We had a thread recently about a man who drew his gun and confronted an alleged shoplifter in a liquor store. He ended up following the man outside, where there was a scuffle. The man with the gun was disarmed and killed with it.
Car-jackings are on the rise, and a Lyft driver was recently victimized in Philadelphia. He was able to get his passenger safely out of his car. But after the car had been taken by one car-jacker and the other perp was driving his own car, the Lyft driver drew a firearm and opened fire on them, wounding both, who were apparently fleeing felons.
An argument over child custody led a man in Texas to go into his house and return with a firearm. A scuffle ensued, and the man with a gun killed another man. His case is now the subject of a criminal investigation.
All of these shootings were avoidable, and none of them represented the prudent use of deadly force. All may well have involved the unlawful use of firearms.
To these we can add the recent killing that occurred during an attempted citizen's arrest in Georgia. Three men are now serving life terms.
The common thread seems to be a failure in judgment and a lack of restraint.
When I started carrying a firearm over thirteen years ago, a former police officer friend who had been in law enforcement for a long time said to me "the ONLY time my gun is coming out is when I am ABOUT TO DIE!" He had been sharing stories of civil and criminal investigations in which he had been involved over the years that had to do with officer-informed gun incidents.
I have never forgotten that.
The best thing to do is to always avoid situations that might lead to a confrontation. Do not go outside to investigate a possible miscreant. Do not get involved in someone else's trouble. Do not think of yourself as "the good guy". Do not display or mention your firearm unless and until you are about....
Car-jackings are on the rise, and a Lyft driver was recently victimized in Philadelphia. He was able to get his passenger safely out of his car. But after the car had been taken by one car-jacker and the other perp was driving his own car, the Lyft driver drew a firearm and opened fire on them, wounding both, who were apparently fleeing felons.
An argument over child custody led a man in Texas to go into his house and return with a firearm. A scuffle ensued, and the man with a gun killed another man. His case is now the subject of a criminal investigation.
All of these shootings were avoidable, and none of them represented the prudent use of deadly force. All may well have involved the unlawful use of firearms.
To these we can add the recent killing that occurred during an attempted citizen's arrest in Georgia. Three men are now serving life terms.
The common thread seems to be a failure in judgment and a lack of restraint.
When I started carrying a firearm over thirteen years ago, a former police officer friend who had been in law enforcement for a long time said to me "the ONLY time my gun is coming out is when I am ABOUT TO DIE!" He had been sharing stories of civil and criminal investigations in which he had been involved over the years that had to do with officer-informed gun incidents.
I have never forgotten that.
The best thing to do is to always avoid situations that might lead to a confrontation. Do not go outside to investigate a possible miscreant. Do not get involved in someone else's trouble. Do not think of yourself as "the good guy". Do not display or mention your firearm unless and until you are about....
