It really depends on many things I think ...
Is there 1 unarmed person getting closer to you or 5 or 6?
Are you a fit young man, a old man with a bad hip or a petite female holding a baby?
Do you have any unarmed fighting skills and martial arts experience?
Do you have any non-lethal weapons on you and do you have enough time to deploy them?
How close are they from you?
I can see some situations where you would still shoot at an unarmed attacker and some other where you would try to avoid it.
This is exactly why I don't prefer the STOP command. Too much thinking to do when they don't listen.
I have used "the fence" and a one weak hand modification of it, many times successfully with people I happily didn't have to shoot.
Last edited: