We have had quite a few threads on the subjects of when it is permissible to draw a firearm and when drawing a firearm may be the appropriate thing to do from the tactical standpoint.
Questions such a "would you draw", "when can I draw", and "would this be brandishing", along with "this happened to me" stories that involve drawing or "almost" drawing, come up frequently.
Just to recap the legal aspects: From the standpoint of legality, the fact is that, in all but a few jurisdictions, a civilian may not lawfully draw a gun, or in many jurisdictions even display one, unless he or she is engaged in a lawful act of self defense.--that is, unless he or she has reason to believe that it is immediately necessary to do so to defend against imminent danger of death or seriously bodily harm. There are some exceptions involving the prevention of a forcible felony, but the threshold of immediate necessity is the same for those.
To reduce that to plain English, one may not draw simply because someone is walking toward him or taunting him or appears to be following "threatening", or because someone ignores a "command" to not approach. The danger must be serious and imminent.
Drawing when it is not lawfully justified can lead to very serious criminal charges.
From the tactical standpoint, it is important to realize that, if one has drawn a firearm, one may appear to be threatening someone unlawfully, or to be otherwise engaged in the commission of a crime of violence. One may thus draw unwelcome attention from police officers, or even attract fire from an overzealous armed citizen.
As Lee Lapin said here, "No reasonable, responsible person WANTS to ever have to draw, or worse, fire their sidearm [emphasis added]". If that is not self-evident, think about it a little more.
I'm sure that in most cases it has not been intentional, but as Lee Lapin put it, there's some concern that some of those threads have a bit of an air of "I almost got a chance to draw my gun" instead of "OMG I almost had to draw." One thing we can do is think about how we title our new threads.
One last thing--if we have been involved in an incident, we must all realize that anything we post about it is permanent and discoverable. If the post does not contain admissible evidence, it may well lead investigators to something that does comprise admissible evidence. The fact that charges have not been filed is no indication that they may not be. Let's be careful.
Questions such a "would you draw", "when can I draw", and "would this be brandishing", along with "this happened to me" stories that involve drawing or "almost" drawing, come up frequently.
Just to recap the legal aspects: From the standpoint of legality, the fact is that, in all but a few jurisdictions, a civilian may not lawfully draw a gun, or in many jurisdictions even display one, unless he or she is engaged in a lawful act of self defense.--that is, unless he or she has reason to believe that it is immediately necessary to do so to defend against imminent danger of death or seriously bodily harm. There are some exceptions involving the prevention of a forcible felony, but the threshold of immediate necessity is the same for those.
To reduce that to plain English, one may not draw simply because someone is walking toward him or taunting him or appears to be following "threatening", or because someone ignores a "command" to not approach. The danger must be serious and imminent.
Drawing when it is not lawfully justified can lead to very serious criminal charges.
From the tactical standpoint, it is important to realize that, if one has drawn a firearm, one may appear to be threatening someone unlawfully, or to be otherwise engaged in the commission of a crime of violence. One may thus draw unwelcome attention from police officers, or even attract fire from an overzealous armed citizen.
As Lee Lapin said here, "No reasonable, responsible person WANTS to ever have to draw, or worse, fire their sidearm [emphasis added]". If that is not self-evident, think about it a little more.
I'm sure that in most cases it has not been intentional, but as Lee Lapin put it, there's some concern that some of those threads have a bit of an air of "I almost got a chance to draw my gun" instead of "OMG I almost had to draw." One thing we can do is think about how we title our new threads.
One last thing--if we have been involved in an incident, we must all realize that anything we post about it is permanent and discoverable. If the post does not contain admissible evidence, it may well lead investigators to something that does comprise admissible evidence. The fact that charges have not been filed is no indication that they may not be. Let's be careful.