Read the article. Didn't really have time to read all the personal opinions following in the thread.
Bottom line? I found myself nodding along in agreement by the time I'd finished the 3rd paragraph of the short article. The rest of the article read rather like something crafted for general Public dissemination in some meeting. Prudently cautionary and nothing to really offend.
Yep, if you're unfamiliar with how the laws are written
and enforced in your state, (or state you're visiting), than it might be wise to find out.
There are otherwise good folks in jails and prisons who exercised bad judgment and made poor decisions in some spur-of-the-moment, and found they didn't actually understand either the laws involving self defense, or how courts (and juries) might later look at their actions with different eyes.
Cops typically not only get initial training in the laws they're expected to enforce, but they may get recurrent/updated changes each year, for not only new laws, but also any changes to existing laws resulting from court case law. Even so, they - as we can see in the news - may make mistakes of
law, mistakes of
judgment and
poor decisions when it comes to the use of force. (And
that doesn't include mistakes of
policy, which can add problems for both individual cops and their agencies.)
Personally, I didn't see any issues with some of the broad strokes of cautionary thoughts offered by Jim Wilson. Better to think about such issues and problems before they happen, than look back in retrospect and regret for not having taken a little time to better prepare.
Granted, my thoughts and opinions have been formed by my own LE career and experiences, as well as having served for many years as a firearms instructor (and Taser instructor for a few years), and having helped teach classes for people interested in getting/renewing CCW licenses. Even so, things change, and once I no longer had to keep my training current for POST, I had to spend more of my own effort to try and stay current on some things that might affect me in my retirement CCW, and any situations requiring self defense of any nature (force used). That's also why I presently pay for a couple legal defense programs that provide 24/7 on-call attorney access.
Different strokes. Free country. The freedom to make choices does come with the potential for consequences, though.