Woman Pulls Gun On Flasher

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jmorris said:
Seems like if she had killed the man the fact that a gun was "in play" and dead people can't tell their side of the story, ....
Actually, dead people often tell their side of the story -- in the form of physical evidence, body position, autopsy findings, etc. And sometimes there are witnesses one might not immediately be aware of.

In any event, suggesting that it might be okay to unlawfully use lethal force as long as you can get away with it is not appropriate on this forum.
 
I said it before and I will say it again I don't know what the state law is but from what I read in the paper and that’s all I have to go by at this point she was with in her rights OR the paper would have mention "SHE" was questioned, "SHE" was detained, "SHE" might be facing charges. So with little info we do have it sounds like "SHE" was within her rights to defend herself and child against a sexual predator.

"it might be political". NO; it might be right!
 
barstoolguru said:
...OR the paper would have mention "SHE" was questioned, "SHE" was detained, "SHE" might be facing charges...
Why? What if the reporter didn't know at the time? What if all that came after the story was written? What if the reporter wasn't really all that good.

Every time a news article critical of gun ownership, or including things about guns we know to be inaccurate, is published, we complain bitterly about how ignorant, incompetent and/or biased reporters are and the media is. But if a news article says something we like, it's suddenly gospel.
 
What would most people want their wife or daughter to do in this situation? I would have no problem with my wife or daughter pulling their weapon in this situation to end the treaty quickly and keep it from escalating. We can argue legalities till the cows come home, but when the crap hits the fan in real life I would not want my loved ones to risk it. Someone who would do something like this guy did is too unstable to assume anything other than the worse case.
 
Absolutely she was justified, you have to assume that a person who does this is a rapist who intends to do more than just show her his package.

SO they should get rid of indecent exposure charges in leu of attempted forced rape charges.

Got it.


Wouldn't have been justified.
 
TennJed said:
...We can argue legalities till the cows come home, but when the crap hits the fan in real life I would not want my loved ones to risk it....
But the legalities are important.

One's goals in any potentially dangerous encounter are to (1) protect himself and his family; and (2) avoid going to jail. A major purpose of having these discussions here is to provide information that might help someone make decisions that will achieve both those goals.
 
i'm fairly sure that graveyards are littered with good folk who paused to ponder the legal ramifications of an armed response and the jailhouses have their share of those who did not.

Hmmmm.....potentially... grave vs jail. What would I choose for myself or any good citizen?

To say she and her's were in no danger is ridiculous, she was but a few feet from a depraved felon in the act of commiting a felony.
 
If she is not charged, the decision
will likely constitute a reasonable political call
, and it will say nothing to the legality of her action.

Cop is not voted into office and are under no pressure to be political so why are you bringing it up. Maybe, just maybe they seen a woman that felt like her life and wellbeing and the wellbeing of her child was in danger.

As far as charging the woman.... I will say this... jury nullification if it ever gets past the judge or grand jury that would even think about moving it on not to mention the outcry of people that would stand in her support me being one
 
But the legalities are important.

One's goals in any potentially dangerous encounter are to (1) protect himself and his family; and (2) avoid going to jail. A major purpose of having these discussions here is to provide information that might help someone make decisions that will achieve both those goals.

I agree that they are important, but a man masterbating in front of a woman and child should be considered extremely unstable and dangerous. What he was doing is without question in my mind aggressive. If he grabs the child you have lost your opportunity to pull your weapon and fleeing is not an option. Fleeing immediately would be a poor choice in my mind also. If he chased her while she was carrying the child she would not stand a chance
 
Is it just me...or is this discussion just going around in circles?

If this case makes ever makes it into court, which doesn't look like is going to happen, it will be up to the jurors to decide if the woman is guilty of brandishing, excessive use of force or what ever.

So far, the local prosecutor's inaction pretty much indicates that he/she doesn't think the woman committed a crime. How about we just chalk this one up to the good guys/girls?
 
Posted by barstoolguru: Cop is not voted into office and are under no pressure to be political so why are you bringing it up.
The police do not make the charging decision.

