Posted on 04/14/2015 5:29:39 PM PDT by TNoldman
The strange thing to me is that if the Troy, Alabama police had not come across video of the assault, it probably would never even been reported.
In my state, it is permissible to shoot when a criminal is in the act of a felony that involves bodily harm. So, one possible scenario: if the tactical situation permits, one to the head of the perp to suffice for a "warning shot" and scan the others if they stick around. You have eight shots, now seven. In close quarters you won't have time for a mag change either. No BS warning shots into the air. If they run, you're fine, let them go. If the perp is missed or not dead, he won't be sticking around either. See to the victim. Now call the police and prepare for your life to be swamped by the legal consequences of what you just had to do.
That's only one of a hundred possible scenarios depending on any number of tactical factors. You're not going to come out of it clean if you intervene, and you're not going to be able to live with yourself if you don't. I strongly recommend reading Massad Ayoob's In The Gravest Extreme. It will give you an idea of what using that firearm you're carrying will lead to and how best to prepare for it.
At 80 do you really give a rip?
I am a caring patriot and believe in taking out the bad guys.
I was present when a female neighbor was being attacked. I called 911 since I knew I needed help. The 911 operator asked me if I had a weapon and then told me to use my weapon to stop the attack. I was so surprised by this I asked her to repeat that. Fortunately, the police were just down the street and arrived before I even got off the phone.
That’s not necessarily true.
I’d remember that things are not always what they seem. You can only use deadly force in a situation where you reasonably fear for YOUR life. and even then it is a horrible, bad, crappy, rotten decision to have to make. Your actions will be judged by prosecutors looking to score convictions, juries that might or might not agree with self defense, judges who are political hacks in black muumuus, and defense lawyers who, if competent, will take you to the cleaners regardless.
Yeah, there are laws in some states that allow deadly force to prevent a felony. And you might go free after you’ve spent every last dime that you have to stay out of prison.
Ultimately if you are involved in a self defense shooting there is a good chance that you’re going to jail. Maybe for a few hours, maybe for many years. So the decision should be...is the situation so bad that I’m willing to risk going to jail for a long time because all the other alternatives are worse.
You approach them with pistol ready, warn them you will shoot if they don’t stop committing serious bodily harm to the victim, and if they don’t you end their deed as quickly and safely as possible.
I meant at 80 are you really worried about being killed.
Also was in a similar situation about 25 yrs ago in Pgh, PA.
Intervened in an assault, turned out to be an attempted kidnapping, by a feral yout on a little blonde college girl. Jumped in, unarmed, without adequately surveying the situation.
Instead of 1 perp there were six and I ended up with the back of my head split open with a brick and the perps trying to stomp and pound my brains into the pavement.
Saved the girl though, started carrying the next day and haven't stopped.
Warning shots are part of the show and should never be eliminated from someone’s arsenal, people have always used warning shots as an element of control and assertion.
In Houston we used to tell of a Texas Ranger who went to an Hispanic trailer park in the old days, to investigate something, as he started to walk around a large number of rough men started gathering to intimidate him into leaving, he went to his car and took a Thompson out of his car trunk and fired a burst into the ground in front of them, and they left him alone for the rest of his visit.
When you are trying to control a man and he keeps arguing and fidgeting, firing two rounds into the ground and then moving it to his face, gets him to hear your message.
Warning shots can especially be important to a female or a male that isn’t very credible looking when the bad guy is trying to figure out if they can actually shoot him.
I am 80 and generally carry a 1911 concealed.
I doubt it - a 1911 is too big a gun fire an 80 year old to carry who believes they are frail......etc.
I’m not frail 6’2”215 # is good condition, work as a Carpenter and Shoot 1911 at the local range frequently..... I want to aid my fellow citizens..how about you?
I remember reading this advice from Dave Arnold who experienced real riots and a lot more while he was in Southern Rhodesia. He also was present in the aftermath of some. I know he was in the Rhodesian Army and was a cop but don’t recall if he was a Selous Scout.
Typically a crowd will run away at the sound of the first shot. If they are really hopped up and angry enough, they will kill you no matter what you are armed with and no matter how good you are.
Close to a distance that you are able to consistently hit the target from. Issue a command in your loudest modulated voice to cease, desist, turn away and drop to a prone position. Don’t worry about calling the cops, as soon as you try to do the right thing some arsehole will have his phone glued to the side of his head. Begin to retreat in such a way that escape has the best chance of success. You do not have to stay to refer charges, your only objective is to protect the innocent and stop a violent crime. Practice it makes perfect.
Not necessarily true but more often than not it is true.
You wont find too many 80 yo that can take on even one 18-20 something yo thug much less 3 or 4.
You would need the means the mindset and the ability to kill them all without hesitation.
You might have the means, a gun.
You might have the mind set that you will do it.
When you get to 80 you start questioning your ability to be able to physically do it.
If someone fired a tommy gun in front of me, I probably would do whatever they said.
I remember when Frank Hamer went to get the locked ballot box in Duval County, LBJ had it guarded by a group of Mexican bandits.
It was said that Hamer put his hand on his 1911 and simply said “git”. That was enough, they left.
Of course the fact that it was Frank Hamer probably had something to do with it.
The fundemental problem is that if you get involved and whack one of the perps, you will be treated as a racist vigilante and persecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If you happen to get past those charges in court, the Feds will come along an persecute you for civil rights violations. If you want to fix this, fix the ridiculous courts. Good luck with that.
Thank you FReepers. I will call 911 away from the mob and stay safe. I keep my hand cannon available as needed.
No Hollywood BS. The real world is a lot nastier.
Without going into too much detail, at our business we were being terrorized by someone who we could only guess was insane. The incidents were frequent and he police would often take 10-15 minutes to arrive. Finally, one night I was woken yet again by a call from work and the crazy SOB was back, sabotaging things. I called 911, as I always did. But this time I told the operator "I'm on my way, driving at high speed and I am armed. I may have to defend myself when I get there, so please hurry."
The cops beat me there that time, and ever time I mentioned it afterwords. Just don't bluff, be honest and don't make any threats or stupid statements.
I know this isn't an actual solution to the scenario you laid out, but it does appear to escalate the priority of your call. But again, and I must stress, never lie to them or make any threatening or absolute statements. You don't want to wind up in trouble yourself.
In NC we have to be under threat of grave bodily harm or death ourselves before we can employ lethal force, so my only legal option would be to call the cops- unless the attackers decided to neutralize me for doing so. That’s when the extra mags for the 1911 might be necessary.
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