Was It Wise For Him To Unholster His Gun?
BY Herschel Smith
8 years, 4 months ago
I’ll let the lawyers weigh in on this one as to the legal ramifications of what this fellow did. Readers can weight in too, but I wanted to focus on whether this was wise (h/t Uncle).
There is an interesting discussion here about this. My take is that a mob, or any potential assailant for that matter, can close the gap very quickly. I don’t fault the man for unholstering his weapon. Neither do I fault him for walking backwards and very carefully while trying to pay attention to his surroundings.
What I would say though is that if he thought he was under threat, when he was out of range he should have retreated and gotten away. I would have. Remember, egress, evasion and escape. That he came back will probably be a problem with a prosecutor.
On July 12, 2016 at 7:58 am, Fred said:
I wrote this last night over at Uncle. After sleeping on it I’m holding.
I watched some footage of it. He was under direct threat…but…he had large windows of opportunity to put distance between himself from the mob, city blocks of distance. He could have walked into a cafe while calling 911 as well. He should have, perhaps, tried to break contact and knock down some pavement. I’m not saying you should have to leave an area, I’m saying you should. One or a combination of all happen in a confrontation; Posturing, Fight, Flight, Submission. Using a weapon for posturing can leave you in trouble with the law. It’s very hard to judge unless it’s you but showing a weapon in the peoples republic of Portland is not a great choice. But hey he’s alive and sometimes that’s a good day.
The rule of law is dead.
On July 12, 2016 at 12:24 pm, Douglas Mortimer said:
A gun should only come out of the holster as a last resort and you are intending to shoot in self defense. I know I’m Monday morning quarterbacking here, but I would hope that if I found myself in a similar situation, I’d have enough of a clear head to make the proper choice. I don’t think using the gun as a warning tool is wise and I think this is where training is key.