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Originally Posted by MNBoxster
Hi,
What I am saying is that a Gun is really no practical deterrent. It's only value is to be used. If you simply pull it, this will more likely have an escalating effect than a deterrent one. This is especially true if you frequent that scene, next time the other guy will be forewarned.
The consensus among those advocating carrying a Handgun seems to be that only in an absolutely iron-clad, last-resort danger should it be used. But, what does that mean?
A Bad Guy may wield a Gun simply to scare you with no intention of using it. It may even be inoperable or unloaded. Often we hear of Police Officers shooting people who only possess fake guns, or hold-ups with replicas (just as an example). So, the only way you can be certain that the situation is truly life threatening is to have the Bad Guy actually fire a shot at you, anything else and you're making an assumption to one degree or another, maybe reasonable, maybe not. If the first shot misses or isn't fatal, you can now proceed with your planned response. If he didn't miss, your Gun has really done you no good.
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C'mon, Jim. You're really grasping at straws here. You're bending over backwards to describe the situation in the most biased way against the law-abiding individual who's just trying to escape with his life. What do you have against the good guy?
Bottom line in your scenario above... the same rule applies to the bad guy as the good guy. If you pull it, it's to use it, not to just scare someone. Therefore, in your scenario, you don't wait until the person fires at you, just to make sure they aren't just "foolin' ya". If they are brandishing a weapon, they have made the choice for you... it's you or them.
Here's a question for you: Bad guy crack-addict car-jacker points a gun, says "get out or die", and then good guy gets a shot off, and kills bad guy. It is then discovered that bad guy's gun was not loaded. Should good guy stand trial for murder? You're on the jury... do you acquit the good guy, or send him to jail?
Extra credit: Do you award bad guy's crackhead wife damages in a civil suit?
Jack
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