Who here would give a warning shot?

[EASonBASS]

That's a great legal definition, and your free and justified in hiding behind it. You were 'justified' so you shot. Case closed. But what about being a human being? Is there any part of you that might want to search for every last option to not killing someone and having to live with it the rest of your life?

I've availed myself to scenario training at Artemis in their 300 degree scenario simulator. These are real life scenarios replayed in the simulator. The first time I tried drawing and shouting "drop the weapon" (if he doesn't drop it, then I'll shoot) and a split second later I watched the woman get brutally stabbed to death. Why didn't I shoot? I thought I could dissuade the threat. What I learned in the simulator is you have about a second to save your life or the life of another by stopping the threat. Anything but immediately dispatching the threat will get you killed (in this case, an 80,000 volt shock) or will get someone else killed.

What I realized is that I would suffer much more mental devastion or be dead if I did anything less than stop the threat. How could I live with myself after seeing the woman die knowing I could have stopped it right then but didn't? WAY worse than taking the life of the threat. Now imagine that was your family/loved one.

I pray the simulator is as close as I ever come to stopping a threat but if the need arises, I now know what I must do. The simulator training was a life changing experience and I highly recommend it.

[Win231]

What is your family worth to you? If you are overpowered because you didn't want to hurt an intruder, your family will be his next victims. You may be willing to take the risk of him injuring or killing you but are you willing to visit that risk on your family?

There is nothing wrong with a verbal warning, but if an intruder starts up the stairs anyway, he's ready & willing to deal with you & your family. Firing a warning shot is foolish for many reasons; one being you may need that wasted shot. Besides, if you've already issued a verbal warning that you're armed & he advances anyway, that warning shot will be meaningless.

Yes, you definitely should reconsider gun ownership.

[MarikinaMan]

I very much agree with this.

One cannot rely on the sound of a pump shotgun chambering a round to scare off a person, nor the sight of a gun deterring a person's actions, nor the sight/sound of a warning shot to convince an attacker you might be serious.

To choose to have a lethal force option for self defense, you must make up your mind ahead of time that you are able to use that weapon in self defense.

If you feel the need to draw or aim your weapon at another human being, you already know - or darn well should know! - that you or a loved one is in danger of death or serious bodily harm from that attacker.

If you don't believe that danger is imminent, don't draw/aim.

I will not walk out of my bedroom with a holstered weapon in a situation where there is a suspected intruder in the home. The fact that I suspect there is an intruder already tells me that there is a threat. I will walk out hot.

Is that what you meant? That you'd clear the home with a holstered weapon?

[randomBytes]

Even in CA a sufficient percentage of homes have guns, that anyone breaking into an occupied home, must be assumed willing to encounter deadly force;
that probably makes them an idiot, but it also makes them a serious threat.
Treat accordingly.

[SloChicken]

so, this just happened ...

Ontario homeowner and Burglary suspect ...

Guess the outcome ...
and what the police had to say ...

http://abc7.com/news/homeowner-shoots-kills-attempted-burglary-suspect-in-ontario-police-say/1200746/

[SloChicken]

LOL, well nobody said you won't need a lawyer afterwards.

Well, except in Texas.

It's about time for tort reform! "Loser pays" would get rid of a number of these stupid civil actions.



Yup!

-- Michael

Ha!

I hired a lawyer to do some work for me. After about 1 1/2 years of explanations of it being a work in progress, and with no copy of any work done I approached him to receive copy of all work performed to date, or he would be discharged.
He cussed at me and that was that.

I hired another lawyer and had him discharge the prior lawyer.

All was smooth until the first lawyer decided to finally do some work - to $ue me and my new lawyer.

End of it all, he showed up to the arbitration hearing in a white tee shirt and dungarees, slouched in the chair, walked out before the hearing was done, (to the point where the judge/magistrate had me escorted to my vehicle for my safety (I wasn't really worried, but the judge seemed to be). We were all pretty blown away at his performance.
Ultimately it was found he had a history of making vexatious claims, among other less than honorable actions, and was ultimately disallowed to practice in CA.

Vexatious litigants, as I understand, have to put up monies to cover all court fees, and pay the defendant's costs if they lose a case they bring forth to the court. IANL btw.

So, good stuff happens, sometimes haha!

I did have to pay him some $2k to make the case go away. It was stressing out my new lawyer and my new lawyer had done nothing wrong and didn't deserve to be dragged into it - so I payed "go away" money to the first "lawyer".

You know, it isn't all the lawyer's fault. 99% of them give the rest a bad name ...

