Had a group of teenagers throwing rocks at me last night.

[ripnbst]

I know the community hates to hear this and i don't think it legally advisable but brandishing in this case would likely send the rock throwers hauling home.

[coronatj]

Am I the only one wondering about the first and only post asking about a what if scenario? No follow up post?

Did he phone the authorities?

He out ran them. And then what?

Did he just run home and wonder....gee..if I had a gun on me, and what if they cornered me...what would I have done? What would others who could legally own a handgun do....Let me go on a website and pose this question.

[musher]

suppose the kids didnt have the intent to kill or cripple and were just throwing rocks in their dumb ignorance? Small rocks can put out eyes or bust teeth, does permanent teeth damage count as being crippled?

Well, in Alaska:
56) "serious physical injury" means

(A) physical injury caused by an act performed under circumstances that create a substantial risk of death; or

(B) physical injury that causes serious and protracted disfigurement, protracted impairment of health, protracted loss or impairment of the function of a body member or organ, or that unlawfully terminates a pregnancy;

I guess you'd have to look to the courts to decide whether broken teeth qualify. A blind eye certainly would.

[freenokia]

Deadly force is justified, but kids get the benefit of doubt.

Order of escalation is: a verbal warning, brandish, level off, warning shot, then start shooting people in the face.

[TimSr]

suppose the kids didnt have the intent to kill or cripple and were just throwing rocks in their dumb ignorance? Small rocks can put out eyes or bust teeth, does permanent teeth damage count as being crippled?

You do not have to prove their intent. You have to prove that a reasonable person would conclude their intent was to do you great bodily harm.

[Obambulate]

Order of escalation is: a verbal warning, brandish, level off, warning shot, then start shooting people in the face.

This is it, exactly. Match the response to the level of attack...with the ability to immediately escalate if required.

[pax]

Warning shots are a bad, bad idea. Every bullet goes somewhere, and you are responsible for every bullet you fire. If you shoot the ground and it ricochets and kills an innocent baby across the street – that's on you. If you shoot into the air and the bullet comes down and kills a cop three blocks over – that's on you.

Do not fire warning shots. Either hold your fire, or shoot only at people you intend to put a bullet in.

pax

[csmsss]

Warning shots are a bad, bad idea. Every bullet goes somewhere, and you are responsible for every bullet you fire. If you shoot the ground and it ricochets and kills an innocent baby across the street – that's on you. If you shoot into the air and the bullet comes down and kills a cop three blocks over – that's on you.

Do not fire warning shots. Either hold your fire, or shoot only at people you intend to put a bullet in.

This. At the very least, you are wasting ammunition. And it's not like you're going to be issued more at the scene. You have what you brought with you and not a round more.

[40-82]

You have the right to live, but when you react to the situation your assessment of the level of danger has to be in exact proportion to the reality, and you should know from the beginning that your actions will be examined in fine detail over a likely extended period of time by people who may have a vested interest in coming to the conclusion that you over reacted.

The idea that a group of people armed with something less than firearms do not represent a serious threat because you can always threaten your way out is dangerously naïve. Warning shots, aside from the possibility of hitting an innocent bystander, convey weakness and may be just the spur needed to turn ugly harassment into a vicious attack.

Think of this one too, if you decide to pull a gun out and wave it around and threaten that you're serious, how do you know that among that group of rock throwers that you will not encounter several firearms? Keeping a good watch on the movements of a large number of hostile people is not easy.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

This thread has generate some illegal and frankly stupid responses. The intelligent ones are clear.

Closed