G
Guest
·Apologies if this an old and tired topic but here goes...
I have recently started CC and as all of you no doubt know, carrying while being out in places like restaurants, etc really causes you to think about what kind of scenario would you actually pull your weapon, and engage. (I know: if you pull it, you better be 100% ready and willing to fire it).
For example, if you were in the grocery store, quickie mart, or out dining and some ruckus gets started by some BG, let's even say he has a gun and is robbing the clerk or owner - aside from possbily taking cover yourself and readying your weapon in case things got uglier - under what circumstances would you engage the BG? Obviously, if he starts shooting folks then it's an easy decision. But what if it's "just" and armed robbery and the guy has not fired any shots, hit anyone, etc? At least not yet. So, let's say you have a good backstop (brick wall) and are not worried yourself about hitting someone else. Would you fire first so as to take the guy out if your are justified to do so? Knowing things could get worse if you miss (I know, don't miss) and/or he were to start firing back and others get hit?
I am not so sure in my short carrying experience when I would engage. That said, I would not seek to let things deteriorate to a point where my being armed but not responding quickly enough might compromise my or others safety. By that I mean such as if they BG were to start walking in my direction or to start escalating his threats to others, I'd be more inclined to fire.
Obviously one has to consider what kind of danger to others might be brought on by the act of firing and what kind of liability are you exposing yourself if you do the escalating (even if lawful/reasonable/justifiable) from a scenario of armed robbery to shots having being fired to someone innocent was hit. Again, I am not talking about responding to a threat directed to your person (or your party's) specifically. That is obviously different. But I am talking about a situation where things would go from "merely" a BG committing felony with a weapon (in and of itself dangerous and volatile) to something a lot more violent, and possibly even tragic.
Stated differently, I see the challenge to be how to we determine when engaging is the right, and smart, decision, even if engaging might be totally justifiable.
We spend a lot of time talking about how to carry, what we carry, where we can and can't carry, where we should be able to carry but can't, etc. But, I think I would benefit from a good course that covers the "what should you do" topic of how and when it's smart to engage.
I have recently started CC and as all of you no doubt know, carrying while being out in places like restaurants, etc really causes you to think about what kind of scenario would you actually pull your weapon, and engage. (I know: if you pull it, you better be 100% ready and willing to fire it).
For example, if you were in the grocery store, quickie mart, or out dining and some ruckus gets started by some BG, let's even say he has a gun and is robbing the clerk or owner - aside from possbily taking cover yourself and readying your weapon in case things got uglier - under what circumstances would you engage the BG? Obviously, if he starts shooting folks then it's an easy decision. But what if it's "just" and armed robbery and the guy has not fired any shots, hit anyone, etc? At least not yet. So, let's say you have a good backstop (brick wall) and are not worried yourself about hitting someone else. Would you fire first so as to take the guy out if your are justified to do so? Knowing things could get worse if you miss (I know, don't miss) and/or he were to start firing back and others get hit?
I am not so sure in my short carrying experience when I would engage. That said, I would not seek to let things deteriorate to a point where my being armed but not responding quickly enough might compromise my or others safety. By that I mean such as if they BG were to start walking in my direction or to start escalating his threats to others, I'd be more inclined to fire.
Obviously one has to consider what kind of danger to others might be brought on by the act of firing and what kind of liability are you exposing yourself if you do the escalating (even if lawful/reasonable/justifiable) from a scenario of armed robbery to shots having being fired to someone innocent was hit. Again, I am not talking about responding to a threat directed to your person (or your party's) specifically. That is obviously different. But I am talking about a situation where things would go from "merely" a BG committing felony with a weapon (in and of itself dangerous and volatile) to something a lot more violent, and possibly even tragic.
Stated differently, I see the challenge to be how to we determine when engaging is the right, and smart, decision, even if engaging might be totally justifiable.
We spend a lot of time talking about how to carry, what we carry, where we can and can't carry, where we should be able to carry but can't, etc. But, I think I would benefit from a good course that covers the "what should you do" topic of how and when it's smart to engage.