Have you ever actually drawn your CHL Weopon in self defense

[Thomas]

I voted "no"

I drew a pepper spray at an aggressive dog that did not want me to get in my own car once, must have thought he marked his territory .. didn't have to spray
I awoke one morning to kids, 7 and 5, telling me a naked man was in the house doing things he shouldn't ... I drew a pepper spray at him and he decided to quickly leave my house and run down the block while trying to dress, begging me not to spray him, didn't have to spray (I was wearing a Glock 19, and showing great great restraint while I followed him down the block advising him to not return)

You have great restraint. I would have probably sprayed him... but I wouldn't be aiming at his face

[Oldgringo]

I voted "no"

I drew a pepper spray at an aggressive dog that did not want me to get in my own car once, must have thought he marked his territory .. didn't have to spray
I awoke one morning to kids, 7 and 5, telling me a naked man was in the house doing things he shouldn't ... I drew a pepper spray at him and he decided to quickly leave my house and run down the block while trying to dress, begging me not to spray him, didn't have to spray (I was wearing a Glock 19, and showing great great restraint while I followed him down the block advising him to not return)

You knew this guy, did you?

[Jim Beaux]

A goofball neighbor pulled a revolver on my dad and I, standing about 30 feet away at his 10:00 told him to behave. I was about 14 - 15 years old and was quite prepared to pull the trigger. (safety off and sighted in on his head) When the police arrived he claimed it wasnt a gun but a trailer ball. Though charges were filed against him I dont remember what happened.

When I think about it now I get a little scared at how I never thought twice about shooting him. I wonder how it would have impacted my life as I grew and matured.

[RPB]

I voted "no"

I drew a pepper spray at an aggressive dog that did not want me to get in my own car once, must have thought he marked his territory .. didn't have to spray
I awoke one morning to kids, 7 and 5, telling me a naked man was in the house doing things he shouldn't ... I drew a pepper spray at him and he decided to quickly leave my house and run down the block while trying to dress, begging me not to spray him, didn't have to spray (I was wearing a Glock 19, and showing great great restraint while I followed him down the block advising him to not return)

You knew this guy, did you?

nope; never saw him before ...or since ...he nor his 2 friends who left earlier never "partied" with my ex in front of the kids or at the house again after that day

[SRH78]

No, I have never had to draw my ccw but I did draw my Super Redhawk years ago due to a couple of idiots. Fortunately, they quickly realized the error of their ways and backed off.

[AdioSS]

The first & only time I have was back in July. I had just been on a first date with a girl & we were at a bar, so my gun was in my truck. She left in her car, & I walked across the parking lot to my truck, got in & was about to back up to leave when a green 70s Dodge van pulled up behind me blocking me in. A guy jumped out and came up to the window of my truck. It was dark in the cab, so my black Beretta wasn't obvious. The guy was a bit old, definitely could use a bath & was asking for money. I told him no a few times, & when he wanted to shake my hand, I told him I was not going to shake his. Then he looked down at my right hand to see the .40 cal barrel pointed at his chest. Just to get the point across, I activated the Crimson Trace laser. He got out of there in a hurry!

[Jumping Frog]

The first & only time I have was back in July. I had just been on a first date with a girl & we were at a bar, so my gun was in my truck. She left in her car, & I walked across the parking lot to my truck, got in & was about to back up to leave when a green 70s Dodge van pulled up behind me blocking me in. A guy jumped out and came up to the window of my truck. It was dark in the cab, so my black Beretta wasn't obvious. The guy was a bit old, definitely could use a bath & was asking for money. I told him no a few times, & when he wanted to shake my hand, I told him I was not going to shake his. Then he looked down at my right hand to see the .40 cal barrel pointed at his chest. Just to get the point across, I activated the Crimson Trace laser. He got out of there in a hurry!

Looks to me like you committed several crimes.

[AdioSS]

The first & only time I have was back in July. I had just been on a first date with a girl & we were at a bar, so my gun was in my truck. She left in her car, & I walked across the parking lot to my truck, got in & was about to back up to leave when a green 70s Dodge van pulled up behind me blocking me in. A guy jumped out and came up to the window of my truck. It was dark in the cab, so my black Beretta wasn't obvious. The guy was a bit old, definitely could use a bath & was asking for money. I told him no a few times, & when he wanted to shake my hand, I told him I was not going to shake his. Then he looked down at my right hand to see the .40 cal barrel pointed at his chest. Just to get the point across, I activated the Crimson Trace laser. He got out of there in a hurry!

Looks to me like you committed several crimes.

When I called the police to report it, they didn't have any problems with what I did. I told some of my coworkers about it, & even the guy with 29years of law enforcement experience didn't see any problems.

[Jumping Frog]

Per your description, he wasn't armed and he wasn't robbing you. Obviously, if he is robbing you, that changes everything and your conduct is justified.

Assuming it was not robbery, the following could apply:

Sec. 46.035. UNLAWFUL CARRYING OF HANDGUN BY LICENSE HOLDER. (a) A license holder commits an offense if the license holder carries a handgun on or about the license holder's person under the authority of Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, and intentionally fails to conceal the handgun.

