Tueller Drill: Distance Means Everything When A Bad Guy Attacks

Most of us have heard of the Tueller Drill or Tueller distance, a study of close contacts of the good guys and bad guys in which the adversary got to close to the good guy or the good guy inadvertently got too close to the bad guy.

What’s too close? 5 feet? 10 feet? 25 feet? 25 yards?*

The reality is the minimum safe distance in which the good guy can draw and fire his weapon is TWENTY ONE FEET. That’s the distance an adversary can travel in approximately 2 seconds. This assumes the good guy can draw and fire stopping shots before the bad guy gets close enough to do real and potentially fatal damage.

This video shows clearly that close contact with a determined adversary leaves the officer or civilian in dire peril. A knife is easily one of the deadliest items in the arsenal of weapons that can inflict gross, terrible and even fatal damage.

Most of us operate in condition WHITE, a state that is pretty close to unconscious when it comes to spotting present dangers to our persons. We walk, work and recreate in proximity to other people. It’s difficult to avoid the chance encounter with a bad guy but, and here’s where the key element of being in Condition YELLOW comes into play, noticing something out of the ordinary, a person who has their hands concealed and acting suspiciously, almost in a state that might be called their personal Condition YELLOW, and see this person as one to avoid.

Recent studies have shown the optimal distance is more like 28 feet, a mere additional 7 feet, and yet a critical factor that gives the good guy more time to move, draw, shoot and avoid the oncoming adversary, even to the point of deflecting momentum that could carry him into the good guy. Rare is the time that two shots can stop a determined adversary. Shooting AND moving is a critical factor in avoiding injury.

It’s safe to assume that a person who decides to attack you, or even escape, has thought out their strategy and tactics in their mind many times, just as you developed scenarios to deal with the unexpected and violent chance encounters that might come your way.

There are as many scenarios and ways to deal with these situations as there bad guys and good guys out there in the world. Distance is your friend and, as often as not, escape is the best deterrent to taking on a someone intent on harming you, friends and family. You can run, can’t you. 28 feet is a respectable distance when seeking escape path, cover or concealment or defusing the situation by leaving the scene entirely.

But if escape is not an option, distance might be the best factor in determining whether you control the situation or the bad guy takes the fight to you. Whether it’s 21 feet or 28, distance is your friend.

*25 yards is minimum distance if someone already has a firearm out and is preparing to shoot at you.