When am I NOT responsible for shooting a bystander?

[sovietak474u]

As prior military leo, I was trained always to pay attention to the back stop before taking a shot. Even in a crowd, most people will distance themselves from a shooter in a damn hurry once the first shot has been fired. I figure that by the time I've found and taken adequate cover, the crowd should have dispersed sufficiently for me to take proper aim and make an effective shot. I don't think I could live with the knowledge that I had the means to take action and failed to do so out of fear of harm to myself or legal consequences after the fact. As the quote goes, all evil requires to prevail is for good men to do nothing.

That goes many different ways almost all are not good. I'll explain why:

He stated it's a small park and there were up to 3,000+ people there . People will be running in all directions . You telling me you are going to take your eyes off the shooter and try to make your way through a large crowd to try and find cover? 1,000+ other people will have that same idea instead of finding an exit .

Not to mention how often do you go to such events alone? You planning on ditching your family to find this cover ? Say you take them with you to cover. You get a shot and boom you hit him! Then you discover he is wearing body armor . Now he will start firing directly at you and your family.

do you dress like a cop or wear tactical type clothing ? If not you waiting to make your move from your cover means there are now two gunmen in the park when the police do arrive . You could very easily be mistaken for the shooter .

I could go on and on about the pros and cons here. Bottom line is this :

If you can stop a threat safely then do it! If no clear shot can be had then you shouldn't hang around. Making a life or death choice with your heart instead of your brain can have disastrous consequences.

 

[sovietak474u]

Unfortunately true. You save 30 people but spend 30 years in jail and loose your house, job and savings. Look at it this way. They should have been packing also. Its their fault they are victims.

I don't care about jail. That's not my concern. What I don't want is the death of an innocent person by my hand because I made a bad choice .

If I can help ...I will help. If I cannot then I'll be damned if I'm going to fall on my own sword. I'm going to protect me and mine .

 

[MaconGuns]

I don't care about jail. That's not my concern. What I don't want is the death of an innocent person by my hand because I made a bad choice .

If I can help ...I will help. If I cannot then I'll be damned if I'm going to fall on my own sword. I'm going to protect me and mine .

I don't believe any normal person wants to kill an innocent person. Some don't even want to kill a guilt one. One nice reason to use hollowpoints. You just have to be willing to accept the consequences reguardless. As stated above, pulling a gun to help can get you shot.

If ever I find myself in a situation that calls for a 1 second reaction, Im probably not going to do a 3 second scan of the environment. With any luck I would stop the threat.

Im just consider myself a normal guy with no special training. Being aware of your environment is important but, thats not something that is always possible. Guess thats part of the problem.
Split second decisions are difficult.

 

[sovietak474u]

I don't believe any normal person wants to kill an innocent person. Some don't even want to kill a guilt one. One nice reason to use hollowpoints. You just have to be willing to accept the consequences reguardless. As stated above, pulling a gun to help can get you shot.

If ever I find myself in a situation that calls for a 1 second reaction, Im probably not going to do a 3 second scan of the environment. With any luck I would stop the threat.

Im just consider myself a normal guy with no special training. Being aware of your environment is important but, thats not something that is always possible. Guess thats part of the problem.
Split second decisions are difficult.

Anyone who feels even for a second that they can't take a life has no business carrying a firearm .

I'm just a normal guy too. A guy who likes to read. I've read countless case reports and studies about mass shootings in public places . You are not defending yourself in a parking garage . So many different problems come into play in such a situation.

You have just a few seconds to react . Within those few seconds you should quite easily be able to clearly see if engagement is possible or not . Most times during public shootings you are either within view of the shooter or you only hear the gunfire.

Anyone who goes off looking for the shooter in an environment like a concert is really rolling the dice with a very small chance of success . Not to mention such events have a ton of security. If you have a clear and easy shot at the suspect then take it . I would . If not you are better off getting out as the deck is stacked against you and you will do more harm than good.


Just about every department around the country gives the exact same advice when it comes to these events :