Sam1911
Moderator Emeritus
Bobson, for what it's worth I read your closing there exactly the same way, as in a directive: "SHOOT (verb, imperative), you were in the perfect position to be a crime victim."
I see what you meant now.
A question of using a deliberate display of the weapon (which is itself legally defined as non-lethal force in most places) to change the guy's actions toward you is worth while to discuss, certainly. In some ways it's almost harder to clearly answer than the question of actually shooting.
It may be a great way of completely de-escalating a situation like that. Or, it may have ended up with the OP arrested for unlawfully threatening someone if he could not successfully defend his case for a need to use force. Or, it may have pushed what turned out to be a completely non-violent encounter into a deadly one for either or both parties.
We have a lot of hot discussions about displays of force here. Some folks are strongly of the opinion that the gun should never, ever come into view until the defender MUST fire. Others like the idea of, essentially, giving the bad guy ONE more chance to change his mind.
Now, the brief window of time when it is justifiable to display a weapon in a threatening way and the moment when one MUST shoot is usually both extremely short and hard to define.
I see what you meant now.
A question of using a deliberate display of the weapon (which is itself legally defined as non-lethal force in most places) to change the guy's actions toward you is worth while to discuss, certainly. In some ways it's almost harder to clearly answer than the question of actually shooting.
It may be a great way of completely de-escalating a situation like that. Or, it may have ended up with the OP arrested for unlawfully threatening someone if he could not successfully defend his case for a need to use force. Or, it may have pushed what turned out to be a completely non-violent encounter into a deadly one for either or both parties.
We have a lot of hot discussions about displays of force here. Some folks are strongly of the opinion that the gun should never, ever come into view until the defender MUST fire. Others like the idea of, essentially, giving the bad guy ONE more chance to change his mind.
Now, the brief window of time when it is justifiable to display a weapon in a threatening way and the moment when one MUST shoot is usually both extremely short and hard to define.