In 20+ years of appearing in court as a police officer, I saw LOTS of incompetent, disinterested and or politically motivated judges, prosecutors and defence attorneys. I heard lots of evidence that was struck as inadmissible, and lots that I think should have been. I have seen jurors sleeping or holding private conversations, and jurors that were so stupid someone else MUST have helped them get to the court that morning. While I don't believe I ever saw an innocent person actually serve time, I saw plenty of people whom had thier lives negativly effected without ever being convicted of a crime, sometimes without ever appearing in court.

I agree it would be pretty unusual to have the brand of ammo, type of ammo, type of weapon introduced in a court proceeding concerning an otherwise clean shooting. (I think this is somewhat geographically dependant.) I wouldn't say its impossible, and there are many steps before any court appearance or trial where you want to be projecting the (true) image of a law abiding citizen who wished there had been an alternative, but was forced to defend himself with lethal force due to the criminal actions of the deceased.

Police and prosecutors have lots of discretion. Evryone thinks about how thier actions will look in the media. An armed citizen should too.

Lots of weapons and even more ammo choices will do the job. So using a "Son of Sam autographed edition .44 special" loaded with "Dirt-nap" brand "grim reaper" copper plated arsenic bullets, while wearing a "God judges, I arrange the meeting" t-shirt and a "Kill 'em all" ballcap may not be the best way to project that image.

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Certified Curmudgeon