Has anybody here actually had to use their weapon?

[blacklabel]

It sounds like you did well mcantar18c. I've got a buddy that runs his mouth too much when I'm around knowing that I'll have his back. It's gotten us into a couple of interesting situations but fortunately no one's been hurt.

The only thought I had was whether or not you could have made an honest attempt to retreat. It sounded like there was an opportunity to remove yourselves from the situation while the homeowner was approaching you but of course I wasn't there so I'm not going to say you did the wrong thing by allowing him to approach.

[Ronin13]

I've never actually had to draw, but I have had to "show and tell" once when a guy came up on me in the Highlands. I was walking from my car to a friend's car to give them directions to a mutual friends house and a stranger approached me from some side street and said "Nice beemer, mind if I take it for a joyride?" His intention sounded anything but joking and I immediately retorted with something like "I don't f***ing think so, bub." He continued to approach and that's when I realized the situation wasn't going to go in a great direction. I felt no adrenaline either like the OP stated (call it combat training, confidence, what have you). As soon as he got just outside of about 6 feet I lifted my shirt showing that I had my Springfield 1911 on my hip (not quite broad daylight, but the sun was still above the horizon). "I'm gonna have to ask you not to come any closer." He stopped dead in his tracks and decided his life wasn't worth losing over trying to muscle a new car out of me. After he left I turned to my friend and say what I always say when a situation gets slightly hairy "Woo, that puckered up my butthole!"
If I ever have to draw I'll be following the Secret Service rule: Never draw your weapon unless you absolutely intend to use it.

[Cameron]

Is it just me or can anyone else see the news article if the OP had shot the guy.

Local residents fed up with intoxicated youths trashing their streets as the local dive bars empty, knew it would end in tragedy!

A local man was shot and killed on his front lawn yesterday evening by patrons of a local dive bar. Neighbors say they heard the man ask the youths not to kick the garbage cans in the neighborhood and a verbal altercation started. The man's wife and 2 children, testified that their husband and father went to quickly investigate that his property was not being damaged, fearing that the three youths might be intoxicated, aggressive and as they obviously outnumbered this father of three, Mr X took his son's little league bat. Little did Mr X know that he was about to be the target of premeditated murder as he was ambushed and was shot several times in the back!

Mr. X was a devoted father and husband and had twice received a certificate of good citizenship from the city once for rescuing a trapped elderly neighbor from her burning home. He was also a volunteer firefighter and coached his son's little league team for the past four seasons...

I have to say from your account, you are very lucky that it was not more serious. If some shit head was kicking garbage cans in my neighborhood and then cussed at me when I told him to stop. I definitely would have come down to have a talk and I certainly wouldn't have been armed with just a bat, and if some punk tried to flank me with his hand on a gun we would have found out who puts in more quality time in at the range...

I would strongly suggest that you an your friends really think about the consequences of your actions. Kicking cans late at night is idiotic and immature behavior, then to stand there and cuss out the home owner who calls you out on it and even get ready to shoot the guy is completely stupid and potentially criminal.

You should have told your friend to apologize and quickly left before the homeowner came out. I know half a dozen guys in Denver if you had tried that shit on their front lawn it would have gone down very very differently. Count yourself lucky that you are not in hospital or jail this morning, and really think about what you are doing.

Cameron

[ghettodub]

Is it just me or can anyone else see the news article if the OP had shot the guy.



I have to say from your account, you are very lucky that it was not more serious. If some shit head was kicking garbage cans in my neighborhood and then cussed at me when I told him to stop. I definitely would have come down to have a talk and I certainly wouldn't have been armed with just a bat, and if some punk tried to flank me with his hand on a gun we would have found out who puts in more quality time in at the range...

I would strongly suggest that you an your friends really think about the consequences of your actions. Kicking cans late at night is idiotic and immature behavior, then to stand there and cuss out the home owner who calls you out on it and even get ready to shoot the guy is completely stupid and potentially criminal.

You should have told your friend to apologize and quickly left before the homeowner came out. I know half a dozen guys in Denver if you had tried that shit on their front lawn it would have gone down very very differently. Count yourself lucky that you are not in hospital or jail this morning, and really think about what you are doing.

Cameron

Agreed that you have to really be careful and not do stupid crap to piss people off.

[Bailey Guns]

Is it just me or can anyone else see the news article if the OP had shot the guy.



I have to say from your account, you are very lucky that it was not more serious. If some shit head was kicking garbage cans in my neighborhood and then cussed at me when I told him to stop. I definitely would have come down to have a talk and I certainly wouldn't have been armed with just a bat, and if some punk tried to flank me with his hand on a gun we would have found out who puts in more quality time in at the range...

