Brandishing and firing off a shot?

[marinville]

Perhaps the argument would be better stated that it is better to leave your gun in the holster, unless there is an immediate need for someone to be shot.

Personally, if my gun clears its holster, that means someone needed shot. It doesn't necessarily mean someone MUST get shot. There is an outside chance that the bastard who was about to be perforated will quickly, and clearly come to Jesus. At which point he may avoid meeting him in person.

The gun does not demand blood. Nevertheles, the intention upon drawing it will unquestionably be to shoot someone, never in hope that he or she may be persuaded to become a more polite citizen.

[internet troll]

Just checking in: Is the side that supports pulling your firearm out, and possibly even discharging it, in a non-life threatening scenario really winning this argument?

Just that there are situations where a gun will diffuse a bad situation without the need to use it. Not every time, just a concept that if gun is pulled, there is still a chance the sight of that gun will diffuse the situation.

It's the concept that pulling a gun without firing it should not be an automatic charge because of the logic "if you did not use it, you did not need it, therefore you are guilty of a crime."

In the armed citizen thread there are a ton of stories where people pulled a gun without shooting and having the gun out ended the immediate threat. As Gunlawyer said, and I suspect, there are probably thousands of cases every day where the sight of a gun ends a bad situation, but because it's ended, it does not get reported, probably at least in part people do not want to get in any type of trouble.

I keep saying there are cases and want to give an example where the sight of a gun diffused what was a very bad situation that happened near where I grew up without firing a shot.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/lo...k_by_kids.html
POLICE ARE crediting a vigilant gun owner with saving the life of an Upper Darby cop Friday after he saw the officer being attacked and surrounded by a large group of teens.

"There were 40 kids. If it wasn't for the good Samaritan stepping forward, he'd have been dead meat," Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said. "There's no doubt they would have attacked him."

About 3 p.m. every weekday, from six to eight township police officers patrol the area near Upper Darby High School as nearly 4,000 kids pour out of the building on Lansdowne Avenue near School Lane.

Most kids and most days are good, Chitwood said.

Friday was not.

That afternoon alone, police responded to three fights in three locations near the school. When the dust settled, eight teens, ages 13 to 17, were charged with crimes, and two officers were injured so severely that it's unclear when they'll be able to return to work, Chitwood said.

The most egregious of the incidents took place on Wayne Avenue near Marshall Road, less than a mile from the high school.

An officer who broke up a fight between two teen boys that had attracted a large crowd at that location was holding one of the combatants at bay when the teen's opponent attacked the officer, Chitwood said.

"As he breaks up the fight, he takes one kid and then the other jumps [on] him. Now he's fighting two of them and he's calling for an assist officer at the same time," Chitwood said. "There's a crowd of 40 or 50 kids watching the fight, and they all move in towards the officer."

That's when the good Samaritan, who lives on the block, came out of his house with a gun in his hand and told the teens to get away from the cop, Chitwood said.

"He had the gun in his hand, but he didn't point it at the kids, he just told them to back off," Chitwood said. "If this guy didn't come out and come to the aid of the officer, this officer would have had significant problems."

The 35-year-old gun owner, who has a concealed-carry permit, kept the group of teens at bay until responding officers arrived, Chitwood said.

Not only did the officer who tried to break up the fight suffer significant hand injuries, Chitwood said, but an officer who responded to the request for backup also suffered a major injury to a leg when he was kicked by one of the teens in the fight.

The two juveniles in that fight each were charged with aggravated assault on police, riot, harassment, and related offenses. They were remanded to the Delaware County juvenile detention facility in Lima, Chitwood said.

Six more youths were arrested for fighting around the same time that day at two other locations near the school, Chitwood said; one was sent to the juvenile detention facility and the other five were released to a parent or guardian. Six of the eight arrested students attend Upper Darby High. The seventh attends Beverly Hills Middle School; the eighth goes to a school in Ridley Township.

"There's thousands of kids that walk to and from that school without a problem, but every once in a while you get these wannabe gangsters, and if they want to be gangsters, we'll treat them like gangsters," Chitwood said.

Since Friday, police said, after-school patrols around Upper Darby High have been doubled.

"Our goal is to make sure these kids get home safe," Chitwood said. "I can't emphasize it enough, but the majority of these kids are decent kids."

[74_dart_sport]

Just like every " what if " scenario it would depend on the situation. Since every situation is different there is no good answer. If it were legal to use just the sight of your gun to try to diffuse a situation people would start to abuse it. Someone steels your parking spot, pull your gun. Get in yelling match? Pull your gun. There will always be a few to ruin it for whole. But if you are fighting over a binder in wally world it is apparently a viable option.

[Bang]

Whatever.

[JenniferG]

Another approach is using the gun to distract them. While they are looking at the gun you cut their head off with your sword.

[gdc]

Another approach is using the gun to distract them. While they are looking at the gun you cut their head off with your sword.

JenniferG that would be a big AWSOME...

and if you lived in Texas the law was passed you can now carry any size knife. pretty sure or was on the desk

[itchinesu]

Perhaps the argument would be better stated that it is better to leave your gun in the holster, unless there is an immediate need for someone to be shot.

Personally, if my gun clears its holster, that means someone needed shot. It doesn't necessarily mean someone MUST get shot. There is an outside chance that the bastard who was about to be perforated will quickly, and clearly come to Jesus. At which point he may avoid meeting him in person.

The gun does not demand blood. Nevertheles, the intention upon drawing it will unquestionably be to shoot someone, never in hope that he or she may be persuaded to become a more polite citizen.

I think the general consensus is that making brandishing legal benefits the gun community, even if you need nonsensical scenarios to support that position.

Like the libshits say, if it saves just one child...

[fallenleader]

a lot of people are probably discussing the morals more than the legal aspect.

there should be no firearm laws. theft is illegal, murder illegal, assault illegal.
whether with a firearm or stick.

and if people go around willy nillypointing guns at people to get their way, tjey will get shot, self resolving issue when everyone carries.

[markshere2]

In states where "brandishing" is a thing / law, can Cops be charged with it if they pull a firearm?

If not, why not?





Its a rhetorical question.....

[itchinesu]

because the general public are not charged with the task of enforcing laws.