I always find these discussions interesting. A few months ago there was the shooting in the washington mall and a few people questioned if the right thing to do if you were there and armed would be to defend someone in need or only worry about your own tail. The responses were along the lines of save your own butt, they had the chance to carry, legal liability, etc. Most people didn't seem like they would help someone in need in the situation. Many tore into the guy that did try to stop the kid and got shot in the process.
Yet in this thread everyone commends this person and says we need more people like him, hopefully others would do the same, he should have been carrying. Whats the difference, am I missing something?
Well, besides the different tactical situations--if I'm pinned down by a nutter with a rifle, I'm not going to draw attention to myself until I have a good opportunity to do so--there's the difference in what the threads are saying.
The right thing to do is to render aid, consistent with some degree of your own safety (I can be of absolutely no help whatsoever if I'm laying dead on the ground). There is, however, a serious question of liability assosciated with doing the right thing. It's a symptom of our society, really--we've created such a mess that the old saw about no good deed going unpunished has actually come true. Doctors and other first-responders actually have "good Samaritan" laws written to protect them from liability. Imagine--you have to have a
law to protect you from being sued for trying to keep somebody from dying.
In general, we don't have such laws to cover those who intervene in a shootout. As such, there's a very good chance that, if you intervene, you're going to end up with a five- or six-figure legal bill
as a best case.
That sucks. But it's reality.
What can you do? Well, you have to weigh it against your own conscience, and that's going to depend on the situation. Some things, I'm probably going to stay out of; others, I'll jump in. Depends on the situation (and who's involved--I'm more likely to get involved, and to a greater degree, if the victim is somebody I know and care about). I can't give a better answer than that. I can say, though, that I'd have a tough time shaving the next morning if somebody got hurt and I could have prevented it, and I know it up front.
Gotta keep the man in the glass happy, first and foremost.
