Correct me if I am wrong, as a citizen we have no legal duty to intervene in a obvious criminal situation, CCW or not. As a law enforcement officer, on duty, I have a obvious duty to respond, but off duty, unless the situation warrants action, ie. the loss of life, there is no duty to respond unless legally bound to do so. Legally bound means department policy or state/jurisdiction laws.
Hey TPD211, you might have an "obvious duty" as you see it, but even when on duty you may not have ANY legal responsibility to respond. Out of the horrible legal mess that became known as the "Rodney King Incident" came the question of what responsibility, if any, the officers who were standing by their cars, just outside the ring of headlights, had in the case. Despite the future criminal ruling that the officers involved in the beating were not committing a crime, if I had been wearing a badge at that scene, I would have thought so. I would have have been in among those boys, pulling them off the man on the ground. I felt sick watching the tape. When the officers who only watched were sued for negligence in not stopping the beating, the verdict returned was that they had no obligation under law to prevent the crime. So, while you may feel you have an obligation, an "obvious duty", it may not withstand the color of law, especially in civil court, especially in Federal Civil Court. Facing civil court is the ultimate penalty for being a police officer. Like most cops I hated being in court to testify on criminal cases, especially when they were being re-tried, but sitting in civil court seemed to be something right out of Torquemada. I had 5 shootings in 10 years as a cop working the worst sides of a really violent town, and had a nasty civil suit on each occasion. They brought up stuff about me that I had forgotten, fights with bullies on grade schools, my time in Vietnam, tried to paint me as a trigger happy war-warped killer. But, I had the testimonies of my partners, of civilian onlookers, and in one case, the testimony of my supervisor (who was also involved in the shooting, but had hit nothing with his new 9mm semi-automatic). I also had character testimony from my surviving buddies from Vietnam, the most important being that of the River Division Commander who wrote me up for the Silver Star. I try to tell people who feel like they are impervious to the consequences of how they use their firearms that they are only waiting for introduction to what one Saturday Night Live Alumni referred to as the "First Church of the Rude Awakening". Now, as an older medically retired civilian with a CCW, I'm not going to put all I have worked for, all I have, all I will ever have, and the chance I may end up in prison on the line for anything but what Mas Ayoob calls "The Gravest Extreme" (though I have lost my admiration for his perspective after his fanciful portrayal of the Miami Massacre).
I also am not going to play vigilante and try to stop crimes in progress, unless they are against my family and friends and involve lethal force or extreme physical harm. I turned in my badge, and no longer want to play cop. So, my advice to anyone faced with a lethal force situation is not to draw and start shooting as soon as possible. Try and diffuse the situation if possible, un-access they area if there is anyway to do so; practice using the yellow streak down your back. The real winner in a gunfight is the one who manages to find a way out without firing a shot. Take the insults, accept humiliation, because insults and humiliation will not put you at gunpoint with the officers responding to the 911 call, put you in handcuffs, put you in jeopardy of criminal and civil prosecution, and the possibility of being some big guys boyfriend in prison. You may be completely in the right, but you will be suspected as being a BG until proven otherwise. And, as a civilian, even if you are completely in the right criminally, you will have to pay for legal representation in a civil trial that may cause you to hock everything you own, and put yourself in debt that you may never pay off just to survive.
Stay out of high risk environments. Try and develop "situational awareness" so can become aware of threats before they become critical, and be ready to exit quickly. Exit the area before anything develops that puts you in a corner where you have to fight. Know your weapons, train hard and practice regularly, and pray to whatever Higher Power that you can spend the rest of your days without shooting anyone, because shooting someone is easy, but living with it is the hardest thing you will ever do. After coming home from the Mekong, I had a drinking and drug problem that was going to kill me in short order, but I found AA in '73 and have stayed sober since. I had to shoot a man who broke a armed man who broke into our home, and afterward I had sleepless nights and constant fear of living in my home. I had to seek professional counseling to become able to resume my normal life without living in constant fear. This is ABC information about defensive firearms use, but it is almost never heard in most shooting boards. Go out to the range and shoot, play gun games, go and hunt, be prepared to defend you home and family; but pray to God you never have to do so.
Dr. Raoul Duke
Gonzo Forever
Alaska ™