Posted on 02/01/2020 7:57:24 PM PST by PROCON
If you’ve never seen the Sergio Leone film “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly,” one of the characters admonishes a would-be assassin “When you have to shoot, shoot; don’t talk” after having dispatched him. Something like that exact sentiment is why warning shots, verbal warnings and other attempts to dissuade a violent attacker are a bad idea.
If the threat is real, draw from your concealed carry holster and fire – and stop the threat.
Warning Shots Will Only Land You In Jail
Warning shots sound great on paper. The gunshot will frighten the bad person enough so they give up or think better of what they’re doing and cheese it. Sounds good, right?
It’s likely to send you to jail instead.
There are two primary factors that will put you in a prison uni because of a warning shot. First is that a prosecutor will argue that since you weren’t threatened enough to actually shoot the person in the first place, you weren’t really threatened sufficiently to merit pulling a gun in the first place.
The act of drawing a pistol in the first place is an act of deadly force before the eyes of the law. Use of deadly force without the requisite reasonable belief of imminent death or dismemberment is a felony.
Second is what the bullet does after it leaves the barrel, which is part and parcel to why police officers don’t fire warning shots. If the threat is real, they tend to shoot to stop the threat and that’s exactly what you should do if confronted by a violent criminal.
Granted, a bullet into dirt will likely stay there, but pavement and other materials can cause a ricochet. Firing up into the air is equally reckless; what goes up, after all.
It Might Just Get You Killed
A recent tragic reminder about why warnings and warning shots are often fruitless is the recent case of Pedro “Pete” Cain of Norfolk, Va. Cain was visiting with some neighbors when a young woman came up to the group and asked to use a cellular phone on in late May of this year, according to the Virginia Pilot. She was told there wasn’t one available, but Cain was concerned that she was actually casing for a robbery and went back to his apartment to retrieve a handgun.
Cain’s suspicion was correct, and soon after returning with the gun, a man wearing a bandana appeared with a handgun. Cain aimed at the man and told him to drop it.
The man began to comply, but suddenly fired, hitting Cain in the abdomen. Cain was taken to the hospital but died of his wounds. Five people have been arrested for their roles in the robbery. The alleged shooter, one David Barrington, is facing a charge of 2nd degree murder as well as ancillary charges.
This isn’t to say it’s Cain’s own fault he was killed; it was the murderous criminal’s fault. However, it may well have turned out different had Cain merely fired. The shooter may have wound up on a slab, Cain’s fiance wouldn’t be mourning his loss and his son won’t be growing up without remembering his father.
Shoot To Stop The Threat
If you are confronted with a real and honest threat to you or someone else’s life or posed with a threat of serious bodily injury by a person bent on doing evil, shoot to stop the threat. Don’t try trick shots to the kneecap, don’t resort to warning shots. Verbal commands may work, but as can be gleaned from the Cain case, won’t always.
It certainly isn’t the case that you should shoot first and ask questions later. The threat has to be real and reasonable. But it is the case that if presented with a real clear and present danger, shoot until they stop.
If the danger is real, drawing and shooting will be justified. Since the best place for bullets is inside an attacker, there’s no danger of ricochets or bullets landing somewhere they shouldn’t after being fired in the air. Best of all, you’ll probably get home alive.
“The man began to comply, but suddenly fired, hitting Cain in the abdomen. Cain was taken to the hospital but died of his wounds.”
Getting to the point of dropping someone when other options might be available is difficult, but it is sometimes needed. If a guy who’s a threat is holding a gun...we all must learn to quickly take him out. There’s no reason to put yourself or your family at risk trying to talk him down, and even if you did, think about, he’d simply hit another family...and they probably won’t be so lucky.
Agree, stupid advice.
Agreed. Shoot the bastard first. Then if he is still a threat, shoot him again.
My daughter was living alone in Ft Carson when her husband was deployed to Iraq.
Kitchen living rooms were downstairs.
Bedrooms upstairs
to go upstairs you had to go up some steps and themn go around a corner.
I bought her a defensive shotgun.
12 guage..would hold 7 rounds.
I advised her if some one tried to break in she should retreat up the steps, retrieve the shotgun...jack a round into the shotgun if any one tried to go upstairs
My feeling is if I after someone and I cannot see them but I hear them jack a round into a shotgun...I ain’t sticking around
Back in the day, the plan was to shoot them in the knees.
Dad said hell no.
Head or heart shot.
Can’t testify and it’s your word against nothing.
A truism.
Better. To be judged by 12. Than Carried by 6
Retired cop buddy send me a vid, dude walks up to a pack and ship place, wearing hoodie on hot day and no boxes. Pulled a gun on the clerk, customer next to him pulled his ccw out of his shorts, extended his arm, and shot the guy three times, twice in the head. Hoodie kept things nice and clean.
Point is the shooter saw the threat and neturalized it in a span of 6 seconds. That’s how it is done.
I still find this partly nonsense, and partly catering to thug-loving liberalism.
So, liberals are saying we must be quick-draw McGraw and think fast on whether we want to shoot someone. And hope we are quick enough to beat the thug to the punch. Because if we brandish it first, or shoot into the ground, or talk to them, it means the thug wasn’t an IMMEDIATE threat, and of course he should never be shot unless he really truly had a gun and was pulling his trigger right then.
Geesh.
No thanks. Sounds total BS. And caving to liberal think.
I thought we love posting stories about people who took out their guns and scared the bum just that way.
What you said. Don’t give away your position. Just shoot (if you have to)
Ok maybe, but a shotgun might be considered a little different.
If you have the drop on the perp racking the chamber sends a STRONG message and avoids the asinine legal complications mentioned about firing a warning shot. LEO rumor has it that it is Powerful deterrent.
That’s a fact and a friend of mine, who knows every cop in the area, told me he was warned by one of them not to shoot an aggressor in the head because the DA will automatically send it to a grand jury.
Center mass, shoot until there’s no threat (be sure you’re justified to begin with) and your problems will be minimal.
They didn't listen.
There is one rule in a gun fight... THERE ARE NO RULES IN A GUN FIGHT. Shoot to stop the threat.
Then keep your mouth shut till you have a lawyer there. When the first threat/s are down the other threats are just showing up.
All that does is give away your position. The bad guy may go outside and shoot you out of the bedroom window while you wait by the door.
Bad advise repeated many times is still bad advise.
One time firing to kill without warning will save your life, the other time it will kill your kid. There is no hard and fast rules for stuff like this even when you don’t have time to make a decision. There are too many people who are completely reckless with guns, hearing this will just make them even more irresponsible.
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