From the article: “The mere brandishing of it before the evildoer is usually enough to incentivize the criminal to stop his activity and to flee the scene.”
I carry and would never “brandish” a weapon of any sort. Before showing my weapon I must feel as though my life or someone else’s life is endangered by another person with a weapon of some sort. All factors must be weighed, such as will pulling a gun start a gun fight in a crowed area where missed shots kill some innocent person?
I will not know what to do until it actually happens, and then that decision will be made. But what I will not do is pull a gun and “brandish” it, it’s just plain dumb.
So some guy gets angry at you while driving. You both pull over and he gets out of his car with a tire iron.
It seems to me the best thing you can do is pull out your weapon and show him that you're armed. I think the situation would de-escalate quickly.
I can't imagine the best thing to do would be to shoot him (unless, of course, he came at you).
But you'd be guilty of brandishing.
Does anyone here have experience or knowledge about the legality of brandishing under these circumstances?
I think the word “brandish” can have several connotations - most consider brandishing to be pulling it out and waving it around for no pertinent reason - most of us would say that if being threatened and sensing it is going south, taking gun in hand and allowing the threat to see it may be a deterrent and prevent the need to take a life.