Ridiculous
It probably is according to the TV shows you watch.
In Texas and many other states, brandishing your gun will cost you your license.
What does the law say?
Watched the video, read what’s available. Example of just because you can doesn’t mean you should. That said, I got no problem with the result.
It seems as though this sheriff is opposed to SYG and is using this incident to make a case against it.
SYG doesn’t even apply here. He initiated the conflict and escalated it and there’s no way in hell he can argue he had a legitimate fear of imminent grave bodily harm or death.
The case should go to the grand jury and he should be indicted on 2nd degree murder or manslaughter.
SYG doesn’t apply at all if you don’t first have a legitimate claim of self defense and he had none.
He’s completely correct. If you even produce a gun to scare off a bad guy in a situation where you didn’t already have a legitimate use of deadly force you’re criminally liable for assault with a deadly weapon.
I strongly disagree with your self defense expert. If a gun will stop an unarmed attacker (or even an armed attacker who is not prepared to use his weapon) without escalating to deadly force, I will use it to do so. Killing someone is not something that should be taken so lightly as to be the default position just because you pull the gun. Being prepared to fire it if it’s presence does not deter an aggressor is quite adequate, particularly when more than nine times out of ten, that is all that will be necessary.
And what makes you think cops are different when it comes to self defense?
That is not his argument. We aren’t talking about legimacy. He is saying that you should not pull the gun unless you intend to shoot the person you are confronting. I (we) am saying that you should be prepared to shoot, but reserve that action because the probability is that looking down the bore of your gun will be sufficient to stop the aggressor.
Agreed.
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“Never point a gun at anyone you do not intend to shoot”.
If you’re not committed to doing so don’t do it.
Arguably there are cases in which you can get away with it but it’s always a bad idea. You can easily deescalate a lot of situations by producing a gun and making it clear you’re willing to use it but the second you aim it even in the general direction of another person you put yourself in a great deal of legal jeopardy.
You’d better have a lawful use of deadly force under the law before you ever point it at anyone.
Had he pulled his gun, pointed it but not fired, could he have been charged?
Arguably he had a legitimate use of deadly force up to the point at which the attacker started backing away.
Had he drawn and fired immediately he’d have probably been OK, the problem is that he didn’t fire until his attack had quit or attempted to quit the conflict.
Then we will have to disagree. Being a weapon brandisher is an excellent way to get killed. I’ll bet you believe in firing warning shots also.
Sorry, but that leaves you zero room for discretion. “Never point a gun at anyone that you are not prepared to shoot” does.
But I agree 100% about doing so in a legal manner. However, the adage “I would rather be judged by 12 than carried by six” still applies. If your life is at stake, the legality of how you protect it is secondary.
I am not talking about brandishing or firing warning shots, I am talking about aimed at center off mass and ready to fire IF it is necessary.
Yes. The video show that the husband took two small steps back and turned slightly away before he was shot. He was no longer attacking and was not posing imminent danger to the man with the gun. One could even interpret his movements as retreat. I will be shocked if the AG does not indict or at least empanel a Grand Jury.
As I said at the beginning, this story appears to be about a Sheriff with an agenda, not about Florida’s stand your ground law being too lax.
The purpose in carrying a gun is to stop an eminent threat of death or serious bodily injury. If such a threat does not exist, there is no reason to pull a gun. If such a threat does exist, there is no reason not to eliminate it.
The guy should have walked around him and got in the car. The wife should have stayed in the car. Stand your ground applies. The guy was assaulted, and now it’s two on one with the wife exiting the vehicle.
Brandishing has a definition.
Yes it does.
For an operating definition, “brandishing” means to display, show, wave, or exhibit the firearm in a manner which another person might find threatening.
