The risk of the warning shot

robertrwalsh said:
Warning shots are in almost all cases stupid and dangerous and are often illegal. They are, by definition, a discharge of a weapon when you are NOT in immediate peril. They have the potential of huge civil and criminal liability. DON'T DO IT.
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And if he wasn't "prepared" to defend himself why did he grab his gun in the first place??
 
rubiranch said:
And if he wasn't "prepared" to defend himself why did he grab his gun in the first place??
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Unfortunately, much of what we "know" about firearms and laws is based on falsehoods that come from Hollywood. Folks on TV fire warning shots all the time. They usually don't cock their weapon until the person they are pointing at doesn't follow instructions. Joe Biden said you could fire a warning shot and also shoot folks through the front door with your shotgun. Neither are generally good ideas.

I am not a proponent of requiring training for carrying, but I do think it is a good idea.

Rosewood
 
Warning shots. Sigh.

I've seen the approved use of "warning shots" by LE come, go and come back again. Dunno how many times that cycle will be repeated. I remember a few times having spoken with an attorney who specializes in consulting to LE agencies about this subject, among many others, that reflect the evolution of policies and procedures used by LE agencies to keep pace with evolving law coming out of court cases.

I know one major agency who brought back the ability to use warning shots, but the caveat was that a "warning shot" could only be used if the officer found him/herself in a situation where the use of deadly force was already reasonable and justifiable, but the officer thought he/she could take someone into custody via the use of a warning shot instead of shooting the suspect ... wait for it ...

AND, the warning shot could only be fired if it was able to be specifically directed into a backstop material that would contain it, and not allow it to be deflected off of, or penetrate through, the material and endanger anyone else. Choose wisely, or you're at least at risk of being found out-of-policy (which is never a good thing), and that certainly won't be helpful if you face either/or criminal and civil problems due to the warning shot hitting something that ought not have a hole in it.

That's kind of a hint, huh?
 
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Kanewpadle said:
Warning shots work very well for bear. Fish and wildlife biologists use them quite often. That’s why their called “cracker shells”.
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Thats to scare bears off an area. They dont use them against a charging bear.
 
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ISCS Yoda said:
There might be a time or a place for a warning shot (omitting animals; that's just such a different subject). Maybe. I am not sure what that time or place is. Where are you going to aim that shot? If you're standing in the middle of a yard with grass or dirt, okay, you could fire into the ground. Otherwise, where do you point it? Certainly not up. Certainly not at cement. Certainly not at your car. I do think that I could argue that if I'm at my front door and am confronted by someone in the street in front of my house I could successfully fire a round into the grass. But, as a normal, self defense thing, it's a total waste of time.

The guy has a knife. He's 20 or 25 feet away. Even 30 feet. You all know the drill, that a knife wielding bad guy can close that gap faster than you can get that second shot off. If you're going to play cop outside then you've decided to use deadly force. Use it, or stay inside, or go back inside. This is real world, not Hollyweird. Your gun is sufficient warning that you're prepared to use deadly force. If you're not thus prepared dial 911 and stay inside.

All the rest is commentary.
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Well sort of. The Tueller drill is based on the victim not being ready & gun holstered. Paying attention to the threat, hand on gun, you just cut your first shot time in half. Gun out at low ready, half again. Gun up & pointed in, if you are any good, you get 4rds com before he covers 20ft of his 21ft. Train, practice, repeat.
 
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I also saw..

.. where a motorist got into an altercation with a driver and all of the other guys buddies ganged up on him and beat him pretty bad. His wife handed him the gun from the car and he angrily fired a warning shot into the ground, though he was not being approached at this time.

He was fined for firing a 'warning shot' into the ground.

It was foolish because he let his anger get the better of him (understandable) but the fight was over. He should have warned them back, got in his car and left.
 
Kanewpadle said:
If you’re thinking that you would confront a car prowler, think about this for a minute.

Your car is insured. If it isn’t, it can be replaced. You however cannot be replaced.

How much would it cost to replace your car versus possibly having to defend yourself in court?

In Washington State it is illegal to use a gun to protect your car. Don’t let anger dictate your reaction. Stay inside and call the police. Several car owners have gone to jail for murder and assault with a deadly weapon in this state over the last 10 years or so because they confronted a car prowler.
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By all means, lets protect criminals from harm.
 
So you catch the guy breaking out your car window to steal your stuff. You point your shotgun at him at tell him not to move, the police are on the way. He looks at you, spits on ground, and says, "So you're going to shoot me?", then turns and just walks away, probably with an expletive. What are you going to do?

If you haven't thought about this, you should stay inside.
 
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biku324 said:
So you catch the guy breaking out your car window to steal your stuff. You point your shotgun at him at tell him not to move, the police are on the way. He looks at you, spits on ground, and says, "So you're going to shoot me?", then turns and just walks away, probably with an expletive. What are you going to do?

If you haven't thought about this, you should stay inside.
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Or he walks toward you unarmed?

You just put yourself in a no win situation. Just because you’re armed means that you win.
 
Do not get into life threatening situations by choice. In today’s world of activist DAs and Judges the law abiding citizen is the one in legal jeopardy.
Call the cops, collect insurance. If you don’t have insurance it’s still cheaper than legal bills by far. The gun only comes out if there is reasonable fear for your life. Then you shoot the bad guy- dead. The law is so twisted now that holding people at gun point can be turned against you, on several different charges.
 
oldbrownhat said:
He could possibly also have kept a safe distance and used a very bright light to illuminate the suspect.
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This, along with calling 911, is excellent advice. More than likely the perp would have just ran off. And if he hadn't, and tried attacking the guy with the light, it would have been a clear case of self-defense, and the 911 dispatcher would have caught the entire thing.

Our bedroom is upstairs overlooking our parking lot. We can hear everything that goes on out there, and this would be my course of action in that event.
 
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