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Director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns Says 'Don't Shoot' If Someone Comes At You With a Deadly Weapon

'You fight them, you run away, you deescalate the situation'

Executive Director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns Mark Glaze gave some ambiguous and potentially dangerous self defense advice Friday on "Hardball."

Glaze, speaking in opposition to "Stand Your Ground" laws, said in a circumstance where someone "comes at you" with an axe handle one should attempt to either "talk," "fight with your fists," "run away," or "deescalate the situation," but not shoot the attacker:

MARK GLAZE: Very often somebody will come at you. They might want to have a fistfight. They might come at you with an axe handle.

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Would you consider the guy with the axe handle armed or not?

MARK GLAZE: Not with a gun.

CHRIS MATTHEWS: I would consider him armed [laughter].

MARK GLAZE: I have a word for him. I grew up in Colorado where my dad was a gun dealer, and a guy who shoots somebody who has anything other than a gun when they could have done something else like talk or fight with their fists --

CHRIS MATTHEWS: How do you talk to a guy with an axe handle?

MARK GLAZE: Well, you fight him. You run away. You deescalate the situation.

An axe handle, depending on the state and manner of use, can legally constitute a deadly weapon.

Matthews went on to ask Glaze to cite another case outside of the Zimmerman trial where "Stand Your Ground" laws have had deleterious consequences, despite Zimmerman's defense having little to do with "Stand Your Ground."

Glaze dodged the question, replying he did not want to provide a specific instance.

Full interview: