The world is full of morons. Some percentage of them dangerous. When he honked and flipped you off, you should have ignored him and moved on. That's de-escalation.
A tough bit to swallow, I know. But that's life.
Your pepper spray force option obligates you to avoid altercations. Those of us who carry guns regularly know all to well the sting of having to walk away from your average insulting moron who needs to get his teeth knocked out. But the fact is, by participating in the altercation you are partly responsible for the outcome. If that outcome involves shooting someone (or to a lesser degree, macing them) you had best be sure that you did everything by the numbers up to that point.
If you want to have the option to duke it out with some retard over insults (and by reciprocating the insults you are accepting that possibility), leave the pepper spray/pistols at home. When you carry a force option, you are obligated to avoid using it. This is the trade-off. To be ready to survive when it's really on the line, you give up your ability to 'defend your honor' from common knuckle-draggers.
The way I've had it explained, is that if you have a concealed weapon and an altercation commences and you did not take 'outs' that were available to you, you will be partly responsible for the outcome due to the fact that your opponent was unaware that the possible outcome of his actions included not just a fight, but death. You are the only one in the altercation who knows that death is a real possibility, so you are obligated to avoid it moreso than your opponent.
Your mistake was to participate in the altercation. The guy was looking for someone to screw with, your move at the intersection put you on the radar screen. He threw the line out and you bit it, giving him the altercation he was fishing for.
Good lessons in all this. Thanks for bringing it up.
- Gabe
PS: I'm not a lawyer, this is basically just my opinion on the subject...
A tough bit to swallow, I know. But that's life.
Your pepper spray force option obligates you to avoid altercations. Those of us who carry guns regularly know all to well the sting of having to walk away from your average insulting moron who needs to get his teeth knocked out. But the fact is, by participating in the altercation you are partly responsible for the outcome. If that outcome involves shooting someone (or to a lesser degree, macing them) you had best be sure that you did everything by the numbers up to that point.
If you want to have the option to duke it out with some retard over insults (and by reciprocating the insults you are accepting that possibility), leave the pepper spray/pistols at home. When you carry a force option, you are obligated to avoid using it. This is the trade-off. To be ready to survive when it's really on the line, you give up your ability to 'defend your honor' from common knuckle-draggers.
The way I've had it explained, is that if you have a concealed weapon and an altercation commences and you did not take 'outs' that were available to you, you will be partly responsible for the outcome due to the fact that your opponent was unaware that the possible outcome of his actions included not just a fight, but death. You are the only one in the altercation who knows that death is a real possibility, so you are obligated to avoid it moreso than your opponent.
Your mistake was to participate in the altercation. The guy was looking for someone to screw with, your move at the intersection put you on the radar screen. He threw the line out and you bit it, giving him the altercation he was fishing for.
Good lessons in all this. Thanks for bringing it up.
- Gabe
PS: I'm not a lawyer, this is basically just my opinion on the subject...
