There is a small time of disadvantage in reaching for your wallet that I need to acknowledge.
What does that mean?
As you note handing over your wallet may not stop the threat.
That's the issue, and the only real issue.
We are taking the aggressor at his or her word in regards to the choices presented.
Why would anyone think it prudent to do that, unless it is the
only practical response?
With those caveats being noted I think it is important to understand that handing over your wallet does not prevent you from taking other more direct defensive actions.
I would not "hand" it over, but a slow toss may buy you time.
As there are multiple scenarios presented here should we be dealing with an issue where the gun is not drawn movement to draw the pistol by the aggressor should still elicit a direct course of defensive action by the defender.
Do you really think it's a good idea to wait for him to reach for his gun?
That's the way it works in western screen fiction, but that would be a
terrible time to start trying to defend yourself.
For instance, in both cases where the gun is not drawn, I raise up my hands to show compliance, verbally assure compliance to the aggressor, and pull out my wallet while keeping my attention on the aggressor.
If, in the light of the situation as you see it, you really think that would work, go for it. It's a judgment call.
Should he or she then make movement towards drawing the weapon I can still respond appropriately to the modified threat.
Just how quickly do you think you can draw, fire, and effect a stop? Do you
really want to give an armed robber a head start in a fast draw contest played for high stakes?
I agree that handing over your wallet may not end the threat. While I acknowledge there are some concerns with doing so I do not think those concerns outweigh the value of the chance of success of simply handing over your wallet.
That's a judgment call.
Though this does have me thinking about a second issue. The aggressor is probably not after your wallet and frankly handing over your wallet creates logistical concerns after the fact should the aggressor take it and leave. I would be more concerned about having handed over my address, especially after the aggressor has been taught that I will be a compliant victim, and the various credit cards and other things that will need cancelled and replaced. Frankly its going to be a pain.
If you have survived an armed robbery without having been seriously injured, those little inconveniences will be minor, and failure to avoid them would not be a reason for regretting not having used deadly force.
Every encounter involving a serious threat will have to be dealt with as it unfolds, without delay. One does not
ever want to harm anyone else unless it is immediately necessary. The wallet is not the issue. Robbery is not a property crime. What one wants to do is to avoid
being seriously harmed.
Glenn's recommendation is a good one. It will give you a much better idea of your ability to act under realistic circumstances. Self defense and shooting at the square range are not the came thing.
It will likely shatter any assumptions one may have of how people will react in the event--there are too many variables and possible outcomes.
It has been said before in a different context, but the question is not whether a defender would be
justified in shooting, but whether the defender would have a basis for a reasonable belief that the use of force, deadly or otherwise, would be
immediately necessary.
Then the justification element will come in. Just to review the bidding, that means A, O, J, and P.
And those who knows the subject know, and understand why, that it is not necessary to be faced by a robber with a
drawn gun, or to have a robber
reach for his gun, or even to actually
see the gun before acting.
The FoF training will demonstrate all of that quite well. Can't afford Simunitions, equipment, and prerequisite prior training? Use Airsoft.
Lest there be any question about it, if I judge that giving up the wallet in a robbery will very,
very likely suffice to end a threat to my life, or that doing anything else would put me at more risk, that's just what I'll do.