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In the movies one often sees the bad guy with his gun to a hostage's head. Depending on the intended outcome, the hero either puts down and wins later, or shoots the criminal and wins immediately.
I know that movies/TV etc has very little to do with real life, therefore I have questions for the experienced guys:
1. How little/often does this occur in real life? Ie: is it even realistic to prep the brain for such a situation?
2. Is there anything one should keep in mind in preparation for such a situation?
(For us here in SA, we would probably be facing a seasoned and hardened criminal, or a drug addict, or a combination of both.)
Posted : 17/07/2026 5:04 pm
It comes down to wether or not you believe that by disarming yourself, the assailant will release the hostage, and allow both of you to continue with your lives unharmed.
Posted : 18/07/2026 6:00 pm
Treeman reacted
Topic starter
It comes down to wether or not you believe that by disarming yourself, the assailant will release the hostage, and allow both of you to continue with your lives unharmed.
I doubt that disarming oneself will work in SA. Piet Retief was arguably the first member of GFSA, and many others followed that road.
There was a similar thread on the other forum - someone mentioned that he was in auch a situation once where he couldn't risk the shot because the criminal was hidden well behind the hostage, and really had just one eye visible.
Does anyone know of more such scenarios, and how it played out?
Posted : 18/07/2026 7:24 pm
If a criminal with more than 3 working brain cells decides to use a hostage as a shield, he would be well advised to keep his own anatomy well concealed behind the hostage, not stick his whole head out for anyone to shoot at.
Yes, everything we see in the movies is unrealistic, and that goes double for gun related matters. I sometimes think that the movie-makers intentionally make them in such a way that they are not going to be used a training material by whoever. I also suspect many criminals are dumb enough to actually use them as training material...
Posted : 22/07/2026 5:19 pm
Treeman reacted