absolute force however you should make sure that it is your decision to act and that you have considered all the consequences (something you need to do beforehand – this process itself will eliminate many peripheral doubts that may be present in a violent situation). Be aware that your behavior can cause someone else to act aggressively, become physical even if in your mind you wouldn’t expect it to illicit such a response. Frightened people do extreme things and it is not always obvious that they are acting from fear.

I am not advocating subservience to all aggressor’s simply behaving in a way that allows you to stay fully in control of your environment i.e. manage both your behaviors and the ones of the individual(s) you are dealing with. Controlling the environment is the essence of self-defense.