What would you do...

[Ziggy2525]

You and your wife are out for a walk. It's getting dark. You're legally carrying a concealed pistol. A car pulls up beside you. You see what looks like an barrel start coming out the window, hear what sounds like a surpressed weapon firing, and feel pain in your legs and abdomen as you're hit.

Do you draw your weapon and defend yourself?

What happens when you find out it was kids that just shot you with an AR-15 replica paintball gun?

Paintball shootings in Los Angeles on the rise and concerning police | Fox News

 

[Jimmyjones]

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

 

[Scharfschuetzer]

I'm sure that whatever you decide, it'll be construed as wrong in LA.

 

[Smoke]

Any number of people have been shot for pointing toy guns at people and for the most part the shootings have been ruled justified.

Ask Tamir Rice

 

[biku324]

You could ask the dead dude in Portland if bringing bear spray to a gunfight was a good idea. Or you could ask the guy who shot him for being sprayed, then got shot by police.

 

[Ziggy2525]

I'm sure that whatever you decide, it'll be construed as wrong in LA.

You edited your post. I thought your first response was really good advise. I wish i would have quoted it before you changed it.

 

[Donn]

A paintball gun that can penetrate a car door?

 

[Ziggy2525]

A paintball gun that can penetrate a car door?

Lost me. You're walking on the sidewalk. The barrel of the paintball gun is being pointed out the window of the car as they shoot you on the sidewalk. Not sure where door penetration comes in.

 

[Ziggy2525]

You could ask the dead dude in Portland if bringing bear spray to a gunfight was a good idea. Or you could ask the guy who shot him for being sprayed, then got shot by police.

You're conflating what police are now saying was a targeted assassination during 100 days of continuous rioting with a random drive by shooting where the weapon ended up being a paintball gun.

In the Portland case, if you want to step back up the causal chain looking for a root cause, if the self appointed police commissioner along with the county attorney had put a stop to the civil unrest 100 days ago both men would be alive.

 

[Carl Bill]

With what's going on in todays society, protest, riots, unprovoked personal attacks on people, I'm afraid I would probably return fire. It's a shame that this is what the world has come to now. :-( But I'll have to say it would depend on the location I would be in. Big city or a small rural area, time of day, what has been happening lately in the area I was in. Many things to consider in a short period of time, makes this kind of decision difficult.

 

[Smoke]

I want to know who has a concealed weapon permit in Los Angeles

 

[stansdds]

I think I would have used my sidearm to defend myself and my wife, but I do not live out there in LA-LA Land, where it is more of a Bizarro World.

At the end of the linked article:

"Using a paintball gun to shoot is a felony," police added.

So shooting a paintball gun on a public street is a felony, odds are that you would have to defend your actions before a judge and possibly a jury, but I expect you would be exonerated. *

* This is not intended to be legal advice, I am not an attorney nor a spokesperson for an attorney.

 

[fredj338]

I've been shot with paintballs, never bullets, but I am sure there is a big dff in pain receptors. Besides, you shouldnt be walking in LA or any major city after dark.

 

[CA Escapee]

I want to know who has a concealed weapon permit in Los Angeles

Anyone who lives in Kern, San Bernardino, Ventura, Orange, San Diego, ...etc, County. Police and Sheriff's Deputies included.

 

[Scharfschuetzer]

You edited your post. I thought your first response was really good advise. I wish i would have quoted it before you changed it.

Thanks. I thought that it was bordering on legal advice, so I thought that I'd tone it down a bit. As a former LEO, I'm a bit gun shy to civil torts.

 

[BB57]

I've shot with paintballs, never bulleys, but I am sure there is a big dff in pain receptors.

I'm assuming you meant "bullets".

My dad was shot in the chest with a .32-20 out of a Model 92 Winchester. He didn't feel anything other than the impact, like getting hit with a hammer. He didn't even feel pain an hour or so later when a doctor was probing the wound. The pain came later during the healing process.

Now...I know that's not typical, but the point here is that the shock and trauma from a gun shot wound can vary a lot. Add in a healthy shot of adrenaline and it's very likely that you or I might not feel any immediate pain from a gun shot either.

I think the scenario the OP describes is plausible, and with the prevalence of suppressors on the rise, I wouldn't rule out someone shooting bullets and automatically assume paintballs. I'm also a pilot and losing an eye to a paintball traveling at 175 fps is not just "serious bodily injury" but also potentially career ending.

In short, if someone starts shooting at me and my wife, I'll return fire while moving my wife and I toward cover.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Without any political commentary, I don't care whether you're in LA, NYC, Dallas, or Podunk Holler. I didn't see the original post before it was amended. Still, no political issues follow.

Assumption 1 for this post. You are legally carrying a handgun.

Assumption 2 for this post. You literally see a handgun being pointed at you, regardless if it's out of a car window or a doorway; whatever.

Assumption 3 for this post. The handgun you saw fires and you are hit and you know that you are hit. (This is actually almost irrelevant!)

Firing a weapon in self defense is always justified. It is justified in defense of third parties as well. Never mind the twisting of justification by the political motivations of the local DA, Sheriff, or Police Chief. Keep it simple for this post.

YES, you pull your weapon. Legal. Period. A lawful "movement" under the circumstances.

YES, you are justified in firing your weapon. Legal. A lawful "movement" or action permissible under the circumstances.

The law does not require you to make a determination if the bone head threatening you is using a toy or a real weapon. If you feel there is a threat of death or serious bodily harm you are justified in pulling your self defense tool and then using it.

It's really quite that simple. Anything else is superfluous commentary.

And being hit by rubber bullets or paintball pellets is irrelevant. Your immediate perception rules.

And yes, that's my free legal opinion and I have a law license hanging on my wall. I just waved at it to see if it was awake. It is.

 

[Execpro]

The OP poses a good scenario.
I stopped being out and about after sunset (about 5 years ago) unless it is an ABSOLUTE necessity. Living on the outskirts of a city where there is a shooting almost every day within a 2-8 mile radius of me,it seems like a good idea.

I would think that the reaction time between realizing you are about to be/or are shot by whatever weapon would negate any meaningful response by you. In a drive by shooting, the car is moving and after the shooter fires,the car speeds away leaving you with no time for any action even if your able. JMO
I believe that my response would be get to the ground as fast as possible (intentional or not). This would provide a smaller target if the shooter continues to shoot.

Be SAFE out there, it's a crazy time we live in!

 

[Lou_the_welder]

When I walk around here, I carry spray.
As a resident of LA county, I cannot hold a CCW. Probably good for them.
We have had bouts of dumbasses riding around in cars with paintball guns. Most homes have "rings" that record and most everyone has a cellphone that records video. The homes in front of me have surveillance.
Some of them have been caught.

Would I shoot them for getting hit with a paintball. No. That seems excessive. I'd get my phone out and record the plates.
Taking a life is more than what it's worth.

 

[fredj338]

I want to know who has a concealed weapon permit in Los Angeles

As noted, my ccw is good in all the leftist cities. I generally choose not to go to any of them after dark. Though I routinely take my dog for a walk at night in my city but it isnt LA or Oakland or SanBernadino. Yes I generally ccw, but its for a dog or coyote encounter if my dog cant handle it. I do not worry about heing attacked by people in most places. The ccw is a just in case thing like a seatbelt.