There are people out there who seem to think that guns aren’t important for personal defense. I’ve had people try to argue with me that if you have sufficient training, you should be able to defend yourself without a firearm. They argue that taking a human life, even in self-defense, is a sign of a deficiency in training.

Yeah, really.

Well, Dean Lister has as much training as anyone in how to use his hands. His 13-7 professional MMA record, as well as his standing as a former UFC fighter, prove that. However, he knew that a gun was the right tool for the job when he found an intruder in his house and things escalated from there.

42-year-old Lister — who was 13-7 as an MMA fighter — says he arrived to his San Diego house round Eight PM on Saturday when he noticed a tatted up bald dude inside his kitchen.

The person was tremendous sketchy and instructed Lister he thought the house was a church — however when Lister continued to press, the person picked up a hammer in a really threatening method.

“Off digital camera, I drew a sidearm and he stopped advancing towards me,” Lister mentioned.

“I LET him escape together with his life by a window. Cops mentioned I used to be legally good if I killed him.”

Lister says the person stole a bunch of money out of the house and he revealed the video publicly within the hopes somebody can determine the INTRUDER.

Here’s Lister’s video of the encounter:

To call the guy “sketchy looking” is putting it mildly.

However, it’s important to note how Lister dealt with it. The suspect had a weapon–a hammer, in this case–and Lister responded with a firearm. Of all people, Lister could probably have taken the guy and disarmed him, but the former pro knew that it was an iffy thing. Instead, he went with a more assured means of responding.

Remember this when people claim that you can stop an attack with your bare hands. They might be right, but when a man who made a living by being very good with those hands found himself face to face with an armed attack, what did he do? He pulled a firearm to meet the threat.

“But Tom, aren’t you the one who goes on about needing to learn unarmed combat?”

Yes. Yes, I am. But that’s for when you either don’t have the option of a gun for whatever reason or when your opponent is unarmed, and you can’t justify the use of lethal force.

But the moment the other guy picks up a weapon, all bets are off. At that point, draw the weapon and be ready to fire.

Lister says he allowed the suspect to escape. I wish he’d have held him for police, but with the video now out there and being broadcast heavily due to Lister’s history as a pro fighter, I suspect Baldy will soon be in police custody. Someone knows him, and not all of them will be friends. Not only that, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a number of other people contact police to identify Baldy as the perpetrator of other crimes.

Just remember, though, that even a pro-fighter will go to a gun when the time calls for it, so those who claim otherwise don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.

Hat tip: The Truth About Guns