[William Tell]

PreciousLiberty said: "For instance, if you see a man beating a woman on the sidewalk, it is perfectly permissible to draw your weapon and warn the man to stop or he’ll be shot. "

Is it perfectly permissible to shoot?

[PreciousLiberty]

“Is it perfectly permissible to shoot?”

If you feel the woman is about to be killed, or is facing grave bodily harm, yes.

Of course, it’s really not that simple. There is no way to unshoot a bullet. There’s the possibility you might be found at fault to consider. There’s also the fact that you’d have to live with ending someone’s life, never something to be taken lightly. It’s impossible to know ahead of time if the assailant is a hardened criminal with no redeeming value, or a good person who’s having a bad day. In fact, that consideration appears to apply to the incident this thread discusses.

Resolving the situation without shooting is almost always better. I’m pretty sure Reeves feels that way now.