fickman wrote:Scott Farkus wrote:the instructor said that fists alone were never justification to use deadly force.
I empathize with his motivation. . . trying to stop vigilantism and/or prevent hot heads from thinking they have the ultimate bar brawl trump card, but it's just not accurate.
"Almost never" would have been more responsible to say, followed by an explanation of disparity of force.
My instructor had me (I'm 6'5" and was in my mid-20s for my first class) stand up next to a WWII vet and used that to respectfully demonstrate the concept.
This is where you have to think and use your head. First the triangle--- Don't be in a bad place, with bad people, doing bad things. Additionally don't be in a stupid place, with stupid people, doing stupid stuff. If you know where trouble is likely to be avoid it.
Now for the hypothetical when trouble comes to you.
My DH and I are probably good examples to use in a hypothetical. My DH is 31 years old, 5 foot 6 inches and a bit round, but fully capable of beating a track out of a nasty situation. If he is in a supermarket parking lot and a fellow comes up and says he is going be beat my DH tail should my DH take out his gun and shoot him--no--that would likely not be a good idea until he has tried other things. Avoidance, getting into a car, going back into the store. Chris is an abled body man and has several options. Now if the guy closes on my DH and corners him then the situation becomes murky (and why he carried pepper spray too!). Now if the same fellow closes on me at the grocery store with the four children with me and tells me he is going to beat my tail...I am a 5 foot 4 inch woman with a baby, toddler, preschooler, and a elementary school aged child in my charge. I can't run, I can't dodge, I can't get all of us into a car in a hurry, I can't run back into the store. I have no option but to put my children behind me and tell him to go away and if pursued still to draw and if pursued still to fire. Because it is not me that I fear for by my four month old that can't so much as crawl away and my two year old that if I am incapacitated will be playing in traffic. I am willing to go to jail, to face financial ruin, and yes to die to protect them.