[Rodamala]

Never, ever fire a warning shot. If you shot the assailant(s), when the cops arrive say you would like to speak with an attorney and say nothing else.

[yarddog]

Thanks for your opinion. Mine is different.

[fr_freak]

Never, ever fire a warning shot. If you shot the assailant(s), when the cops arrive say you would like to speak with an attorney and say nothing else.

That's a good policy when one is experiencing a personal attack, but in the given scenario, when one is witnessing a girl getting gang-raped, a warning shot to scatter them would be prudent. I'm not a lawyer, but I would think that if you were then attacked, you could fire at will and argue later that you tried to save the girl without shooting anyone. The reason that the warning shot would be necessary is because there are multiple people involved and simply claiming you have a gun, even brandishing the gun, might not be enough. Crowds are weird that way. However, a gunshot gets people's attention, and panic fleeing might be the natural result.