[OldMarksman]

Not only do I possess a Oregon CCW,but also one for Washington and Florida. And this may come as a shock to you,but I am a certified range officer;and I teach "Tactical and defensive pistol combat" classes, that means if you live in my neck of the woods and want a CCW,you go through me.

Then you are undoubtedly aware of the extreme risks to which a citizen may be exposed in getting involved with other parties. The citizen is not only untrained, but is not indemnified against law suits.

To wit--suppose what appears to be a carjacking is not? Suppose no one is injured--you may still be subject to civil liability, and if you have displayed a deadly weapon, to criminal charges.

Regardless of what does happen to be "going down", to use the vernacular, suppose an innocent party is injured. The tab is on you, no questions asked. Could be a very big one.

Suppose the victim or apparent victim is injured, and with his or her attorney, claims that your actions caused or contributed to the injury. Then you will have some fun.

How would you feel if, after you had intervened, the testimony of the victim or apparent victim did not even begin to support your account of what happened? Friend, wife, "partner," cultural "kin" of the assailant...you name it. That is far from an uncommon happening. That won't help your affirmative defense, will it?

Yes, if you do use deadly force under any circumstance, you are going to have to have sufficient evidence to support a defense of justifiability.

And, of course, you may be killed or maimed.

Good idea not to try to be the hero, and to intervene only if you are certain that you know all of the facts, and best if the apparent victim is a close friend of yours. My advice? No, it is the advice of attorneys, most qualified CCW instructors, the better known trainers, and law enforcement officers. But I do follow it.

I believe if someone needs help and I'm in the position to do so,its civic duty to help.

So do I. That does not mean that I would apply deadly force unless I knew all of the facts including the laws of the specific jurisdiction. You can call, you can make noise, you can use bear spray (creating some liability, of course), you can do a lot of things, but bring to bear a cane or a bat or a gun and you may find that you have caused more injury than you have prevented. And you'll pay for it.