[CandG]

Warning shots are an all-around bad idea. Very, very bad idea. Only use your firearm if you need to use it - and if you need to use it, your goal should be to incapacitate the threat.

In a scenario where your home is burglarized while you are home, but the suspect was clearly caught off-guard by the fact that I was home, I would not fire immediately if I did not feel an immediate threat. My "warning" would be a VERY bright light and a gun pointed at his face with instructions to "drop to the floor and put your hands behind your back". If he runs away, oh well, he ran away. Hopefully the cops catch him later. (Note: never, ever, EVER shoot someone who is running away. EVER!!) If he complies, then the gun stays pointed at him while I dial the police. If he attacks, well, there will certainly not be a warning shot.

If the suspect's behavior is such that he clearly knew I was home, and broke in anyways, I would most definitely fear for my life and take appropriate action to end the threat, immediately. Again, no warning shot.

I can't think of a single scenario where a warning shot is a good idea, other than a Hollywood action flick where the protagonist cop is trying top keep the bad guy from getting away.

[SloChicken]

Warning shots are an all-around bad idea. Very, very bad idea. Only use your firearm if you need to use it - and if you need to use it, your goal should be to incapacitate the threat.

Or get a nice elk dinner. I don't care if that elk never harmed anybody and was a good boy. I'm hungry.

[CandG]

Or get a nice elk dinner. I don't care if that elk never harmed anybody and was a good boy. I'm hungry.

Well yes, that goes without saying

[CandG]

The idea of firing a warning shot to "show them that you mean business", besides being illegal in most cases, is a ridiculous idea spawned by movies. It's on par with "Tell me who you're working for!" "Never!" *click-clack sound of hammer cocking* "Ok I'll tell you, don't shoot!"

[Sierra57]

If someone gets into my house, I'm not going to say thing. The 3 dogs in the house will ID friend or foe mighty quick and distract the hell out of them if they are an unfriendly, and hopefully scare them off. My main concern then would be trying to nail the baddie(s) before they hurt or kill the dogs, who will be all going after them.

[Librarian]

I will not walk out of my bedroom with a holstered weapon in a situation where there is a suspected intruder in the home. The fact that I suspect there is an intruder already tells me that there is a threat. I will walk out hot.

Is that what you meant? That you'd clear the home with a holstered weapon?

That's a really odd interpretation.

If you have a suspected intruder, IMVHO you would be justified in believing you were at risk of death or serious injury.

[Snerk]

I will not walk out of my bedroom with a holstered weapon in a situation where there is a suspected intruder in the home. The fact that I suspect there is an intruder already tells me that there is a threat. I will walk out hot.

Is that what you meant? That you'd clear the home with a holstered weapon?

Yeah, that seems a bit silly to me. If I suspect somebody is in my home, I'm grabbing my gun, chambering a round and investigating, weapon in hand.

Even in CA a sufficient percentage of homes have guns, that anyone breaking into an occupied home, must be assumed willing to encounter deadly force;
that probably makes them an idiot, but it also makes them a serious threat.
Treat accordingly.

I remember reading somewhere that there's in the neighborhood of 21 million firearms in this state. With 37 million people, that's a pretty good percentage.

Although that doesn't paint the full picture of who has guns and how many -- but it should be enough to instill a sense of caution. Regardless, somebody who breaks in to others houses is probably not intelligent enough to look up, or understand, those statistics.

[cannon]

OP, in your first post you asked a serious question. I can only answer it as it applies to me.

Would I fire a warning shot? The short answer is no.

The longer answer is. I don't want to shoot anybody and would try my best to avoid doing so.

To that end. My house is hardened. I have two German Shepherds. Both too encourage a bad person to go elsewhere.

If a bad person forced their way in and were not dissuaded by almost two hundred pounds of German Shepherds actively doing what Shepherds do to an intruder. And they have ignored my commands to go away.

I have to tell you. I would be scared and if he got past the dogs and I decided I had to shoot. I would be shooting right into center mass until he ceased forward motion.

I hope with all my heart that that never happens.

[CandG]

OP, in your first post you asked a serious question. I can only answer it as it applies to me.

Would I fire a warning shot? The short answer is no.

The longer answer is. I don't want to shoot anybody and would try my best to avoid doing so.

To that end. My house is hardened. I have two German Shepherds. Both too encourage a bad person to go elsewhere.

If a bad person forced their way in and were not dissuaded by almost two hundred pounds of German Shepherds actively doing what Shepherds do to an intruder. And they have ignored my commands to go away.

I have to tell you. I would be scared and if he got past the dogs and I decided I had to shoot. I would be shooting right into center mass until he ceased forward motion.

I hope with all my heart that that never happens.