How's that line go, the best defense is a good offense? Well, anyways, my take on that situation goes back to a post I made about a month ago about the difference between the attitude of being a defensively oriented victim vs. a restrained psychopath, or something to that effect. Being prepared for an armed confrontation where you are anticipating an attack as an instigation to a counterattack with an escalation of force used I think changes the equation considerably in favor of the one preparing for the counterattack. Rather than retreat while trying to employ my primary assault weapon, I would tend toward closing the distance and deploying an alternative that is quicker to bear, something I may already have at hand, that will take the would-be assailant by surprise and inhibit his ability to strike. Like I said, this isn't something most folks are going to prepare for, but it makes more sense to me than the alternative. I don't like surrendering control of a situation, and most assailants will figure their victims to respond in one of two ways; cower or flee, both of which can be planned for.

Given the inevitability of contact in an attack initiating within 21 feet, it doesn't make sense to attempt to deploy a secured primary weapon that most people stand almost no chance of bringing to bear in time. Stopping your assailant by disrupting his attack by other means seems to be more prudent, and if fleeing is an option, it is an acceptable tactic, but my point is there are other, more effective and less orthodox alternatives if you are willing to be "creative".