[Vision2020] Concealed Hand Gun Laws

[Joe Campbell]

Love the example! Following Tom I'd say the police would look for wounds or a weapon. But you could change the example to meet those concerns: suppose he pretends to have a gun, threatens you, you decide to act fast, shoot him, but he has no gun.

I'd be interested to know what the lawyers would say about this case, whether police would be likely to believe you or not. If so, then your point would hold: someone could just fake it.

Of course, people get away with murder all the time.

On Dec 12, 2012, at 7:12 PM, "Robert Dickow" <dickow at turbonet.com> wrote:

> I am being serious now…
>  
> This question has no doubt been addressed by various experts, but I just thought up a situation that poses a question in my mind about ethics and legal practicalities:
>  
> Let’s say, for the sake of this thought experiment, that I own a handgun that I carry, concealed, for my personal self defense.  I find myself alone on a dark city street and I am surprise attacked by a lone individual (whom I perceive a mugger), who ignores my shouts and warnings. My shouts are not noticed by anyone in the neighborhood. I shoot and kill the person, who I feel is threatening my life. There are no witnesses or recorded phone calls (unlike the Trayvon Martin shooting). I have not suffered any visible injuries. How do I prove that I shot in self-defense?
>  
> Offhand I don’t see how I can ‘prove’ self-defense.  I can only claim self defense. Why couldn’t the county prosecutor say ‘BS’ and have me put me away for life? Is my thought experiment a situation in which I really can’t, or should not, use the gun? Or, from another line of thinking, if I can simply declare self-defense in a case like this, I could ‘legally’ go out and shoot an innocent pedestrian on a whim, and I could get away with murder.
>  
> Thoughts?
>  
> Bob Dickow, troublemaker
>  
>  
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