Is a vehicle a deadly weapon?

[jamjam]

I decided to keep it simple. I've seen many a chase on TV where a perp is trying to run away from cops. If they merely scrape a cop's car, they're usu. charged w/assault or attempted assault w/a deadly weapon. The question now is, if it's a mere citizen, and someone is attempting to hit us in a scenario that surely will cause at least bodily injury, if not death, is that considered the (attempted) use of deadly force?

[RottenApple]

Why didn't he get off the road? Call 911? Or any of a hundred (if not more) other things? Displaying his weapon at that point was foolish. Having it at the ready, yes. But displaying it, no. IMHO (IANAL), assuming everything you stated is 100% accurate, then he did unlawfully display his weapon.

[C-dub]

Unfortunately, he was supposed to call the police FIRST. I suppose he could try and get them to go back and look for the skid marks the truck left braking and then going in reverse. I'm sure they must have left some.

[fickman]

Are there any witnesses? If so, they should corroborate his story. I'd expect something that extreme would've earned more than a couple of 911 calls.

If not, on a road as big as I-35, your brother would have certainly had room to go around the truck while it was stopped or in reverse.

I'm guessing he played a role in the provocation. I have been in some completely one-sided incidents, but they are extremely rare, and proving you remained clam and had no role in the matter is hard because most people - at some point in their life - have acted like a fool on the road. If he didn't, and he was truly trapped somehow and couldn't move his car for some reason, the I hope he wins his case.

To show your firearm is to threaten the use of deadly force. If you do it, it better be justified, and you better call the police the first second you're able to do so.

[rev210]

I remember in my CHL class that they said to always call 911 no matter what happens, even if the threat disappears and goes on their way, that way nobody calls them on you for being the threat and displaying a weapon.

[flb_78]

It's "incidents" like this that make me want to mount a camera on my dash and record my driving automatically.

[FastCarry]

Hate to say it, but i dont think anything happened for him to be in fear for his life, or otherwise justify deadly force. Mistake one was pulling out his gun in the 1st place. Mistake two was not calling the police either instead, or as soon as he could. I dont think this will end up favorable.

As a CHL holder, you have a TREMENDOUS responsibility of knowing your rights, and the law as related to CHL. What would have happened if the guys in the truck were CHL's and were carrying? One guy on the phone explaining to the dispatcher that there is a guy pointing a gun at them while the other pops off a round and kills your brother.. maybe another way of thinking about when you should really be pulling your weapon.

[Teamless]

Interesting first post as well.

[magicglock]

I agree that he is most likely not going to beat the unlawful display charge. Hard for any of us to judge the situation when we were not present but it just does not sound like we have the full story. I can't imagine coming to a complete stop on I-35 unless there was bumper to bumper traffic. If he was "going too slow" that pretty much rules out the traffic situation. If he was too close to hit the gas and go around the vehicle then I would say he was following too closely and provoking the situation. The story just does not add up for me and I don't see the need to pull his weapon when other options existed. Aside from trying to pick this apart, he broke rule number 1 after an incident. He didn't call 911. He who calls 911 first, generally wins. Bad deal, sorry to hear about your brother's situation and I wish you both the best.

[jamjam]

Interesting first post as well.

Thanks.

[JP171]

Are there any witnesses? If so, they should corroborate his story. I'd expect something that extreme would've earned more than a couple of 911 calls.

If not, on a road as big as I-35, your brother would have certainly had room to go around the truck while it was stopped or in reverse.

I'm guessing he played a role in the provocation. I have been in some completely one-sided incidents, but they are extremely rare, and proving you remained clam and had no role in the matter is hard because most people - at some point in their life - have acted like a fool on the road. If he didn't, and he was truly trapped somehow and couldn't move his car for some reason, the I hope he wins his case.

To show your firearm is to threaten the use of deadly force. If you do it, it better be justified, and you better call the police the first second you're able to do so.

this is incorrect, read up on it

[olafpfj]

I encountered something similar while driving through new Mexico. There was a car that would drive upwards of 90 mph and then would slam on his brakes and slow down to 45 mph. He wasn't exactly road raging but he was certainly putting myself and mg family in extreme danger repeatedly. After about the 3rd time this occurred we called the DUI hotline on the road signs. Nothing happened for a good 45 minutes while we continued to do our best to avoid him. We finally got a call on my wife's cell outside of Albuquerque from an officer sitting in the center divider ahead of us. We were on the phone with him when we passed him. When he caught up I flashed my brights and he immediately found and pulled over the offending idiot.

Long story short CALL THE POLICE FIRST!!!!

[jamjam]

Yeah, it's a bad deal. Thanks for understanding.

[jamjam]

Yeah, hindsight is 20/20. I'm so sorry your family had to go through that. But having a weapon makes such a big difference when dealing w/insane ppl like this, right?

[jamjam]

It's "incidents" like this that make me want to mount a camera on my dash and record my driving automatically.

AMEN!!!