Nick Drossos has a channel on YouTube where he teaches personal self-defense. In this video, he shows us what to do when someone comes at you with a gun at point-blank range.
The truth is most of these fancy techniques don’t work in reality. You cannot calculate and predict an entire sequence of defense (especially against an armed gunman). You can only calculate the first few seconds of your counter-attack.
To disarm a gun effectively, you will need to act preemptively by trapping the gun with a solid grip. You might be able to strike your attacker (along with the gun trap), with a headbutt or something else, but you also might not be able to strike right away. It will depend on the reaction of your attacker. This is why you need to train with different people (bigger guys and smaller ones) to experiment with different reactions and learn how to react to each one of them.
If the gun is placed to your head, you can apologize to your attacker to make him stop his actions. You should also ask questions to pattern interrupt is thought process. While he is processing the information, he will not be thinking of pulling the trigger.
Doing this can create an opportunity for you to make your move. Important note: When you are training for gun defense, always place yourself in the real situation mindset and react the exact way you would react if that was a real life-threatening situation.
Take your training seriously and react accordingly to your beliefs. Consider that it’s a very dangerous circumstance and it’s often not worth it to get in a struggle with someone holding a gun for a few dollars.
If it’s a mugging situation, we recommend giving your belongings rather than trying to fight back. However, if someone wants to take your life you will need to act upon it. Every situation is different and needs a different reaction on your part.
You may also want to consider carrying around a Tactical Pen or another melee defense weapon in your EDC kit that can incapacitate an attacker after one strike.