Man with HIV needle // shoot or not?

[NikeBauer21]

As of today, HIV is a death sentence. There are treatments that are guaranteed to ultimately fail, but there are no cures. You can be treated for HIV, but YOU WILL ULTIMATELY DIE FROM IT if you are not killed by something else first.

That said, and given the ease with which even a small air bubble in your vascular system will kill you, a syringe is a deadly weapon with or without the HIV. Someone comes at me with a deadly weapon and I have no means of a completely safe retreat, or I have no duty to retreat, then I would have to seriously consider the lethal force option.

I believe there's no completely safe retreat from a man holding an HIV-infected needle. He can always just throw it at you, and even the most minute piercing of the skin with it will infect you.

IANAL this is is not legal advice

This.

I am not about to let some jackass give me a death sentence, as well as ruin my life completely. Which may, or may not happen if a bunch of sheeple would convict me anyway... But 1-you will eventually die from it... hence bodily injury and threatening your life. 2-I would no longer be able to be around my family or friends. This is just me, I know that it isn't that transmittable, but I would not even risk my family on it. If I cut myself, and happen to bump into my mom, or something with an open cut... I just would not risk it. So he ruined my life, and sentenced me to death. I will take my chances defending myself against this, since I feel as though this is textbook self defense. A jury however, may not see it the same. But I will do what I need to, to disarm the threat.

IANAL...

[Geronimo509]

is he a threat? yes
do i have a means of safe retreat? if no the shoot, if yes then no

I think this about sums up my thoughts better than I could say

[CycleTech]

Stop immediately!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!BG continues..................(.001 seconds)....................click.BANG (or if carrying my Glock) just BANG
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[Deanimator]

A needle is a stabbing weapon, PERIOD. I don't care if he has AIDS or scabies. I don't care if he's the picture of health.

Anybody here willing to be stabbed in the eye with a perfectly sterile needle?

[reverserboy]

I would consider it the same as a knife or ice pick....capable of causing serious bodily harm OR death. If I can't retreat.....I'll shoot. If no gun...I'll do what I can....which would likely involve me trying to put my fingertips to the back of his skull....thru his eye sockets and/or striking his throat as hard as I could. It would be ugly.

I don't like needles even in the hands of an MD. I have a phobia about them.

[Jake8147]

This thread reminds me of something one of my coworkers says...

"This decision would be alot easier if I were absolutely certain that I was going to be judged by a jury of MY PEERS!"

[emsjeep]

I have been over this before, and I don't have the time to read this thread right now so I'll just fill you in.

The HIV Virus cannot live outside the body for more than a few seconds. You need real blood-blood contact to transmit it. A fresh hollow bore needle stick has less than a 1% chance of giving you the virus. It also depends on the patient's viral load and your immune status. A hollow bore needle that he has been waving around for a few hours most likely has no chance of giving you HIV. The real problem is Hepatitis B and C. Many people are vaccinated for Hep B, but Hep C is not a disease you want, and it can survive in a dried blood sample for weeks.

Additionally, a needle is a weapon. It takes a little more precision than a knife to kill someone, but it is a weapon...but then again, so is a sharp pencil....

My personal take on this. If he is threatening something and has the needle in hand to back up his claims he intends to stab me with a sharp object that could cause death or serious bodily injury immediately and in the long term.

[ErSwnn]

As of today, HIV is a death sentence. There are treatments that are guaranteed to ultimately fail, but there are no cures. You can be treated for HIV, but YOU WILL ULTIMATELY DIE FROM IT if you are not killed by something else first.

There is no proof that this is true. Undoubtably HIV has a greater death rate than many other diseases but at this time there is no substantiated scientific evidence that death from HIV is a certainty. As things have progressed it is becoming more of a cronic and managable disease. It is true however that there is no cure. Somewhat like diabetes. And in PA it is not a crime to not inform a sex partner of your status. In some states it is considered aggravated assault but not in PA. Oddly enough, if you spit or purposely bleed on someone it becomes AA. Odder yet is that you can't get it from saliva. Hepatitis yes, HIV no.

But that is a distraction from the thread, my apologies. Yeah, if someone comes at me with such a weapon I'm considering it a valid threat on every level and countering that threat as circumstances necessitate. I don't care if the needle is sterile, come at me with it and I'm going defensive.

As to splatter, yes. If you have any open or fresh wounds you can contract a variety of diseases this way. Best defense in that situation is soap&water as quickly as possible. But it may not do any good if the wounds are active. At that point you go to PET, Post Exposure Treatment. For a month you go on some heavy duty drugs ASAP after exposure. No one who has recieved PET within 24 hours of exposure has come up positive for HIV.

[emsjeep]

There is no proof that this is true. Undoubtably HIV has a greater death rate than many other diseases but at this time there is no substantiated scientific evidence that death from HIV is a certainty. As things have progressed it is becoming more of a cronic and managable disease. It is true however that there is no cure. Somewhat like diabetes. And in PA it is not a crime to not inform a sex partner of your status. In some states it is considered aggravated assault but not in PA. Oddly enough, if you spit or purposely bleed on someone it becomes AA. Odder yet is that you can't get it from saliva. Hepatitis yes, HIV no.

But that is a distraction from the thread, my apologies. Yeah, if someone comes at me with such a weapon I'm considering it a valid threat on every level and countering that threat as circumstances necessitate. I don't care if the needle is sterile, come at me with it and I'm going defensive.

As to splatter, yes. If you have any open or fresh wounds you can contract a variety of diseases this way. Best defense in that situation is soap&water as quickly as possible. But it may not do any good if the wounds are active. At that point you go to PET, Post Exposure Treatment. For a month you go on some heavy duty drugs ASAP after exposure. No one who has recieved PET within 24 hours of exposure has come up positive for HIV.

You don't die from HIV you die from an opportunistic infection, like PCP, once the virus overwhelms your immune system.

[crlovel]

Yes I started that thread. My solution is, pop pop, pop pop.

Why would you start playing with bubblewrap?