“Not if the person he attacks has a gun and puts two in him.”
In many of these incidents the victim being armed wouldn’t have made a difference. If the victim is knocked out or killed as a result of the first blow, the concealed or open carry firearm is of no use. In this particular I case the victim was struck, he fell down, his head hit the curb and he was unconscious. A gun could have only provided some protection if he saw his attacker coming at him. If he was hit from behind, the gun offered no help.
Consider today a middle aged white male walking alone to his car in a parking lot. Three teens approach and surround him. If he waits to be physically attacked before pulling out a concealed firearm, he may be rendered unconscious by the first blow and that blow will likely come from behind. If he pulls out his gun because he feels threatened, and the teens back off, the gun serves its purpose. If he pulls out his gun and kills one of the teens because he sees a movement and perceives he is in imminent danger, he will be tried and convicted. Even the best defense attorney in the country won’t be able to sell a jury a story of self defense if the two surviving youth testify it was a cold blooded unprovoked racist attack. One can only imagine the media firestorm.
Given all of the guns being carried by average citizens for protection, the increasing number of attacks by “teens”, and the desire of some politicians to stoke the fires of racial hatred, it is only a matter of time before we see this type of spectacle play out.
Bernhard Goetz comes to mind.
“If he pulls out his gun and kills one of the teens because he sees a movement and perceives he is in imminent danger, he will be tried and convicted. Even the best defense attorney in the country won’t be able to sell a jury a story of self defense if the two surviving youth testify it was a cold blooded unprovoked racist attack. One can only imagine the media firestorm.”
Well that scenario is certainly plausible. That said, you are still alive which is a good deal better than to have died at the hands of black thugs. The other thing that decent people need to do is train themselves to be “situationally aware,” and to not go where black on white crime exists. Don’t travel alone except when absolutely necessary, and don’t go to the gas station in the bad neighborhood, or the convenience store, because you are just asking for trouble. And FWIW, the mere “pulling” of your weapon is very likely to sent your would be attackers heading in another direction immediately