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and in favor of laws that require that people make every attempt to back away or escape before opening fire.




I was almost with you until that line.



My position isn't out of some misplaced sympathy for the bad guy - indeed NOT killing him on the spot is going to cost a lot of money or headaches down the road. Likewise no bleeding-heart liberalism here - backing away from confrontation is not always a way to solve a problem if it merely puts resolution off, to potentially more-difficult circumstances.

The reason I feel that way is that I have a low opinion of John Q. Public's abilities in a fire-fight. I think the vast majority of people would do even worse than these deputies, who managed to hit as many of themselves as they did bad guys. If any of my neighbors tried to shoot a crook I suspect I'd be in as much danger as the crook.

My thought is: do you really want to put everyone else at risk over a crook carrying off a TV set? It's unfortunate if the result is that the bad guy gets away, but that may be better than having a bunch of bystanders taken away in ambulances. If the perp is already shooting that's one thing, but lots of keyed-up people tend to shoot at loud noises. I don't want to get shot because some kids' birthday balloon popped.
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"If they can't picture me with a knife, forcing them to strip in an alley, I don't want any part of it. It's humiliating." - windsock