According to every instructor I have spoken to, court precident in the state of Louisiana is that shootings outside of 7 yards (killing range for a knife) are presumed to be unjustified. I do not have the case law.

According to several instructors I have spoken to, if you put someone in fear, including someone who is attempting to rob you, you have committed assault. The rule of thumb is that the weapon should never be visible until ready to fire. Some say that you can take a position where your hand is on the weapon but it is not displayed. However; some attorneys are now advising that even this can be considered assault and there have been cases where criminals have justified shooting their victims "for having gone for a gun, placing them in fear". YEAH REALLY! These same attorneys are advising holstering weapons in non traditional locations away from pockets or the hip- Thunderwear being a good example.

It seems that in the state of Louisiana, the criminals are "ahead of the curve". From what I understand, the type of crime that I am so very afraid of- where a criminal walks or runs up to you without displaying a weapon, defying warnings and your escape attempts- is being used fairly frequently. This is where understanding of state gun laws are absolutely critical- in fact life or death. This is the reason I want to find a course on Louisiana law that will tell me what I can or cannot do. For now, the best response I can think of is to de-escalate the situation if possible before resorting to lethal force. If after retreat, use of barriers, warnings and the guy continues, a good dose of pepper spray ought to slow him down. But even then, many now resort to sunglasses to protect their eyes. The gun should be the absolute last resort, but in this case, the criminal may be inches from your face when he produces the weapon, giving you virtually no time to respond. At best, you end up with a face to face OK Corrale, where he has the advantage. This is why I say that keeping them at a distance is so very critical. The closer he gets, the greater the criminals advantage. But then again, absent him drawing a weapon, how do you actually know that he is a criminal or that he intends to do your harm? All that you know is that he is behaving agressively and very strangely, placing you in fear of your life. Now, what happens if his intent is to beat you to death in the manner of that killer that I confronted years ago? You shoot a huge man in the act of committing murder, but he is unarmed- off to jail you go.

The problem with the gun thing is that violent crime is a way of life here, something we deal with daily. If you shoot the guy, it is very likely that the next time you have to deal with one of these idiots, you will still be in court with the last one. Thats the great thing about pepper spray, people dont hesitate to use it and you dont have to deal with a possible murder, man slaughter or wrongful death charge.

The point of disagreement that I have with some instructors is that I believe that their advice actually makes a shooting more likely rather than less likely, their primary focus being on "legally righteous". If you are having to deal with 1 or 2 armed robbers per year, you can "legally righteous" your way into bankruptcy or jail- not a practical solution.

Yes, I will re-read paragraphs. Thanks.