You will find MN statutes on brandishing here
609.66
You stated this,
Quote:
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Again, it was after dark, though this time only around 9:30 PM. There were cars traveling on the street. A guy who appeared to be around 18 approached me from the front and asked me for a cigarette.
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You are placing yourself in bad position to allow a stranger to get that close to you. Even if you are armed you will not be safe IMHO, and because of what you posted.
In a situation where you are alone on the street and someone approaches you, you MUST make an obvious deviation to your path to keep distance 21 feet minimum between you and anyone that causes you concern. Now if say you start to cross the street while this other person is still more than 21 feet from you and that person also changes his direction to get closer to you, that is where you take a stand or flee.
What I am trying to convey here is you have to be alert and recognize your surroundings and be ready at all times, armed or not.
Now when you take a stand, your hand can be on your weapon so that you are ready if this person that causes you concern advances into your space when you have told said person to not come any closer.
I am not an attorney, but I have stayed at a few holiday Inns, and I do concealed carry classes, So if you should then draw a weapon in a situation where you made obvious effort to keep distance, or evade and that didn't work I would not think you were "Brandishing" in a manor that would cause a law abiding, upstanding citizen to have fear for his life.