A Michigan Court Case Shows the Right of Armed Self-Defense Is Broader Than You Might Think

[byron]

A Michigan Court Case Shows the Right of Armed Self-Defense Is Broader Than You Might Think

 

[BDinPutnam]

Yeah I meant to post this.

Talk about "common sense gun laws." This is them.

 

[Saltwater60]

Seems like a good thing to me but legally it’s a razor thin edge on of you’ll be charged or not. Her gun was unloaded so obviously she didn’t intend to kill her. My carry guns are never unloaded so I would have a lot higher burden of proof that I didn’t mean to kill whoever. Also in NYS you would be put on trial and I can’t imagine it ending well for you.

 

[jimc]

Here's my issue with this (at least in NY where you can get fined because the state doesn't know how to make license plates last):

In whatever situation (robbery, etc), someone pulls a gun on you. Due to your catlike reflexes, a break in their attention, or dumb luck, you manage to draw and fire a couple rounds, injuring that person, ending the situation. As it turns out, their gun is unloaded. I could see this as being twisted to accusing you of using lethal force against a non-lethal threat.

My analogy is different, but that's a pretty thin technicality. Anyone who has a gun pointed at them would be crazy to think it's not loaded.

 

[Acer-m14]

i think she was locked up for year over this BS .

loaded or unloaded should not matter .. you did not hit the bang switch but contained the issue

 

[Jmac00]

How many times a day does a law abiding citizen pull a firearm and never pull the trigger? From personal experience, I suspect it happens more than people think.

 

[ProgSpear]

The whole loaded/unloaded question is kind of stupid. Any individual staring down the “pointy end” of a gun should assume it is loaded. That’s why idiot kids with BB guns have gotten shot. Also, If it walks, acts, and quacks like an imminent threat, then it is, regardless of whether a gun is involved or not.

 

[Phazer]

How many times a day does a law abiding citizen pull a firearm and never pull the trigger? From personal experience, I suspect it happens more than people think.

CDC Study: Use of Firearms for Self-Defense is ‘Important Crime Deterrent’

The Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council released the results of their research through the CDC last month. Researchers compiled data from previous studies in order to guide future research on gun violence, noting that “almost all national survey estimates indicate that defensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals, with estimates of annual uses ranging from about 500,000 to more than 3 million per year.”​

 

[Phazer]

My analogy is different, but that's a pretty thin technicality. Anyone who has a gun pointed at them would be crazy to think it's not loaded.

If presented in court, the "reasonable man" concept comes into play. Any reasonable person would believe that any gun pointed at them is loaded and deadly. Period.

If I point my airsoft Glock 19 pistol at a police officer, I'd expect to be shot. That "BB gun" (mainstream media's vernacular) is certainly non-lethal. But, it is a facsimile of a deadly firearm which in a heat-of-the-moment scenario would REASONABLY be deemed to be a real gun.

 

[ArmedCorgi]

I mean, robbing a liquor store with a wooden fake gun is still considered "armed robbery".