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Editor’s note: I met Aaron over the Internet just a day or two after his initial Good Samaritan incident and spoke with him at length about it at that time. We kept in touch and he has since become a student and a friend. I’ve followed the developments and the evolution of his thoughts on his decision to act and how he acted on that day very closely. While it is only one example, I believe it to be a great example to study for anyone who carries a defensive firearm in public. I greatly appreciate Aaron’s willingness to share his thoughts so others may learn from his experiences. — Rob PincusDriving to the movies on December 26, 2014, I never in a million years envisioned needing to draw my defensive firearm. All the defensive firearm usage scenarios I had envisioned revolved around things like home invasion, carjacking, bank robbery, and spree shooting events. All my previous firearms training revolved around identifying an imminent threat, shooting to stop the threat if necessary, and then hopefully moving on with my life. It was all a pretty simple equation in my mind. However, the reality of my incident that day after Christmas was far different. It was not a simple equation. It was quite complex and has taken over two years to resolve.The basic details of my incident are as follows. I was driving with my wife to see a movie when I saw a man brutally assaulting a woman in the front seat of a vehicle on the side of the road in broad daylight. The best way I can describe it is that it looked like he was utilizing MMA “ground and pound” type moves on this defenseless female. When I spotted the incident, I had my wife stop the car and call 911 as I came around the car, drew my defensive handgun, and ordered the man to stop hitting the woman and lie on the ground. I communicated to him that I was going to keep my trigger finger indexed and would not shoot him if he obeyed my commands. Fortunately, he complied and I was able to hold him at gunpoint until the police arrived. When the police arrived, I was handcuffed and briefly detained while they secured the scene. I was subsequently released and my firearm was returned to me at the scene. You can find an archived copy of the news report video and a previous PDN article.While everything since the incident has played out in a relatively positive manner in that nobody was killed, I was cleared, and the bad guy was finally tried and convicted (after two years), there are still a number of lessons learned that are worth sharing. My life and my outlook on personal defense have changed as a result of this incident, and I want to share the details of why and how so the next guy can learn from my experience. Let me start with some impacts closer to home. The first one relates to media coverage of the incident. At the time of the incident, a portion of the interaction was caught on cell phone video by a passerby, and that video was shared with the local news. My car and license plate were visible in the video, so within a few hours I was identified by the news media. The following morning, the local news van was at my house. I agreed to be interviewed because they were doing a story regardless, and I wanted to impact the narrative. I talked to a few folks in the firearms community because I felt there might be some solid talking points and an educational benefit. From my perspective, it was an opportunity to promote positive firearms use and the need for quality training. I try to advocate for both whenever possible.But I never envisioned how my name would live on forever within the realms of the internet. This leads to the first lesson learned. Over the course of the past two years, I know for a fact that I have been passed over for contracts and employment opportunities because of this incident. ...