I would strongly suggest that you an your friends really think about the consequences of your actions. Kicking cans late at night is idiotic and immature behavior, then to stand there and cuss out the home owner who calls you out on it and even get ready to shoot the guy is completely stupid and potentially criminal.

You should have told your friend to apologize and quickly left before the homeowner came out. I know half a dozen guys in Denver if you had tried that shit on their front lawn it would have gone down very very differently. Count yourself lucky that you are not in hospital or jail this morning, and really think about what you are doing.

Cameron

First of all, he didn't say it was late at night. Second, I don't think it was a trash can he was kicking. I assumed from the context of the story, maybe incorrectly, it was something like a soda can...not the guy's trash can.

Then you have the nerve to chastise the OP for what his buddy did and how "stupid and potentially criminal" his behavior was and in the next breath talk about confronting someone for basically the same thing?

So you're willing to confront someone after arming yourself with a gun over that person kicking a can in the road. And then get into a gunfight if the persons you confront take steps to protect themselves or talk back to you. And yet the other guys are stupid and need to think about their behavior.

Yeah....I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that.

[BigBear]

pulled yes, fired no.

Cut yes, dead yes.

[trlcavscout]

quick post for now-

I have transported two baseball bat + head, patients. I would have thought more seriously about drawing that weapon. A baseball bat can kill you. It can very easily ruin the rest of your life if it makes contact with your skull. One swing. I have lost enough fights to not take chances and never overestimate my own skill, be careful! Up close, if he is fast enough, I would have given him the edge in that fight, at striking range, a gun in the holster looses to a bat in the hand, and if he swung, its one on one. I don't want a "and X from the forum got killed by an old idot with a bat" thread.

+1

If they swing a bat they just took it to the next level same with a knife. If it comes down to hand to hand one on one that's fine, 2 on 1 or a weapon of any kind and its getting ugly.

[Byte Stryke]

First of all, he didn't say it was late at night. Second, I don't think it was a trash can he was kicking. I assumed from the context of the story, maybe incorrectly, it was something like a soda can...not the guy's trash can.

Then you have the nerve to chastise the OP for what his buddy did and how "stupid and potentially criminal" his behavior was and in the next breath talk about confronting someone for basically the same thing?

So you're willing to confront someone after arming yourself with a gun over that person kicking a can in the road. And then get into a gunfight if the persons you confront take steps to protect themselves or talk back to you. And yet the other guys are stupid and need to think about their behavior.

Yeah....I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that.

and then there is the fact the man left his residence and his property line to confront someone after having initiated a verbal confrontation.


edit: and Yes, I am in agreement that deadly force could be seen as justified against an aggressor with a baseball bat. I believe that is included in the "serious bodily injury" section.

[stevelkinevil]

Ok not exactly what the OP was getting at in asking as I was an LEO in Vegas at the time and I was moonlighting as a loss prevention agent at the time but one of the oddest encounters I have had none the less and the only one in plain clothes carrying concealed (we werent supposed to carry but they looked the other way for moonlighting LEOs). So anyway I had been lurking around doing my job in the Smiths (same as King soopers here) which was in North Las Vegas in a nasty part of town and had to use the restroom, I open the door and I see a man standing in the middle of the floor, not even in a stall, holding up his "twig and berries" with one hand and shooting himself up with what I later found to be methamphetamine with the other hand, IN HIS NACHO (or taint if you prefer)!!!. I was about 6 feet away from the guy and wasnt about to get stabbed with a god knows what tainted needle so I drew my carry gun which was a Walther P99 (used a 1911 on duty) and advised him to drop the needle, the dumb bastard, who didn't realize I was there till this point, raises the needle and takes a step forward, thank gawd he dropped it and complied from that point on because my finger had taken up all the travel on the DA trigger. Would I have been justified in shooting him? you better believe it, at that range and with what could be considered a deadly weapon raised I would have been OK. Scary part is if he had wanted to continue that attack nothing but a well placed head shot likely would have stopped him at that range.

[stevelkinevil]

and then there is the fact the man left his residence and his property line to confront someone after having initiated a verbal confrontation.


edit: and Yes, I am in agreement that deadly force could be seen as justified against an aggressor with a baseball bat. I believe that is included in the "serious bodily injury" section.

A baseball bat absolutely qualifies, had this been an off duty police officer he was dealing with we would have all been reading about it in the news today if you catch my drift.