In light of yesterdays events, I am wondering what the legal ramifications are of the following. This is hypothetical of course, but as time goes on, I see that more and more law abiding CCW permit holders may decide to ignore a law or two for the sake of safety.
Okay, so you are CCWng and you happen to space it, ignore the rules, or what have you and you have your CCW on your person at one of the "off limits" locales. This could be a courthouse, post office, or as in todays case, a college campus. Some whack job decides to go on a killing spree and you, knowing you're violating some serious laws (felony level) and you have an opportunity to intervene and stop the killing.
I'm not real interested in whether or not any of you would decide to act, that's not my ultimate question. Circumstances will dictate what and how you respond, if at all. I don't want to go into the minutiae of "why" you respond in kind to gunfire with gunfire. Let's say you did act accordingly and stop the event from drawing itself out like today at Virginia Tech.
My question is rather, how would the law handle this situation. Sure, you'd be a hero of a citizen, but also a felon. How do you think the legal system would handle such a situation. Lets say that you are not a LEO of any form, so we don't degrade to LEOs can carry everywhere debate. You are simply a person who did not leave his CCW at home, kept it undercover and just happened to have it at the wrong place (legal no gun zone) at the wrong time (massacre is going down).
Sure, the people you save would be grateful, but what about all the liberals and sheeple who would ostracize you for having a gun in an off limits zone in the first place. Would the media and legal system love or hate you. I'm guessing that both the media and justice system would fry you just like they would the whack job since you were technically a felon for not abiding by an unconstitutional law.
What say you? I'd appreciate some real lawyers to chime in and comment and state that they are lawyers just for clarity. If you cannot due that for ethical reasons or otherwise, please state that and we'll all understand. I know some of you are lawyers and appreciate any comments you can make being you guys and gals know more of how the legal system operates.
I'm guessing this would be a no-win situation and you'd have to run like an unarmed citizen or face a life behind bars for saving others. Either way, it just doesn't seem like you could win here, your only satisfaction would be between you and the citizens you possibly save.
Okay, so you are CCWng and you happen to space it, ignore the rules, or what have you and you have your CCW on your person at one of the "off limits" locales. This could be a courthouse, post office, or as in todays case, a college campus. Some whack job decides to go on a killing spree and you, knowing you're violating some serious laws (felony level) and you have an opportunity to intervene and stop the killing.
I'm not real interested in whether or not any of you would decide to act, that's not my ultimate question. Circumstances will dictate what and how you respond, if at all. I don't want to go into the minutiae of "why" you respond in kind to gunfire with gunfire. Let's say you did act accordingly and stop the event from drawing itself out like today at Virginia Tech.
My question is rather, how would the law handle this situation. Sure, you'd be a hero of a citizen, but also a felon. How do you think the legal system would handle such a situation. Lets say that you are not a LEO of any form, so we don't degrade to LEOs can carry everywhere debate. You are simply a person who did not leave his CCW at home, kept it undercover and just happened to have it at the wrong place (legal no gun zone) at the wrong time (massacre is going down).
Sure, the people you save would be grateful, but what about all the liberals and sheeple who would ostracize you for having a gun in an off limits zone in the first place. Would the media and legal system love or hate you. I'm guessing that both the media and justice system would fry you just like they would the whack job since you were technically a felon for not abiding by an unconstitutional law.
What say you? I'd appreciate some real lawyers to chime in and comment and state that they are lawyers just for clarity. If you cannot due that for ethical reasons or otherwise, please state that and we'll all understand. I know some of you are lawyers and appreciate any comments you can make being you guys and gals know more of how the legal system operates.
I'm guessing this would be a no-win situation and you'd have to run like an unarmed citizen or face a life behind bars for saving others. Either way, it just doesn't seem like you could win here, your only satisfaction would be between you and the citizens you possibly save.