Maybe, just maybe they seen a woman that felt like her life and wellbeing and the wellbeing of her child was in danger.
If she ends up not being charged, there are several possibilities, including the following:

  1. There exists some evidence supporting a basis for a reasonable belief that unlawful force had in fact been threatened; that is not clear from the article.
  2. The authorities have decided that on balance, it would not further the cause of justice to charge the woman, even if there is no evidence that would support a defense of justification.
  3. The charging authorities believe that a decision to charge would be unpopular, but that not charging her would not constitute a material failure of the justice sytem; that would be a political decision.
 
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Posted by Skadoosh: How about we just chalk this one up to the good guys/girls?
Let's hope we can do that.

None of us will make the decision, nor do we have the facts to enable us to do so.

What we can do is understand, and help others understand, that drawing a firearm falls under different laws in different states, and that the consequences of doing so unlawfully can be very severe indeed. It is not a good idea do so unless there is reason to believe that it is immediately necessary.

But should it ever become immediately necessary, it is important to recognize that fact before it is to late, and it is essential to be able to do it very quickly indeed. We should not lose sight of the fact that she was able to produce an empty weapon, find the magazine and insert it, and rack the slide without being seriously injured and losing the firearm in the process. I suggest that either she was extremely lucky or that the perp did not really present an immediate threat. No way to tell which, but carrying an empty firearm for protection just isn't very prudent.
 
Based on the fact that the article did not mention whether the police were charging the woman with an unlawful act, seems like any argument whether she is culpable or not.

Yeah, and I'm not sure they could convict her on her own testimony and it's unlikely that the guy is going to turn himself in to testify against her.
 
The man approached her, "hat in hand" as it were, vigorously manipulating his hat and asked her to watch. She had every right to feel threatened. She did the right thing.
 
I'm sure this was mentioned before, but why didn't she have a magazine in her gun? A gun isn't going to chamber a round on it's own no matter how much you throw it around. The things that some women are able to convince themselves baffle me.
 
What we can do is understand, and help others understand, that drawing a firearm falls under different laws in different states, and that the consequences of doing so unlawfully can be very severe indeed. It is not a good idea do so unless there is reason to believe that it is immediately necessary.

See I have to agree with this and this is why I always recommend and carry a less then lethal weapon. She did have time to use one because she had time to load and charge a LCP. If she used pepper spray first and then had to use a gun it would have made her look better
 
all 4 quotes different posts + 3 different TFL members (2 quotes are entire posts)

The law in some states permits a citizen to employ force to effect a citizen's arrest without having been requested by an officer to assist. The requirements vary among jurisdictions, but no one in his right mind would want to expose himself the civil liability.

see it all the time(on "Cops" to name one): citizens not allowing someone to leave a store drunk, citizens holding down shoplifters, citizens even probably crossing the line because someone left their child in a vehicle and then attempted to leave upon returning before police get there. another one is a cop in need of assistance. if one would want to be technical, maybe a good citizen shouldn't intervene? commonsense trumps, good people will assist if a poilicewoman is being beat up on the side of the road by a drunk person that has been pulled over.

this woman in the story even told the news and police she informed the perv she was gonna fire in five seconds. people can be in danger and still have time to get their weapon ready...her mag was actually already in the firearm(just not punched all the way in). if you saw someone approaching you to attack and had time to load your weapon, does that mean you weren't in any danger or threatened? of course not.

it is obvious by reading the thread, that there is some 'ships passing each other in the foggy night' here. arguments can be made validly on each side And things change IF this woman had just fired without letting this man retreat. She didn't do that; she pulled her firearm to protect herself and child from a pervert andor mentally unstable individual possible under the influence of drugs/alcohol. There is also concrete evidence that this isn't the first time this has happened recently in the area(basically another greenlight for her). She had every right with absolutely no question to pull her weapon, morally, legally, ethically, in the realms of common sense, etc. If she had fired, circumstances would have been changed, antes would have raised the poker pot, and details of that event would have a major role in how it unfolded in the aftermath. I might be wrong on terminiology, but I don't think she brandished her weapon(as I said not positive about this one). I believe brandish is just to show the weapon by pulling up your shirt, making a nonverbal communication to the effect that I can use this on you, and so-on. Sorry to jump back into this one late but I figured I would throw in some thoughts.

///

SO they should get rid of indecent exposure charges in leu of attempted forced rape charges.

Got it.


