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Old May 5, 2006, 03:08 PM   #1
MEDDAC19
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Escalation or common sense?

There have been a few threads recently that touched upon; did you draw too soon?; you can't pull your gun if the BG has no weapon; don't unless you are going to shoot immediately, or just a fistfight is not truly a fear for your life scenario. What does one do when they have a physical handicap, for lack of a better term, when confronted by a potential threat?

For example, to hopefully make some sense of what I'm asking here. I have had mutiple fusions to my cervical vertebrae, nerve damage, weakness, blah blah blah, if someone threatens to hit me, with just fists, it is easily a life threatening event. In many threads recently it has been considered escalation, to draw if no weapons have been presented, or just plain wrong to do so.

Is it OK to jump up the force continuum so quickly? Most would not need to fear potential permanent damage from being knocked to the ground or just roughed up. I have to worry that if I get hit in the "right" way I could lose all the feeling in or the use of my arms, or worse.

What are the legalities for these types of situations? Is it all right to draw, when confronted, if you are unable to use simple self defense tactics or martial arts? Even pepper spray won't guarantee that a physical confrontation will not occur. Is it brandishing when you draw due to one or two just pushing you around, because you know that you can't physically fight back, even though you hope that you will not need to fire?

I guess basically I'm saying, what may put one person in reasonable fear for their life may not be what some others would think is life threatening.
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Old May 5, 2006, 03:40 PM   #2
Skyguy
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Quote:
I have had mutiple fusions to my cervical vertebrae, nerve damage, weakness, blah blah blah, if someone threatens to hit me, with just fists, it is easily a life threatening event.

You should draw and be ready to shoot if need be.

That addresses your first problem.

Your next problem is convincing a jury that shooting was necessary.
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Old May 5, 2006, 04:13 PM   #3
MEDDAC19
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Glenn's challenge thread answers a lot of my questions. With everyone saying you only draw if you are going to shoot, it didn't leave much room for just de-escalating the situation. I always thought that if you felt threatened you could go to your weapon and challenge, without having to be shooting. His thread came up while I was slowly typing out mine.
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Old May 5, 2006, 10:14 PM   #4
OneInTheChamber
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Forgive me if this is a dumb question; but could the recoil of your weapon destroy your spine to if it were really fragile??

Just make sure you have it documented, by multiple doctors. That way you don't have to try to prove to a jury that your spine was hurt before the incident.
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Old May 6, 2006, 12:42 PM   #5
KC135
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First, I am not a lawyer.

In court, you will likely be held to what is called the 'reasonable man standard'. What would a 'reasonable man' have done knowing what you knew at the time of the incident?
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Old May 6, 2006, 01:18 PM   #6
silicon wolverine
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Id say yes draw if you feel threatend in any way. It would take a very bad jury to convict a man whos disabled to start with and has a doctors statement to the fact. Dont hesitate, it may cost you. Better to be judged by twelve than carried by six.

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Old May 6, 2006, 01:30 PM   #7
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Common sense. You are in fear of death or grave bodily harm.
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