Fellas, fellas, fellas! No one is saying that you have to be a punching bag, a door mat, or a
tameshigiri stand.
Here it is, in a nutshell:
LOTS of people (as well we all know) carry firearms for defense. Human beings have the right to defend themselves, and the people they love.
Unfortunately, the society in which we live has determined that we the people should be we the sheeple, and put sometimes unreasonable restrictions on our right to self defense.
Know the laws of your area, and know the legalities of self defense using deadly force in your area, OK?
IF YOU HAE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE LAW IN YOUR PARTICULAR AREA, then contact the person you're going to have to face IF you do shoot someone...your local prosecuting attorney. Get the facts, and get the name.
If there is ANYONE out there, who thinks for one second that you're going to be treated like a king or queen if you shoot an unarmed attacker, you are dead wrong. The first responders will treat it like an on-view homicide--which it is--and will assume,
FOR THEIR SAFETY AND YOURS that you have just committed a murder.
You WILL be relieved of your firearm, at least temporarily. Depending on the circumstances and the environment, you might well be proned out.
When the po-po arrives, trust me--it is NOT the time to start arguing about your Second Amendment rights. The thing to do is two fold.
1. Be courteous, and respond positively to the officers.
2.
KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT AND GET A LAWYER. RIGHT NOW. YESTERDAY WOULD BE FINE.
Please don't read into that. If you're smart enough to carry a gun, you're smart enough to know what I mean.
As for the civil suit, or financial liability:
Your defense strategy should include a plan of what to do in the event you need to defend yourself, but I won't allow a fear of "ruining the rest of my life" to ruin the rest of my life. A better legal strategy may be to take a proactive approach. What I did the second time I had to draw a weapon was to file suit first. After all, I was the victim not the assailant. I sued not for money, but for injunctive relief, a restraining order. That put him on the defensive and made him defend himself rather than the other way around. Yeah it cost me $3000, but I got a lot for that 3K(like knowing the two girls I was protecting didn't get beat up). In the BG's resulting criminal trial he was banished from the state(sent to texas) for 10 years. YMMV.
That by far is one of the best ideas that I have ever heard! Don't be passive, take the fight to them! I have heard of police officers suing their attackers. A proactive defense is much better than a passive one.