G.A. Heath wrote:In a drive by shooting I will seek cover and try to make myself a good witness. First off why would someone wish to shoot back at a driveby shooter/vehicle? Keep in mind that the shooter will most likely only present head and shoulders for you to see, things in the door may or may not stop a bullet aimed lower (some door components like power window motors tend to stop bullets while thin panels do not). Keep in mind that if you miss the target and the bullet crosses the street and hits the five year old in their backyard you have a whole new world of issues to deal with. If you shoot at and disable the vehicle you have now increased the likely threat as they were most likely going to continue on their way but now they are stuck on foot with a threat (you) engaging them and you now have a real life gun fight on your hands. The risks outweigh the rewards in this situation. Now if they circle and come back around then things are different as you have a persistant threat, but you also have to better your position and request law enforcement as well as determine if you heard gun shots and notice that damage is not consistant with a firearm or something less threatening. In essence if the threat returns you now have more time and oportunities to evaluate the nature and level of the threat and prepare for it so your best judgement is your most important tool now.
Not much good can come from returning fire. Seek cover and be a good witness.
I had some kids go through my neighborhood with paint ball guns and shoot up all the cars a few years back. My truck has needed a paint job for the last 15 years so it did not do any damage to me. I just washed it off, but one of my neighbors had a new Accord that they had only owned for a few months, and it messed up their paint job. It is frustrating to see kids with no regard for the property of others.