OldMarksman
Staff
See this, and in particular, the section entitled "Justification."Posted by johnelmore: Im wondering. At what point would it have been appropriate to draw a pistol?
If the incident occurs in a jurisdiction in which the presentation of a weapon would be lawfully justified only when the use of deadly force would be justified, you would be justified if you had reason to believe (1) that someone had the ability to cause you great bodily harm; (2) that he had the opportunity to do so; (3) that you were indeed in jeopardy; (4) that presentation was necessary (in some states, retreat might be required; in all, it is a good idea). Of course, you would have to be able to sufficiently support the basis for your reason for that belief after the fact, and witnesses whose recollections differed from your perception could make that difficult.
If someone simply "leaves their car to confront you", none of the above applies.
If "some giant gets out of his car screaming ... with a tire iron in his hand", the first consideration will be distance. A person some distance away would not have the opportunity to use the tire iron against you. The distance at which he might will be a matter of judgment, and if the evidence that you are able to present after the fact supports justification in the minds of the triers of fact, you would have a pretty good chance.
That's assuming that you had not had a reasonable alternative. But whenever you do draw your pistol, you had better have a good idea of the answer to the questions, "why am I doing this, and just what is it that I intend to do with this thing?".