(Moderators: not sure where this thread belongs so I put one in both "Tactics and Training" and "General Handgun Forum." Feel free to delete one or merge the two. Thanks and sorry for the confusion.)
Over the past 2 weeks while jogging I came across two specific incidents that made me wonder about what could have been done to handle these situations. I am not a concealed weapons permit holder yet, but soon will be. For those that are: what would you have done, and what could you have done if you came across these two events? Here they are:
1)
12 days ago while jogging through a rather large park in the early evening, I witnessed a serious beating. A man about 40 years of age was being brutally attacked by a younger male of around 25 years of age. I saw this in the distance and when I determined what was actually going on, I quickly ran over to be of some assistance. The attacker saw me comming and suddenly took off. I stopped to help the victim who was bleeding profusely from his nose and had additional head injuries (around his eye and lip) from multiple head blows. I removed my shirt and begain tending to his injuries, using my shirt as a rag. When I asked him what happened, he said he had been mugged and refused to give up his wallet. The attacker got his wallet anyways before he saw me comming.
Now, the attacked didn't appear to have any weapons, other than his fists. However, this was a vicious attack. When I realized this was real and indeed a serious situation, I witnessed several head blows being delivered by the attacker. In hindsight, I often think that perhaps I should have gone after the attacker to try and catch him, but the victim was "hurtin' for certain" so my instinct was to stop and help him.
So, with a concealed weapons permit, would you have been justified in drawing on the attacker even though he was not using deadly weapons, ie not a knife or gun? I would think that his fists would be considered deadly in this situation, but I don't know. What would you, as a concealed weapons permit holder, have done? I realize that he was fleeing by the time I got close, but what if the attack continued after I arrived on the scene?
2)
This just happened yesterday in the same park. I was engaged in my routine jog and noticed some sort of emergency going on near the childrens playground. I decided to take a detour to see what the ruckus was about. When I approached, to my horror, I saw two parents frantically trying to pull a dog off a young girl. She couldn't have been more that 9 or 10 years old. This dog (not sure of the breed...looked sort of like a rather small and skinny rottweiler) had a hold of her forearm and was violently pulling and doing the characteristic head thrashing you see dogs do with toys and whatnot. Upon arrival I kicked the dog as hard as I could. The dog still had a hold of the girl and I began to try and help muscle the dog off. Finally we were able to remove the dog. Another bystander came over and began frantically swinging a big stick at the dog which ran off.
The girl was in a lot of pain, and the dog had drawn blood. Her forearm was significantly damaged, bloody and bruised. Again, my question is what would you have done if you were armed? There is no question in my mind that a clear close range shot could have easily been made. Would you have been justified in shooting the dog?
I have always wanted to get a permit, but have just been putting off the class. After these two incidents, I will be attending the next available course. The funny thing is, I have been jogging through this park (which has a great reputation for being safe) for over 4 years now and have never come across anything of this nature. Just my luck, I literally ran into these situations within two weeks.
Over the past 2 weeks while jogging I came across two specific incidents that made me wonder about what could have been done to handle these situations. I am not a concealed weapons permit holder yet, but soon will be. For those that are: what would you have done, and what could you have done if you came across these two events? Here they are:
1)
12 days ago while jogging through a rather large park in the early evening, I witnessed a serious beating. A man about 40 years of age was being brutally attacked by a younger male of around 25 years of age. I saw this in the distance and when I determined what was actually going on, I quickly ran over to be of some assistance. The attacker saw me comming and suddenly took off. I stopped to help the victim who was bleeding profusely from his nose and had additional head injuries (around his eye and lip) from multiple head blows. I removed my shirt and begain tending to his injuries, using my shirt as a rag. When I asked him what happened, he said he had been mugged and refused to give up his wallet. The attacker got his wallet anyways before he saw me comming.
Now, the attacked didn't appear to have any weapons, other than his fists. However, this was a vicious attack. When I realized this was real and indeed a serious situation, I witnessed several head blows being delivered by the attacker. In hindsight, I often think that perhaps I should have gone after the attacker to try and catch him, but the victim was "hurtin' for certain" so my instinct was to stop and help him.
So, with a concealed weapons permit, would you have been justified in drawing on the attacker even though he was not using deadly weapons, ie not a knife or gun? I would think that his fists would be considered deadly in this situation, but I don't know. What would you, as a concealed weapons permit holder, have done? I realize that he was fleeing by the time I got close, but what if the attack continued after I arrived on the scene?
2)
This just happened yesterday in the same park. I was engaged in my routine jog and noticed some sort of emergency going on near the childrens playground. I decided to take a detour to see what the ruckus was about. When I approached, to my horror, I saw two parents frantically trying to pull a dog off a young girl. She couldn't have been more that 9 or 10 years old. This dog (not sure of the breed...looked sort of like a rather small and skinny rottweiler) had a hold of her forearm and was violently pulling and doing the characteristic head thrashing you see dogs do with toys and whatnot. Upon arrival I kicked the dog as hard as I could. The dog still had a hold of the girl and I began to try and help muscle the dog off. Finally we were able to remove the dog. Another bystander came over and began frantically swinging a big stick at the dog which ran off.
The girl was in a lot of pain, and the dog had drawn blood. Her forearm was significantly damaged, bloody and bruised. Again, my question is what would you have done if you were armed? There is no question in my mind that a clear close range shot could have easily been made. Would you have been justified in shooting the dog?
I have always wanted to get a permit, but have just been putting off the class. After these two incidents, I will be attending the next available course. The funny thing is, I have been jogging through this park (which has a great reputation for being safe) for over 4 years now and have never come across anything of this nature. Just my luck, I literally ran into these situations within two weeks.
Last edited:
I'd sooner do that than send bullets flying...