Mr Benchrat,

Thanks for your opinion on how, if I am being mugged, robbed or car jacked and I shoot in defense of my life, or the lives of my family members, I am then 'honor bound' to submit my actions to judicial review. Your observations of our courts must be different than mine. First, if you are TOTALLY justified in a shooting and found not guilty, you are only out many thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars, in legal fees to get your acquital. (There goes your house and your 401k money).

But even if found not guilty, then comes the personal injury lawsuits. Mr. mugger can't 'get it up' after being shot, so his wife sues you for loss of spousal services. Or he has recurring nightmares...or post traumatic stress syndrome...or a thousand other real or imagined disorders, and suddenly the original victim, is now the bad guy who must be made to pay. Maybe I used hollow points to defend my life....oh my God, that adds another quarter million in damages I owe because a fast talking lawyer is able to convince the jury that I am a NRA member from the stone age with a callous disregard for the rights of my poor Meth smoking mugger.

My adult son, who practices law, has one jawdropping story after another of things he sees every day in the court room... injustices inflicted upon the muggee, not always the mugger. Your theory sounds good, and in a perfect world, I would agree with your sentiments. But on the advice of my lawyer, (and since I spent thousands getting him through law school, you will forgive me if I listen to his experience rather than your opinion), if I can walk away, undetected after an attempted assualt upon my person where I had to shoot to defend my life, I'm walking....and the SP-101 and remaining ammo will get thrown in the deepest part of Ohio river on my way home.

But please, don't let my thinking on this subject sway your actions should you ever be involved in a shooting. IF you have good witnesses, that can be located after the fact, who will back up your story, you will probably be found not guilty. However, if I may, I recommend you buy lots of personal liability insurance (it's about $300 a year for a million in coverage...not that expensive when you consider the risk of going without)....cause there WILL be a personal injury attorney somewhere, willing to take you to court, to rob you in a way your original attacker.... could only dream about.