Brandish? Never.
I'm with you guys. The only time I would ever brandish is, if in the act of drawing to shoot, the bad guy starts running. I wouldn't want to shoot somebody in the back.Yeah, that's pretty much the point of this thread. Plenty of folks who think that showing a weapon/racking the slide is a big deterrent to evil-doers. I started the thread to show that pointing/brandishing is usually only legally defensible when you're already allowed to use lethal force.
Yeah, that's pretty much the point of this thread. Plenty of folks who think that showing a weapon/racking the slide is a big deterrent to evil-doers. I started the thread to show that pointing/brandishing is usually only legally defensible when you're already allowed to use lethal force.
The problem I see brandishing a weapon as a deterrent is you may make the BG back down and run off but I can see them hiding their weapons and call the police on you. All the BG has to say is you pulled a weapon on him and the police finds one on you then you are going to jail! BG wins! My CWP give me the right to protect myself, family and others. I don't have much of a duty to retreat in SC. The only, only time you pull your weapon is when you feel your life is in danger and it's either BG or you. If I'm ever put into that situation and I have to pull my weapon the BG is going down. I look at it this way, the BG shouldn't have put me in that situation...This comment, and hundreds like it, make me wonder. Since everyone is so dead set against the possibility that having a gun could be a deterrent to crime, are you all dead set on firing the second you've taken aim? No matter what the BG does, you're going to shoot? You're not going to wait to see if the threatening behavior ceases?
In addition, how does it logically follow that if someone thinks that racking/aiming a gun will hopefully be a deterrent, that that person is not willing to follow through if necessary?
The problem I see brandishing a weapon as a deterrent is you may make the BG back down and run off but I can see them hiding their weapons and call the police on you. All the BG has to say is you pulled a weapon on him and the police finds one on you then you are going to jail! BG wins! My CWP give me the right to protect myself, family and others. I don't have much of a duty to retreat in SC. The only, only time you pull your weapon is when you feel your life is in danger and it's either BG or you. If I'm ever put into that situation and I have to pull my weapon the BG is going down. I look at it this way, the BG shouldn't have put me in that situation...
A very good point.
Keep in mind that I am a woman, and there are things other than my life at stake...things that, in my state, allow me to defend myself with lethal force. I also live in an extremely rural area; when I carry it's not to defend myself against an armed mugger on the city streets at night, but rather a BG who sees a woman alone, hiking in the middle of nowhere (and apparently unarmed) and gets big, bad ideas in his head.
Cocked and locked for home intruders is another matter entirely, as readiness goes, but this was a "carry" question.
If a BG sees you out in a rural area and gets bad ideas and tries to act on them (the key) then you have every right to protect yourself with deadly force. If you brandish your weapon as a deterrent the BG could possibly take it away from you. Remember in most cases the BGs usually are within 3 or 4 feet from the victim. Close enough for them to react before you can if you brandish your weapon.
This comment, and hundreds like it, make me wonder. Since everyone is so dead set against the possibility that having a gun could be a deterrent to crime, are you all dead set on firing the second you've taken aim? No matter what the BG does, you're going to shoot? You're not going to wait to see if the threatening behavior ceases?
In addition, how does it logically follow that if someone thinks that racking/aiming a gun will hopefully be a deterrent, that that person is not willing to follow through if necessary?
Right before you pull the trigger.
If you are justified in doing that... Whatever happens between the time you clear leather and pull the trigger is between your target and God. You do not have the authority to threaten someone with lethal force who is not a threat which justifies the use of it.
This does not mean that you have to shoot everyone you may have to draw on (some people get hung-up on that), but it does mean that when you draw you must actually need to defend yourself with lethal force at that moment.
Basically, if you don't need to shoot... you don't need to use the gun at all (since that's what it's for, it's not some magic object which will ward off harm simply by its presence).
...snip...Since everyone is so dead set against the possibility that having a gun could be a deterrent to crime, are you all dead set on firing the second you've taken aim? No matter what the BG does, you're going to shoot? You're not going to wait to see if the threatening behavior ceases?...snip...
I don't think that at any point in this conversation anyone has implied that they would draw a gun without the intent, and legal right, to use it.
Suggesting that one draw their gun and then wait to see if the person becomes a threat worthy of shooting means that they were not an imminent threat to begin with. All that accomplishes is either escalate the situation or turn them into the victim of aggravated assault.
One, you don't have to be threatening deadly force (brandishing) to get the idea across that you are armed (which is one reason for open-carry).
Two, if you are relying on the deterrence-factor of having a gun, that is just begging to be one-upped on the street.
Three, not much can happen between the time a person clears leather and pulls the trigger (if it can, you're probably going to be dead).
Four, when you draw, whether or not you believe it, you are making a decision to kill the person. It is lethal-force. You had better decide before-hand if it is necessary... or you may be the one in cuffs before it's through.*
*If you are unsure of whether or not the person you have drawn on is an imminent threat yet, by deciding 'wait and see what they'll do before you shoot', it was not justified. Admit that you pulled a gun before you were sure of the nature of the threat, in court, and see what happens.
That wasn't suggested. No one has suggested drawing their gun unless it is already clear that the person is a threat worthy of shooting.
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