drahthaar

A very honest self-evaluation ... quite refreshing to see.

I think that in your cicumstances the element of surprise was a very significant factor. "Surprise" - together with the "shock of surprise" - can have a very powerful effect on the mind and the body. There was nothing wrong with you. But the psychological shock and the huge quantity of adenaline in your system produces feelings of a "very unreal" sitation.

We see very similar reactions by people in other circumstances.
For example, if you look at the statistics of motorcycle accidents ... you discover the amazing fact that in critical accidents many riders NEVER even touch the brakes before they impact an object (car or solid object), and those that do use the brakes nearly always fail to swerve their bike to avoid an obstacle. This defies "common sense" since many riders are skilled and quite adept at quick responses under normal conditions. So again why??? Because the combination of a sudden life-threatening surprise, plus a lot of adrenaline dumped into their blood, overwhelms normal responses. People find themselves in the frightening reality where their brain is "screaming" at the body to do something ... but their body is just not responding.

So I think what you said is really quite relevant ... a lot of people carrying firearms might be quite surprised to discover they could not handle them effectively under sudden high-emotion shock conditions.

cheers,
Pete2