That brings up a good question, which I've not found a solution to, in reenacting.
It seems that whenever one needs to actually use a civilian weapon, it's in close quarters--inside a house, or a face-to-face conversation--and that's difficult to accomplish safely. A lot of the time, I just avoid it, because I can't figure how to do it, but then I might as well not have had the weapon in the first place.
Pre-scripted scenarios are simple, but I'm talking about the more common spontaneous things. Rules of engagement or hobby consensus don't usually cover civilian-on-civilian or civilian-on-military combat.
It's worse with knives. I can think of two men who are "alive" today because I couldn't figure out how to slit their throats safely, despite having the opportunity. Rubber knives are a solution for defense, but useless in 90 percent of the situations one needs a knife.
With pistols, the simple answer is to leave it unloaded, but a reenactor who suddenly feels a pistol barrel within inches of his head may (rightfully) want to discover if he's in imminent danger of a powder burn, losing his hearing or worse, and pausing for reassurance sorta ruins the moment. If he
does trust it's unloaded and proceeds with the period situation, and you need to fire in 186x, saying "bang" just doesn't seem to have the right nuance.
I recall a long event-stopping argument one time, when a reenactor insisted that I "missed" because I was aiming the gun in the air rather than directly at a man's head when I fired from three feet away. Uh, why do you think that was.
So, as a practical matter, how
do reenactors safely and practically use civilian weapons for personal defense at events?
Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com
Bookmarks