Lawyers Explain the ‘2/2 Rule’ – The Self-Defense Advice That Could Save Your Freedom

If you ever have to defend your life, two moments matter most: before it happens and after it’s over.

That’s the essence of the “2/2 Rule,” as laid out by attorneys Richard Hayes and Emily Taylor of Armed Attorneys. They boil years of trial work into four moves: two to do beforehand, two to do afterward.

It’s pocket-sized legal wisdom with outsized consequences. And it’s the kind of guidance that can protect both your life and your freedom.

Below is their advice – in their words and experience – plus some practical commentary to help you apply it.

What The 2/2 Rule Means

Hayes frames it simply: there are two things to do before a self-defense incident and two things to do after. Some feel obvious. Others are painfully counterintuitive when adrenaline is screaming through your veins.

Taylor calls it “like putting a self-defense lawyer in your pocket.” Think of it as a checklist you can actually remember under stress.

Let’s break it down.

Before: Know When Force Is Justified

Hayes starts with mental reps. Think through the situations where you would use force – and where you would use deadly force – in the context of your state’s law.

That’s not a slogan; it’s homework. As Hayes notes, if you act on a scenario in your head that doesn’t line up with your state’s statutes, you could be legally wrong even if you feel morally right.

Taylor gets concrete. She wants you to visualize common scenarios and pre-decide your thresholds: a stranger trying to get into your vehicle; a person confronting you at a pump with hands in pockets; a road-rage approach; a suspected break-in at home; a dog attack on your evening walk.

And don’t make it generic. As Hayes adds, factor in your actual life. If you walk the dog nightly and stray dogs are common, that’s a likely scenario. 

If you’ve lost mobility or your reaction time has changed, your reasonable options change with it. If your work now forces you to pump gas at 11 p.m., your risk profile moved.

This “pre-lawyering” is free performance. When your brain has a template – imminence, proportionality, and retreat/stand-your-ground rules where you live – you’re less likely to make a panic decision you can’t legally defend later.

Before: Avoidance Is A Legal Superpower

Taylor’s second “before” rule is blunt: avoidance. She repeats it for effect – “Avoidance. Avoidance. Avoidance.”

Yes, she’s a staunch Second Amendment attorney. And yes, she still says your best legal outcome starts with not being there when violence happens. Even in states with no legal duty to retreat, jurors love seeing that you tried not to fight. Prosecutors notice, too.

Hayes explains why. Juries gravitate to the “innocent actor” story: you were going about your day, a threat cornered you, there was no safe alternative, and you acted as a last resort. If that’s the narrative, you’re less likely to be arrested, less likely to be charged, and more likely to be acquitted if you are.

Taylor and a trial colleague even compared notes on charged cases they’ve seen. In nearly every prosecution, they could point to at least one moment where the defender helped escalate rather than de-escalate. 

The one outlier? The person who avoided, de-escalated, and only used deadly force when there was no other option.

Avoidance is not weakness. It’s positioning. Every step you take to decline a confrontation pays dividends later – with officers on scene, with prosecutors deciding whether to file, and with jurors deciding whether to believe you.

After: Don’t Talk – Call A Lawyer

On the “after” side, Hayes starts with the advice everyone knows and almost no one follows: don’t talk until you’ve consulted counsel.

The problem, Taylor admits, is human nature. If you believe you were right, your instinct is to explain. You’ll want to justify why you acted, fill in details, rationalize fuzzy edges. That’s normal – and dangerous.

Hayes emphasizes how unusual this moment is for most law-abiding people. You may have never been in trouble. And now you’ve vaulted from zero to “murder-territory” overnight. Your ears are ringing, your vision is tunneling, and your adrenaline makes you a terrible narrator.

That’s when the 2/2 Rule demands discipline. Identify yourself. Ask for medical help if needed. Request your attorney. Then stop. 

When it’s time to give a statement, do it with counsel sitting next to you. As Hayes notes, attorneys can help control timing, scope, and clarity – and prevent you from saying something imprecise that gets twisted into intent.

Have a plan and a number. If you carry a gun, carry a card with your lawyer’s contact or your legal plan’s hotline. Practice saying, “Officer, I’ll cooperate after I’ve spoken with my attorney.” You won’t rise to the occasion; you’ll fall to your training.

After: Live Like Everything Is An Exhibit

Taylor’s final piece may be the most overlooked: from the trigger press forward, live as if everything in your life has an exhibit sticker on it.

Because it does.

Body-cam video will capture your post-incident demeanor. Your tone during routine questions (“What’s your name?” “Is this your address?”) will be scrutinized. Your texts, DMs, photos, comments under news stories – all of it can wind up in a prosecutor’s binder.

Taylor recounts a client who, after giving a statement and being released that night, confronted officers about a missing knife from his property. He got aggressive – and that post-incident aggression came into evidence at trial over defense objections. It damaged him.

And she’s seen the modern version too many times: a client posting, arguing, or joking online after a shooting. Prosecutors find it, package it, and use it to paint character or motive – guilt and punishment alike.

Hayes adds a sobering point: there’s no statute of limitations on murder. Even if charges aren’t immediate, years can pass and your digital trail can still come calling.

My take: go dark. No social posts. No spicy texts. No trash-talk in comment sections. Don’t drink to cope. Don’t pick fights about evidence or property with officers – let your lawyer handle it. Until you’re holding a formal “no bill,” dismissal, or not-guilty verdict, assume you’re living on the record.

Practical Prep: Build Your Baseline

The 2/2 Rule is simple to state and hard to execute. Here’s how to set yourself up to honor it when it counts – consistent with Hayes’ and Taylor’s guidance:

• Know your law. Spend an hour this month reviewing your state’s standards for imminence, proportionality, duty to retreat/stand-your-ground, defense of third persons, defense of property, and vehicle/home rules. Laws change; refresh yearly.
• Script your scenarios. Write down the five most likely confrontations for your life and your environment. Decide in advance what counts as “enough” to draw, to issue commands, to disengage, or to leave.
• Practice avoidance. Build habits: park under lights; fuel during daylight when possible; choose seating with exits; defuse insults; disengage from road-rage chasers. Boring is good.
• Set your “after” kit. Legal contact card, a short “first call” checklist (identify self, request EMS, ask for attorney), and a promise to your future self to say less, do less, post nothing.
• Train the demeanor. After scenario drills, practice the quiet: phone out, call counsel, deep breathing, neutral posture, short answers to identity-only questions. Your body language after the fact matters.

The Bottom Line

Richard Hayes and Emily Taylor don’t romanticize self-defense. They defend it – and they defend you when you get it right and still land in the justice system.

Their 2/2 Rule is the cleanest version of decades of hard lessons:

Before:

1. Know when force – and deadly force – is justified under your state’s law.
2. Avoid the fight if there’s a safe way out; jurors love the person who didn’t want violence.

After:

1. Don’t talk until you’ve consulted an attorney; adrenaline makes you a bad witness.
2. Live as if everything is evidence – posture, posts, messages, and conversations.

The hardest part is resisting the very human urge to explain. The smartest part is avoiding the fight altogether. And the most important part is recognizing that saving your life is only step one. Saving your freedom is the rest of the journey.

Memorize the 2/2 Rule. Rehearse it. Share it. It’s the kind of advice you hope you never need – and the kind that, if you do, can make all the difference.

UP NEXT: “Heavily Armed” — See Which States Are The Most Strapped

Americans have long debated the role of firearms, but one thing is sure — some states are far more armed than others.

See where your state ranks in this new report on firearm ownership across the U.S.