Wouldn't have been justified.

that's all speculation because it didn't happen. We don't know if it would or wouldn't have been justified unless that happened. Case in point: she draws weapon, perv charges saying I'm gonna kill you....or...perv starts the indecent act and woman draws weapon and without saying something decides to execute perv........or.... more probable, something in between two scenarios listed.

///

The lady should have just left the scene. Why would any sane person want to shoot someone for exposing themselves? Especially when it occured in a public place that could have been easily vacated.

purely speculation that is, Sir. The mother never stated she wanted to shoot anybody, and more importantly nobody was shot. Many people run thinking they can vacate and end up biting the dust. Also, many times running is a sign of panic when actually staying calm and keeping your cool while standing face is the better option. At any rate, this woman cut thru the bull and went to endgame instead of worrying about being followed, whether her son could even move fast(a 6yr old??...my children are slow movers), and she felt threatened justifiably without question during this assault. Who knows, maybe she saw the newscast about the preceding event that happened in the area and decided to carry a firearm for protection at that point. It is of course possible this scumbag was interested in children. If she had no firearm he could've been kidnapped and lived his childhood somewhere else. If she saved anyone's child or just one innocent child, I'm on her side period. I don't mean to get deep, but one must Wonder what thoughts and intentions a man like this has or had.

///

Why? What if the reporter didn't know at the time? What if all that came after the story was written? What if the reporter wasn't really all that good.

Every time a news article critical of gun ownership, or including things about guns we know to be inaccurate, is published, we complain bitterly about how ignorant, incompetent and/or biased reporters are and the media is. But if a news article says something we like, it's suddenly gospel.

I thought you said we needed to "stick with what we know" in your post31 when you corrected me? I did make an edit in the post25 you were speaking about due to my typing error and mentioned it in a later post.

Which means what, exactly? The fact that something isn't mentioned in an article doesn't mean it didn't happen. The fact that something isn't mentioned in an article doesn't mean it didn't happen until after the article was published.

you were responding to barstool. I don't necessarily disagree with your points, and the first part I mentioned above about posts #25&31 is neither here nor there, but barstool has a good point. There are no behind the scenes chatter, investigation, Anything going on about anything she did wrong...no verbal warnings, nothing. He does have a point that something like that would probably be mentioned.....
 
youngunz4life said:
...
Why? What if the reporter didn't know at the time? What if all that came after the story was written? What if the reporter wasn't really all that good.

Every time a news article critical of gun ownership, or including things about guns we know to be inaccurate, is published, we complain bitterly about how ignorant, incompetent and/or biased reporters are and the media is. But if a news article says something we like, it's suddenly gospel.

I thought you said we needed to "stick with what we know" in your post31 when you corrected me? I did make an edit in the post25 you were speaking about due to my typing error and mentioned it in a later post.

Which means what, exactly? The fact that something isn't mentioned in an article doesn't mean it didn't happen. The fact that something isn't mentioned in an article doesn't mean it didn't happen until after the article was published.

you were responding to barstool. I don't necessarily disagree with your points, and the first part I mentioned above about posts #25&31 is neither here nor there, but barstool has a good point. There are no behind the scenes chatter, investigation, Anything going on about anything she did wrong...no verbal warnings, nothing. He does have a point that something like that would probably be mentioned.....
An absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. One can not simply draw an inference from the fact that something isn't mentioned in a news article that it didn't happen. All you can know is that it wasn't mentioned.

That may be sufficient to form a hypothesis. But a hypothesis needs to be tested.

You would do well to understand the difference among a fact, an hypothesis, a suspicion and a wild guess.
 
Frank let's face facts though, while everything you just stated literally hits the nail on the head, this was all a non-issue in this instance. I read some posts(not from you) talking about "politics". No, it's not politics. That does occur, but politics had nothing to do with this one. It was a a non-issue unless something popped up after-the-fact(very doubtful). This one was an opened and closed book and someone probably said: "Next" while asking for another coffee. News crews usually don't get interviews from criminals(at least on purpose) while 'painting them as heroes'. That might be too strong of an expression, but she is pretty much labeled as the 'goodguy'. I wish I could remember my english lessons...you know, the good character in the novel the teacher studies with the students?
 
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