Sec. 22.01. ASSAULT. (a) A person commits an offense if the person:
...
(2) intentionally or knowingly threatens another with imminent bodily injury, including the person's spouse; or

Sec. 22.02. AGGRAVATED ASSAULT. (a) A person commits an offense if the person commits assault as defined in Sec. 22.01 and the person:
...
(2) uses or exhibits a deadly weapon during the commission of the assault.

Sec. 22.05. DEADLY CONDUCT. (a) A person commits an offense if he recklessly engages in conduct that places another in imminent danger of serious bodily injury.
...
(c) Recklessness and danger are presumed if the actor knowingly pointed a firearm at or in the direction of another whether or not the actor believed the firearm to be loaded.

Sec. 22.07. TERRORISTIC THREAT. (a) A person commits an offense if he threatens to commit any offense involving violence to any person or property with intent to:
...
(2) place any person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury;

Painting him with the laser could be considered an additional, separate count of ASSAULT or TERRORISTIC THREAT.

Glad you weren't charged with anything, but in general I am careful about not actually pulling a gun on someone unless I am justified in shooting them. I know of multiple cases where CHL's who displayed a weapon without the justification to shoot ending up being convicted of assault. Especially road rage cases.

Parking lot interactions like you describe are often simply begging for money (which does not justify deadly force), and they are often an "interview" while the guy gets ready to rob you (whereas a robbery does justify deadly force), so the situation appears to be ambiguous. If you had been charged, then you are going to need to be convincing that it was a robbery.

[knotquiteawake]

Bob, wouldn't the van blocking him in, preventing him from leaving, he justification for threat of deadly force? I would be afraid something bad was going to happen if somebody blocked my car in and kept demanding money from me. It would be implied to me that i can't leave until I pay up.

[Jumping Frog]

Bob, wouldn't the van blocking him in, preventing him from leaving, he justification for threat of deadly force? I would be afraid something bad was going to happen if somebody blocked my car in and kept demanding money from me. It would be implied to me that i can't leave until I pay up.

It is still up to you to be able to articulate to the arresting officer, then to the DA, and ultimately to the jury why you thought it was a robbery.

As I mentioned, if it is a robbery, then it is justified. If it is panhandling, it is not. The situation is ambiguous. Absent convincing evidence of robbery, pointing a gun at someone and painting them with a laser is a crime.

Change the circumstances. If, instead of painting him with the laser the guy had actually pulled the trigger. Do you think it was justified to shoot the guy?

As a general rule, if a situation does not justify shooting someone, then it is not justified to point a firearm at them.

[maestrobranson]

I didn't actually have to draw...thank God! I work with sound in many interesting places and with many interesting people, some of which are hired by the venue to be grunt labor. Most of the time, I don't have problems. A couple of months ago, another guy from my company and I were working a concert at an outdoor venue and had several of these hands. One of the hands decided that he wanted to fight someone and that someone was was my coworker. He knows I carry but doesn't have a chl of his own. We were in a 51% area, so my 226 was in the car just outside the gate. This hand started messing with my coworker at load in but left before the show and we didn't think about him again. Show went on ad went well and before you know it...we are at the load out. We got everything to a point where it was just time to load the truck. This same guy jumped my coworker when the cw was putting something on the lift gate and they start rolling around on the ground. The other hands and I pull them apart (I kept thinking about getting a water hose like a dog fight) and I ordered my cw back to his truck. We got the hand to leave and I told some policemen a block or two away what happened and they told me they would watch out. I then got my 226 and stood outside the venue calling for items to be brought to the truck all the while watching for this hand, because he seemed the type to come back with reinforcements and or weapons l. We hauled butt to get gone...and did so without sight of the hand again. All in all, my guns cleared holster, but I just prayed that this guy wouldn't come back or that the cops would be close enough to help. This type of situation frustrates me because the law doesn't let me carry into a bar, even though I am there to work and never drink while working. Sorry for the long story ad even worse spelling/grammatical errors...iPhones are difficult to compose a dissertation on.

[Dave2]

This type of situation frustrates me because the law doesn't let me carry into a bar, even though I am there to work and never drink while working. Sorry for the long story ad even worse spelling/grammatical errors...iPhones are difficult to compose a dissertation on.

[J Wilson]

I could care less what the law says.If someone blocks me in and comes up to my window,he will probably see the business end of my .45.I would not have a clue what he was up to.

[AdioSS]

I didn't paint him with the laser until he reached in my window wanting to "shake my hand" so at that point he was trespassing inside of my personal property. The guy told me he was a felon so he wasn't able to get a job, needed gas for his van, had kids in the van, blah blah blah. It went on for a few minutes. I told him no several times. If I would have shot him, it would have been my word against his, if he was able to tell it...

My biggest regret is that I realized later that I should have been paying attention to the other side of my truck just in case somebody else were to try to get in on that side.