Posted by Shoobee: Property crime is the nemesis of better neighborhoods, not violent crime. .... Better neighborhoods are the targets of property crime.
Home invasions, car-jackings, kidnappings, armed robbery, and strong-arm robbery--all crimes against the person--are likely to occur anywhere that money is, and with predators having mobility, "better neighborhoods" are by no means immune to such crime.
Based on my own procedures, it was too early in the evening at 7:30 pm for Zimmerman to be armed.
I cannot speak to more than a couple of your "own procedures", but that one is patently absurd.
I would never arm myself unless it was after midnight.
That, of course, is your prerogative. That's a new one to me. I choose a very different schedule indeed.
And I would only shoot someone for coming straight at me, while I was positioned someplace out of the way, where no one would have a reason to approach, after telling them to stop.
Apparently you did not understand what Sam said about that. If you do not have a sufficient understanding of the basic rules of self defense to enable you to comprehend what he said, I strongly suggest that you remedy that as soon as possible.
First, just to establish one incontrovertible fact,
no one other than a sworn officer on duty is
ever lawfully justified to enforce a command to stop simply because that someone might not "have a reason to approach".
Second--well, lets get to the basics. In general, one is justified in the use of deadly force
only when that person has a
basis for a
reasonable belief (a basis that will be judged by others, by the way) that the use of such force is the
only way to defend against an
imminent threat of
death or
serious bodily harm. There are some exceptions regarding the prevention of some kinds of felonies in some jurisdictions, but the standards of reasonableness and necessity are higher in those cases.
May I
strongly suggest that you bookmark and study
http://www.useofforce.us/ very thoroughly and very carefully.
And I would not shoot center mass unless they were armed with a firearm.
Pay some attention to Loosedhorse on that; he knows what he is talking about.
Two of the advantages of COM is that it is quick to acquire, and large enough to still get "a piece of" if the target moves (and if someone were whooting at me, I'd be moving! ). I am concerned that your choice to choose a target other than COM will lead to several problems (besides legal justfication questions) such as slower fire, increased risk of misses (with increased risk for hitting bystanders), and lower likelihood of stopping the attacker.
And consider this: Should an attacker armed with an edged weapon suddenly and unexpectedly charge you from behind cover (bush, wall, gas pump, parked car) within the proverbial "Tueller" distance, you will be lucky to be able to draw and acquire
any other target
but center mass
if that before you are seriously injured.
The heart and the liver are center mass. And wounding the heart or liver would be a lethal shot. A lung shot could become leathal quickly as well, if EMS did not arrive quickly enough, and evacuate to a trauma center quickly enough.
Somewhere between 85% and 95% of persons shot by handguns survive, unless they are shot in the head.
But that is not your uproblem. Your problem is to
stop a violent criminal actor
before he inflicts a serious wound on you. A head shot (actually, a shot to a
specific, small part of the head would be the most effective hit, but in most SD encounters it is very unlikley that even trained shooters could effect that except by chance.
That's why
everyone trains to shoot at the largest target area that is presented. That's usually center mass.
The barrel bushing on my 45ACP makes it a very accurate pistol. I do not doubt in my ability to hit whatever I am aiming at. That's why I practice. And when I bought the 45 I made sure it was among the most accurate of all 45's.
I too have a very accurate .45. On a good day I can put most of my shots in half a playing card at seven yards, if I try.
But I no longer try to do that, except occasionally for fun, because that skill is almost always useless in a justified use of force encounter involving a civilian.
When I first attended a high performance defensive pistol class some time back, I became aware for the first time, after all of my years at the range, that
speed is of the essence. We fired one group at the beginning, and from than on, it was a matter if improving
how quickly we could make
multiple hits on--anywhere on--each of several torso sized steel targets (that teaches the skills necessary to hit a running target or multiple attackers). The distance was seven yards.
The instructors could consistently hit each of three targets twice, reload, and repeat the process in a little over four seconds. They were more concerned about the shapes of their magazine well openings than about their barrel bushings.
Forget target accuracy in self defense, and forget completely about the idea of shooting to wound.
). I am concerned that your choice to choose a target other than COM will lead to several problems (besides legal justfication questions) such as slower fire, increased risk of misses (with increased risk for hitting bystanders), and lower likelihood of stopping the attacker.
