+1 for the Good Guys

[Starcheck55]

of course it would have been better to have his ccw, but my hat is off to this guy for not only protecting the customers and employees...but also having the restraint from gunning down the 2nd guy in the heat of the moment. Hopefully that 17 year old kid will get his life back in order someday (after what I can only hope will be a long prison sentence).

 

[AJChenMPH]

Good on the prosecutor, but it does raise the original question: why didn't he have a CCW permit?

Something similar happened to Bernie Goetz in NYC some years ago.

Problem with the Goetz case was that there was never a weapon displayed by the perps, and in a place like NYC (unlike other places) you'd have to prove that your life really was in danger in order to get the free pass (again, in a place like NYC, just having 4 vs. 1 by itself wouldn't demonstrate danger to life). Goetz didn't meet that burden of proof. Had he simply drawn and let them scatter (assuming they didn't press the attack further), he might have gotten away with it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Goetz

If you scroll down to the "Cabey and the 'here's another' issue" section, that also killed any chance for him to get the free pass.

 

[Frank Ettin]

...Problem with the Goetz case was that there was never a weapon displayed by the perps, and in a place like NYC (unlike other places) you'd have to prove that your life really was in danger in order to get the free pass (again, in a place like NYC, just having 4 vs. 1 by itself wouldn't demonstrate danger to life)...

Nope, Goetz did convince the jury that his use of lethal force was justified. He was acquitted of the aggravated assault charges.

What he was convicted of was carrying a gun without a permit.

 

[Buck Snort]

"Harry J. McCullough III, 32, had a permit to carry a loaded handgun in plain view — typically in a holster — but did not have a concealed weapons permit, said Omaha Police Officer Jacob Bettin."

I don't know about NE but in CA he'd be headed to civil court.

 

[Buck Snort]

Husker Fan wrote: "Whether it was loaded or not makes no difference in the moment, but it might make it harder for this guy to live with what he had to do."

For the life of me I can't imagine why, it was a clean shoot.

 

[ccsniper]

More than a few states have a law saying that even if you were carrying the gun illegally, if you use it in a lawful self defense shooting, you wont be prosecuted for the unlawful carry in that instance.

Arkansas is one of them.

A permit to carry in plain veiw?

Oklahoma just sent a bill to the Governor to sign into law today that said exactly that.

For the life of me I can't imagine why, it was a clean shoot.

Clean shoot or not, he just ended another human beings life. Unless you have been there you will have no idea as to how it will affect a man.