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Old October 28, 2008, 06:26 PM   #8
James K
Member In Memoriam
 
Join Date: March 17, 1999
Posts: 24,383
Unless the BG is a direct, immediate threat to you or some other innocent person, do nothing. Don't draw, don't let on you are armed. You are NOT a police officer, you are NOT sworn to uphold the law and make an arrest. Even if you are, starting a gun fight where innocent people may be killed is NOT a good idea. (In fact, LEOs are told basically the same thing - don't try to make an arrest or begin shooting where there is a high risk to innocent people. The BG will be caught later.)

And what if you are the one who kills an innocent person, just so you can play cowboy and show off your gun skill, or lack of it? Are you SURE that you can absolutely, certainly, fire a handgun and take the BG down without hitting anyone else, or having his gun go off and hit someone? If you claim you can do that, then you are a liar.

If you start the shooting, and kill an innocent person, you could be charged with murder, especially if the BG's gun turns out to be a toy.

Does this mean you let the BG fire first? Not necessarily. If he points the gun and says he intends to kill, you would be justified. But just the fact of a crime being committed does not authorizer you to start spraying bullets all over the place.

Jim
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