Shooting of criminals are up. Be sure you are within the law and know your local/state laws. Colin Noir comments on self defense.
https://youtu.be/jzHTrG3EYhM
https://youtu.be/jzHTrG3EYhM
rI'll never forget the example he used of coming across a man beating a woman outside a convenience store. What happens if you shoot the woman beater and the woman comes at you asking "why did you shoot by boyfriend?"
No, it is NOT irrelevant. Not if the woman you perceived as a "victim" is going to turn on you and file charges against you or sue you rather than thank you for saving her.Limnophile said:What an odd example to use and fixate upon. The relationship between the woman beater and the woman being beaten is irrelevant.
Aguila Blanca said:Not if the woman you perceived as a "victim" is going to turn on you and file charges against you or sue you rather than thank you for saving her.
A guy I work with tells a story about an acquaintance of his. I haven't tried to verify details so it might not be true, but it is instructive so I will repeat it here.What an odd example to use and fixate upon. The relationship between the woman beater and the woman being beaten is irrelevant.
No, it is NOT irrelevant. Not if the woman you perceived as a "victim" is going to turn on you and file charges against you or sue you rather than thank you for saving her.
No, it is NOT irrelevant. Not if the woman you perceived as a "victim" is going to turn on you and file charges against you or sue you rather than thank you for saving her.
More than that, she may become belligerent and attack you in the moment.
A guy I work with tells a story about an acquaintance of his. I haven't tried to verify details so it might not be true, but it is instructive so I will repeat it here.
There is a concept known as "situational morality" that applies here. The classic example to illustrate the concept is a police officer in a patrol car. Officer gets a call about a bank robbery in progress. He turns on his lights and sirens heads for the bank, runs a red light and t-bones a car who had a green light and didn't hear the siren. Legally and morally, the officer is in the clear.Limnophile said:I can understand the legal and financial wisdom of not using force to defend another who is not related, but I believe such choice is immoral if one has the ability to stop the crime.
So you decide that you MUST intervene with deadly force if you see a guy pounding on a woman. You know nothing about the people or what led up to what you see taking place, but you decide that you MUST intervene because ... morality. You shoot the guy, the woman tells the cops you shot her boyfriend/husband/brother for no reason, you get arrested, charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, your life savings are wiped out, you lose your job, and maybe you go to prison.
Your family is now without a husband and father, and has no income. All because you had to intervene in a situation that didn't affect or involve you in any way.
The story was from before cell phones were common, now we have a lot more options for protection.Interesting story. Sounds like another reason to install a dashcam that records video both forward and rearward, as well as sound. Also, in this day and age, it might be wise, upon learning of the crime, to pull out your cellphone to report it to police while you gentlemanly await for the police to arrive to handle the matter.
There are various ways you can mitigate the risk to yourself, but if you intervene, there is no way to eliminate risk completely. As with any risk, everyone has to make their own decision as to what they are willing to take on.You’re right that legally they owe the other person nothing and intervening can have serious implications. But as someone that is a husband and a father, like the situation you mention, part of me does hope that if my wife and/or child are assaulted and I’m not there and others are capable of intervening, that someone might choose to do so. I don’t “expect” that to be the case, but we’ve had situations in the news where people didn’t even call the police. A conscience is a thing. Beyond the monetary and physical implications of intervening are the potential psychological effects of not intervening.
It's not that the negative outcome is the only one that should be considered, but it is certainly true that if there is a negative outcome, it has the potential to be truly life-changing.
If you're the kind of person who feels like you wouldn't be able to live with yourself if you saw a dispute/domestic dispute and didn't intervene, you need to develop a careful and thorough strategy to minimize your risk and to give yourself tools to work with. Maybe look into martial arts training, or start carrying less-lethal tools that might help you reduce the situation with less likelihood of severe injury or death and therefore less likelihood of prosecution/ill-will afterwards. Maybe see about getting some crisis negotiation training. If there's a common second language in your area, you might want to learn it so you could have a better idea of what is really going on if the participants are not speaking English.
If you know you won't be able to keep from intervening, at least give yourself some solid options and tools to resort to besides a firearm.