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Old April 18, 2013, 01:26 PM   #32
Frank Ettin
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Join Date: November 23, 2005
Location: California - San Francisco
Posts: 9,471
Quote:
Originally Posted by newfrontier45
All very interesting but for those of us who choose to think for ourselves, it's just a theory. I have the utmost respect for Mas but I don't swallow everything anybody says without engaging my brain. My brain tells me that Mas tells us to be afraid of things that have not proved to be a threat. Not unlike the Boogeyman under the bed.

If you keep your finger off the trigger until you have decided to fire, it is a non-issue.

If the shoot is justified, it is a non-issue.

In the context of a physical fight for your life in which a trigger may inadvertently get pressed, two or three pounds is insignificant....
And having practiced law for over thirty years I know, based on my understanding of how things work in the legal system, that in the legal aftermath of a use of lethal force which you claim was justified, if the authorities do not agree, that is simply not true.

Believe as you wish, but ask yourself why you believe it. Do you have the training, experience and first hand knowledge of how things work in the legal system? Massad Ayoob and some others with whom you're disagreeing do have such training, knowledge and experience.

In any case, it won't be my problem.

Quote:
Originally Posted by newfrontier45
...If the shoot is justified, it is a non-issue...
But you won't be the one who gets to make the final decision about whether you act of extreme violence against another human was justified. That decision will first be decided by the District Attorney and/or the grand jury. And if you're really unlucky, it will finally be decided by a trial jury.

Quote:
Originally Posted by newfrontier45
...In the context of a physical fight for your life in which a trigger may inadvertently get pressed, two or three pounds is insignificant. ...
Really? How do you know?
  • Having lightened the trigger, a prosecutor can vilify you as reckless and trigger happy. That will not sit well with a jury of folks who know nothing about, and aren't interested in, guns. The prosecutor will no doubt be able to find and put on the witness stand a police armorer or firearms instructor as an expert witness that something like a 3.5 pound trigger on a gun to be carried for self defense is reckless.

  • You might claim that you acted intentionally in self defense, but the prosecutor could point to the lightened trigger and perhaps convince a jury that you actually fired the gun accidentally. That might get you convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

  • Messing around with your carry gun might not hurt you in court, but it sure won't help you any. And it really won't help you on the street. If you can't manage a stock, service Glock or a 1911 with a 4.5 pound trigger in a real life encounter, it's you and not the gun (get some serious training and practice).
Quote:
Originally Posted by newfrontier45
...If an individual spends 100hrs a year training with a 2lb trigger and 0hrs with a 6lb Glock trigger, then he is safest with a 2lb trigger.

If an individual spends 100hrs a year training with an 6lb Glock trigger and 0hrs with a 2lb trigger, then he is safest with a 6lb Glock trigger...
Which is why one should do his self defense training and practice with a gun having a proper, decent service trigger (rather than one with a target trigger).

For further discussion of possible legal issues associated with using for self defense a gun with a very light trigger see here, here, here, here, and here.
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