Kas,

Nice work here. I'm from American Kenpo Karate where the idea is devastate and cover away... but I digress

The one thing that comes to mind is, I would still target the gun in all but one circumstance, gun against gun. In all the other situations I would rather get out of the bullet path first, block/strike, parry/stike, step/strike. The gun is target one. With a gun against gun it's hit the target, hit the target, hit the target, while attempting to moving out of the bullet path simultaneously.

The target is based on your ability to shoot. Just like in Martial Arts.

My .02

I would tend to agree with Tim. In the case of a gun I would first gain some control to make sure I wasn't in front of the barrel. There are many ways to do this though with guns range is a factor. I would always use deadly force when faced with deadly weapons like knives and guns. In my style ( Northern Li Family Fist aka Iron Budda fist palm aka The Six Divine Immortal Palms) We have many gun and knife defenses all ending in probable death for the wielder. My favorite is one that ends with a chin na lock leaving the perps pointing the gun at his own head likely shooting himself in the confusion of the counter. It can work with knives too and leaves none of your fingerprints on the weapon when executed properly .

The extreme imbalance requires that you approach the firearm differently if you cannot be very assured of instantly incapacitating while avoiding reflexive or delibrate return shooting. As has been previously said - incapacitate the opponent by all means, but priority #1 is avoiding the line of fire of, then immobilizing or removing the firearm.

Reposted for your viewing pleaure Kester, ah, pardon me, Kas22.

"You charge a gun, you flee a knife."

You can find that in just about any survival guide that covers this kind of situation. The idea in this case being, you need to get him close, otherwise you are dead. These are a basic outline, they are by no means the absolute solution. They are more of a guideline to try to get you into a position where you are less likely to die. You have to understand, once someone has a loaded gun, with the safety off, pointed at you, you are probably dead. Everything you do after he points the gun at you is trying to reduce the odds of being dead. The following is assuming that you have no cover.

You need to keep him talking. Unless they're a psychopath, most people need to work themselves up to killing someone else. If he's talking to you, he's probably not shooting you. If he is speaking and not yelling, then his mood likely is not escalating. Be non-confrontational. He has the power and the ability to use it. Do not threaten that or he will likely respond aggressively and you will probably end up shot and possibly dead.

Get close. Ideally, you want the muzzle of his gun against your forehead. That way you can feel his tension, you know where the gun is without looking at it and there is little likelihood of it snagging on any clothing when it comes time to move in. It should also make him relax since having a gun to your head will make feel like he is in control. Make no mistake, that's because he is in control. All you are trying to do is take baby steps to get into a situation where you are less likely to die. At this point, he still owns you.

Get around the gun. Once the gun is on your forehead, you just have to get your face around the muzzle. It's easier than you think. Remember, you don't have to be faster than the bullet, you just have to be faster than the guy holding the gun. Lean forward a little, so that your head is pressing against the gun. Do it slowly, let him feel it and adjust, keep talking to him. Snap your head to one side mid-word, away from his body, slap the gun to the other side and move in, this will put you close to his shoulder and away from his other hand. A gun is only deadly in one direction, once you've moved past the muzzel you're in less danger, but you are nowhere near out of the woods yet. Expect to lose the hearing in the ear closest to the gun, because if it goes off, that's what is going to happen.

Get control of the gun. That may mean wrenching it out of his hand, pinning his arm, breaking some part of the appendage connected to the gun, or just holding on and beating on him with whatever is available until he lets go or loses consciousness.

Make noise. Yell "Fire!" People are more likely to react to someone yelling "Fire!" than they are to someone yelling "Help!" as a fire may threaten them. Once they see your situation, they are more likely to call the police.

Do not let go of control of the gun. Even once he's down, take it from him, pull the bullets, and go call for help.

Where you cannot let him put you is on the ground, face down. That is a terminal position with little likelihood of recovery or increasing the odds of surviving the encounter.

I'm not sure I agree with this. The enthusiasm is appreciated but the logistics don't quite add up. There's a big difference between the the physicality of my body and a high velocity blunt force tool (stick), matter separator (knife) or a combination of the two (gun.) There's a much higher chance I am going to get a desired result in the time I need to incapacitate the computer center or vascular or muscular systems with those tools than there is with my body. Even bleeding someone out with a blade takes a lot more time than anyone would like in that situation. To not consider restraining the gun or at least zoning out of its arc of fire seems folly. The tools of my body give me a finer manipulation of my opponent than those other tools but those take precious time to utilize. Even a braced elbow shot to the jaw or temple or a stiff thumb into the eyesocket is not gonna have the same percentage of success to risk me doing it without immobilizing the arm that aims that gun first. Hell I wouldn't even do that with a blade in my hands, most likely not with a stick either. (Ideally I would be too far away to worry about it if I had a gun. If I was too close I'd grab a blade first anyway.)

"So why should it be any different if the tool at your disposal is your body? Why is it ok now to wrestle over the firearm instead of knocking him unconsious,crushing his throat or breaking his neck? With a gun you can shoot him with a knife you can stab him to death, with a stick you can crack his skull. And so to you do as well with your bare hands "

Because the gun isn't dangerous to you as long as the little hole is pointing at something else. But it's not safe as long as he can crook a finger and exert two or three pounds of pressure. I doubt that you could kill or sufficiently cripple a person with strikes before he could shoot you. You certainly could eventually, but not in half a second. Not reliably. That's why a lot of gun and knife disarming is based on taking control right away and then removing it or his capacity to use it.