Posted: 5/14/2007 10:19:35 AM EDT
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So my son comes home from Destin FL. this weekend and tells me he had to draw down on guy. The criminal had asked him for some change and when my son said he had none the criminal pulled a knife on him. With him was his fiancée and another couple He was carrying his Witness .40 and immediately pulled it as a quick reaction to the threat. The guy was within 21 feet and my son could have shot him w/o facing possible charges. He told the criminal to drop the knife and he complied and then ran. I am glad that this resolved like this......what a mess it might have been and scarred him for life. How many of you would have shot the criminal w/o reservation? I have mixed feelings about this ...I don't know what I would have done. I might have shot the criminal dead in his tracks..I am scared terribly of knives and would fear for my life. I am glad I told my son to ccw on his vacation. I love my son very much and cringe that this happened to him. Be advised I trained my son about situations like this and bought him this pistol when he turned 21. I also have had to draw down once before when he was with me...He was 13 years old. Fortunately the gang members ran when I showed my weapon even though they all had pistols. His Mother was rather large eyed when he related this story to us. She carries a Taurus .38 CIA revolver. Anyway............Stuff happens and you must be prepared. slasher |
+1 I have always made my mind up that I will be squeezing the trigger the moment I get on target, but if that knife falls and they start to run and I can stop myself I will. I'm not shooting someone to punish them for threatening me, just to stop a present deadly threat. A dropped knife isn't that. |
Gotta somewhat disagree. The best possible outcome is the criminal POS dead. I'm glad the OP's son is fine but the next person might not be armed and will be at the mercy of a POS with a knife. |
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He did the right thing... However, this scumbag will possibly attempt to rob someone else now with a gun instead of a knife to even up the odds in his favor.. He deserves to die! My grandma, and two friends of mine have been robbed and the thieves all got away - one of my friends was injured when she didn't release the purse fast enough  Thieves and robbers deserve the death penalty |
QFT |
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I love the internet tough guys: "He should've shot him!" This ain't a video game or a TV show, fellas. This is real live life. I, for one, am glad your son does not have to live with the emotional burden of taking a human life. I am also glad that he was able to protect himself. Hopefully this scumbag mugger will change his preferred crime to something that won't hurt anyone. Or maybe he'll go get a real job. (yeah, right). |
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Based on the very limited information at hand here. This would seem to be a righteous CCW response. Your son was perfectly right in issuing a verbal command to the aggressor to stop his action. The purpose of CCW is to save lives and end the threat. Not to make the CCW holder into a self styled street avenger, performing executions sans judge and jury. Once the handgun comes into play, in order to stop a violent aggressor. One should be prepared to use deadly force immediately, but controlling ones environment without having to kill someone is by far the more desirable outcome. What your son demonstrated, was not weakness, but instead that you raise him right as a decent human being. I see far to many of these "Draw Down" stories, where it seems the CCW holder believes himself to be some sort of social avenger, or worse yet, simply seems to be looking for a chance to shoot someone. Either manufacturing or deliberately placing themselves in situations, where they might have to use their CCW constantly. Like someone who's just started taking martial arts classes going around looking to pick a bar fight. Its an ugly mindset, that I dearly hope, will not eventually cause us to lose our CCW rights, because a few CCW'ed bad apples, with defective wiring, wish to pretend they're Charles Bronson Frankly it's almost refreshing to see a story about the use of CCW, that doesn't read like a cheap Executioner, gun porn novel...Like the story related to us the other night, by the CCW holder, who was plotting a military operation, against the dirty hippies sitting at the next picnic table at the public park, because they were smoking, were in their 30's and 40's and had suspicious paper bags. It sounds like your son did fine. Though as another poster pointed out. I'd of certainly retrieved the knife, in a fashion that would have preserved finger prints or DNA material, just to prove the guy had a weapon, if it came back on me later. The only troubling thing I found in this whole post is this XxxSlasherxxX...
This is one of those...The law says one thing and what actually happens is quite another thing deals. It is very true that it is better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6, but the CCW holder needs to understand, that there are going to be consequences the second he pulls that trigger. The number of CCW cases where the CCW holder walks away after its over without a huge legal problem on his hands, is small indeed. Plan on being hooked up, charged and a civil suit. No matter how righteous the shoot. Ain't saying its right, Just saying thats the way it is. |
Partisan, I disagree. The situation showed a clear escalation of force. BG asked for change, Son refused. BG displayed a knife and made a clear threat, Son displayed a handgun and displayed superior force. BG broke off the attack. The OP said that the attacker "was within 21 feet," but not exactly how close the BG was. If he was unable to attack because of his distance from Son's group, then the next move should be the BGs. Given the endless possible outcomes of this case (which may well include an unfriendly DA and an uninformed/misinformed jury), the outcome of this situation is the very best that could happen. Besides... much as we'd like to think of neutralizing future threats to other people... Son is NOT responsible for their safety. THEY are. |
ABSOLUTELY |
WTF kind of gun is that? Is that the entire cartridge being propelled from the firearm? What are those weird rings? Nothing I've shot shoots olympic rings. Why is "Visitor Warning" already sliced if the bullet (well, cartridge  ) has not gone through it yet?I suppose this is like trying to reason with a grizzly bear though. The best part is how the brady campaign is advertising a warning to criminals as a bad thing Carry on |
Hmmm, I think any rational person would read that as: "Criminal Warning: Florida residents refuse to be victims!" ETA: Excellent job done by your son! 
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Thank you. I was looking for that pic. |
that's what the artist thinks a gun looks like. on a similar note: here in Oregon, there are deer crossing signs... if you know anything about deer, you will notice that the antlers are painted on backwards. same thing with John deer. they used to have it right, but for some reason changed it. what it is:  what it should be:  (sorry for the hijack) |
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He did really well. Shooting another person is a hell of alot of hassle compared to scaring the badguy off. If you do even if in the right, you're in for a long night as a minimum and your gun now evidence so gone. This is why CCW statistics are so vague for we only hear of the times the gun goes bang not all the crimes that were prevented. I will say it is best to call 911 after any of these type incidents for yes it is quite common for badguys to go straight to the cops to report the would be victim as the assailant. I have personally experienced that. TJ |
+1. There are many more examples where presentation of a firearm was enough to "cause the criminal to cease and desist in his activity". IIRC the "brandish" (in cases like this completely justified) outnumber the "use" around 5:1, if not more. Most criminals are cowards at heart - that's why they prey on those they believe to be unarmed. |