But Your Honor! Part 5

             It's been a long trip to Terry Pitman's #5 Reasonable: Your                 actions and decisions must be both subjectively and objectively          reasonable.

Every state and city will have different ideas about reasonable.  The jury, often called the reasonable man, will decide.  But how do you make a reasonable response at that moment of self-defense?  This is a training issue.  Make time to get professional training.  I can't tell you the number of times I've told armed citizens that they can't shoot someone simply running away with their possessions.

Is this a reasonable tool for self-defense?  Maybe...It depends...

 

Have a reason grounded in reality for everything you do. You don't have to be perfect, but having determined that AOJ exists, is a great start.  Remember:

A is ability.  Does he have the ability to use lethal force on me or other innocents?

O is opportunity   Does he have the opportunity to apply lethal force?

J is for jeopardy.  Is he acting in a manner that places me in jeopardy?

Do you have a definition for lethal force?  It is that degree of force which a reasonable and prudent person would consider capable of causing death or great/grave bodily harm.

Don't get your ideas of fighting, gun handling, tactics from movies and TV.  A recent television offering has a small group ,5-7 LEOs, who kill about 20 people in an episode.  That’s simply not real, not reasonable.

Might be fun to shoot, but using this tool for self-defense would take a lot of explaining.

Nor should you get legal advice from TV, or anyone other than a lawyer.  But remember, even a citizen can understand legal concepts.  The Affirmative Defense is a concept that some criminal lawyers may need help in grasping or crafting.  It's a reversal of normal court where you admit to the crime but maintain that your actions were proper for society and yourself and you should be excused from any penalties.  That’s heady stuff!

Every year we read of someone who did something unreasonable.  They shot through a closed door.  They fired a warning shot that hit someone.  They didn't identify the intruder before they shot.  The list goes on and on.  Don’t be these people.  Play what if?  Ask yourself the follow up question.  If I shoot my rifle at an intruder, what happens if I miss?  If I jump into a fight, how do I know who's who?  What if I'm wrong?  Work through these problems and find the down side of your answers.

Think before you need to act.  Intruder in your home...What are are your go or no go trips?

Lastly, if you found this series confusing and a bit overwhelming, good.  It is.  If this seems easy peasy simple, you don't understand the situation.  I would be the last person on Earth to tell you not to be armed.  Any idiot can strap a gun on and think they are prepared.  They are not. 

Self-defense has three components.  Training, performing the act and surviving the legal challenges.  The training is the most fun.  You can be a hero in your activity.  "Oh, yeah, two to the body, one to the head, reload and re-engage, I got it!" you tell the cardboard targets.  It's another fucking thing when you are faced with shooting a person and they can shoot back.

Even if the courts find you acted properly, and by the grace of God there isn't a family, significant other, or someone who wants money, you still have to live with the fact you pulled the trigger and took a human life, based on decisions you made in a second. 

Avoiding the need for self-defense is the goal.