Tulsa Cop Uses Knife To Thwart Gun Grab

A Tulsa OK cop recently had to use a knife to prevent a suspect from taking his gun. Bob Owens, Bearing Arms Tulsa Officer Gets Stabby After Suspect Gets Grabby. This incident prompted Mr. Owens to consider carrying a knife himself.

Small fixed-blade knives (SFBs) still aren’t standard equipment for most officers, but they are becoming much more common. They’re typically worn on the front of the body in a position where they can be drawn either hand, but are generally optimized for off-hand access.

The theory behind the carry of these knives is that they can be drawn by the officer’s off-hand if there is a struggle over the officer’s gun, and used to slash or filet the offender’s arm attempting to grab the officer’s gun, thus ending the grab attempt.

After a discussion of the pros and cons a number of SFBs, Owens concludes:

Which SFB knife will I end up adding to my every day carry? I don’t yet know. What I do know is that blades don’t jam, and a dedicated fixed blade is something that makes a lot of sense as a backup weapon, especially if you end up in an entangled ground fight struggling for control of a primary weapon.

This Tulsa officer used a SFB knife to stop an attempted gun take-away that likely would have ended in either the suspect or the officer being shot to death. He prepared himself to have other options at his disposal, and giving yourself more options in a self-defense context is almost always better.

I can’t argue with much of that. Some might worry about your opponent taking the knife and using it against you. That could happen, I suppose. But not unless I’ve already lost my gun, or not been able to use it, and then lost my knife as well. At that point I’m pretty much screwed; but even so, I’d rather have had a chance to use the knife to save my gun or thwart my opponent that not have had that option at all. Also, some might be squeamish about using a knife at all. That I can understand. The idea of stabbing someone does not make me feel warm and fuzzy. But I figure if I am at the point where I have to resort to the knife, squeamish will be washed away in a sea of adrenaline, and I’ll be far more focused on survival than worried about using a knife. So, I guess all in all, for any still having weapons, after a rash of gun loss accidents that seem to afflict so many, if you are contemplating carrying these days it would be prudent to consider an SFB as well. As Mr. Owens says, the more self-defense options the better.