Mainsail
Member
Wrong, wrong, wrong. The witness was one lucky SOB. The witness did not know the shooter wasn’t a threat until after the shooter didn’t shoot him. In the moment, all the witness knew was that someone had just shot a woman in a car and, still holding the gun, turned toward him. At that point, many of us would have shot in self-defense. Not to protect the woman, but to protect ourselves. Not to ‘get involved’ (because at that instant the witness was already irretrievably involved) but to protect ourselves.Jeff White said:Bottom line here is that the shooter was never a threat to the witness.
That’s was his observation in hindsight, not at the moment. Again, in the moment, all the witness knew was that someone had just shot a woman in a car and, still holding the gun, turned toward him.The witness said the shooter acted like he wasn't present.
That’s not the argument so it’s silly for you to take a position counter to it. The argument is; all the witness knew was that someone had just shot a woman in a car and, still holding the gun, turned toward him. Shooting in self-defense may be an execution in Illinois, but not in the rest of the country.Your CCW permit does not give you the authority to act for the state and become the judge jury and executioner because you saw a murder committed in front of you.
Everything else in your position is pure speculation and nothing more. You cannot argue from a position of speculation and maintain intellectual honesty. You need to read the story and discern the critical difference between what the witness saw and heard at the moment and what he, looking back in hindsight, drew conclusions about. He wasn’t involving himself in a shooting, that situation was thrust upon him, just like it could do to you or any of us at any time, under a myriad of circumstance. You could be standing on the street looking in a shop window and someone standing near you could shoot another and turn towards you. You don’t get to call a time-out when someone shoots another and turns toward you still holding the gun. You don’t get time to reason and speculate about the shooter’s intentions and motives.