What is legal when defending yourself?

A

Ace of Spades

New member
Hi,

Some guy hit me with his car's mirror driving by me at the gas station tonight and then threatened me for it. I confronted him while calling the police on my cell phone and reporting him, his vehicle and tag #. He backed down while continuing to threaten me. All I had was a Benchmade. I thought about taking a gun (I have CCW, but only to carry in the car) with me when I called the cops, but figured that would look like asking for trouble if I was attacked and relied on the public nature of the scene and that I had IDed him for the police where he could hear.

I need some help with what I can and cannot do to defend myself and when knives, guns, etc. come into play against unarmed and non-firearm weapons-armed opponents/assailants.
 
First, you need to find and read your states laws. Go to www.packing.org and then find out what laws pertain to you.

Second, you can file a claim in small claims for your injury and may be able to ask for pain and suffering. You can sue for any hospital bills that you had to pay for.

But, you have to know your states laws. I keep on saying it, and people just don't listen, your best bet is to find your states laws on line and take some time to read though them. It will serve you well.

If you are in Oregon, it's 166.xxx.

Wayne
 
Condition white? Situational awareness should come first. No kick, I am simply saying that being aware and avoiding threats/dangers is best. How did you manage to get clipped? What were the circumstances and why were you close enough to be hit? I simply want feedback on the incident.
 
The guy drove up over a curb to get around me where he shouldn't have and I wouldn't move out of the way.

I was in condition white, but I could easily have got him in the face with the Griptilian. I was somewhat incredulous, then decided that I wasn't going to stand for that BS from some ghetto thug and called the coppers (Worthless, BTW. Spent most of their time asking about what I looked like and was driving, then asked if I was going to hang around after I told them the thug left - I could see where that might end up, with me as the only white guy there being fingered for violating the thug's civil rights, etc. or otherwise "oppressing" him by the bystanders.). I guess he was mostly bluster in the end, though.

NAA thanks him for the business.
 
A little self-righteous posturing going on there, maybe, with you standing in the way of where he wanted to go?

"[D]rove...where he shouldn't have," you say? What are you, the traffic enforcer?

"I wouldn't move out of the way...." Why not? What difference did it make to you where he wanted to drive? Why needlessly antagonize someone?

"I wasn't going to stand for that BS from some ghetto thug..." - when you act like an arrogant self-righteous stuffed shirt, you should expect some BS to come flying your way.

I try to follow this advice in my life:
Bo Bennett said:
Be friendly to everyone. Those who deserve it the least need it the most.
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You only carry in the car? Why? I suspect most criminal attacks take place outside of the car, unless you drive for a living.
 
be friendly with a guy that gets outa his car and threatens you because he wasnt a responsible driver..... dont think so. if a car is parked or stopped its your responsibility to make sure you have enough room to get through.

How about a nice smile while I take his pic and then call 911 then a pic of his liscense plate and car.
 
be friendly with a guy that gets outa his car and threatens you because he wasnt a responsible driver..... dont think so.
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What about being friendly, easygoing, and genial enough to not bother confronting him in an effort to force him to be a responsible driver?
 
If jumping to conclusions were an Olympic sport, some of you would get the Gold.

If I'm pumping gas, or even if not, I shouldn't have to move, especially when there isn't enough room for another car to pass. Moreover, I wanted myself there as a buffer to prevent some lazy, shiftless ghetto trash in a 10 y/o car, who was too stupid/lazy/oppressed to drive through any of three other ways to go score a 40 of malt liquor inside, from scraping up against mine. When is it acceptable to use your car (or any other force) as intimidation when people won't do what you want? Hell, I guess it would be my fault if some lunatic drove up on the sidewalk and I "acted as a traffic cop" by not giving way too?

mvpel,

You guys up in the liberal NE sure love your criminals if you'll go to such lengths to excuse their bad behavior. It is no wonder the genesis of the entitlement class these folks represent comes from the bleeding hearts of East Coast liberals. Now take your ill-though and contrived contrarianess and insert it in your darkest orifice, assuming there's room in there with your head.
 
I wake up, hit the computer, and this.

wow. I'm just going to hit a few more of the replies that I've gotten through email and go back to bed.

Wayne
 
If I'm pumping gas, or even if not, I shouldn't have to move, especially when there isn't enough room for another car to pass.
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He was out of his car - that makes him a pedestrian. In the USA, pedestrians have right of way, period. It is the driver's responsibility to not hit, run over, maim or sideswipe pedestrians. Obviously, the driver in question was confused, thinking he was in Panama or perhaps the Phillipenes.

Clearly, the driver was being an @$$hole and was legally in the wrong; Ace of Spades took exception to it. I don't go around with a chip on my shoulder, looking for trouble, but in this case I would have had something to say about it, too.

Why do people pull "feces" like this when they are in their cars? Because others put up with it.

Choosing to not be a doormat and standing up to an @$$hole does not make you one.
 
Indeed, and looks like I stepped in some of it.

I should know better than to comment on vaguely described scenarios.
 
I am a easy going driver.....

If someone does something stupid I dont follow them, stop and run over to thier car and yell at them....thats just inviting trouble.

That is a part of defensive driving much like having a CCW is to expect that somebody will do something stupid on the highway. I scan the traffic around me and watch for them. usually you can spot them weaving in and out of traffic, cutting in front of people. They weave in and out of traffic because they expect other folks shouldnt get in thier way. I follow the flow of traffic and maintain a constant speed and following distance.... even allow enough room to merge for other vehicles. If you are prepared fror your drive and engage your brain...then you will not have any reason to be yelling at folks.
If you fell the need just mumble to yourself....lol

Usually the yellers and jerks on the highway are those that fail to engage thier brain in the morning before they leave the house and dont do any prior planning according to traffic conditions. They leave the house late and try to do a 30 minute drive in 15 minutes despite the fact that traffic conditions dont allow it.

I guess if a little old lady takes to long to move while I am waiting to get by or for her parking spot I should get out of the car and yell at her for being slow? Or she doesnt get up to traffic speed when she merges onto the highway I guess I should chase her down and yell at her? You know these things or going to happen so just be prepared for by practicing defensive driving....


too little of common courtesy in this world.....
 
Mmmmm. Okay, so you're pumping gas, standing in such a way that you block the thruway past the pumps on the side of your car. You're standing in that spot because you don't want to risk someone scraping the paint on your car as there's not really enough room for another car to go through (*puzzled* pause for thought: why not? Was your car parked too far from the pump?)

As you are standing there, another vehicle tries to squeeze past you and your car -- and you won't move out of the way. He drives past anyway, avoiding your car but bumping you with his mirror. You get mad, he gets mad, you call the cops.

While calling the cops, you're thankful you don't have a gun because otherwise it might look like you were asking for trouble and found it.

From where I sit, it already looks like you were asking for trouble and found it.

Every year in America, thousands of pedestrians die because they insist on asserting the right-of-way which is legally theirs. A squishable body trying to occupy the same space as a large metallic object is going to lose, every time. Never mind who is "right" or who is "wrong" when that happens; let's just discuss who is dead when the encounter is over, and who isn't!

Whether armed or not, a pedestrian starting (or continuing) a fight over road space with someone in a vehicle is bound to lose. That you're still alive merely means the driver wasn't the scumbag you think he was. You're lucky; it turned out he was only an impatient jerk.

pax
 
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