Sunday, October 23, 2011

Chasing Down a Criminal in order to Perform a Legitimate DGU?

via The Star Tribune through Common Gunsense

Andrew Rothman, a Twin Cities firearms trainer and vice president of the Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance, said Friday that if the events unfolded as the armed citizen described, "the permit holder acted appropriately. Chasing the mugger to recover the purse or to effect a citizen's arrest is permitted by law."

And, if Evanovich "then escalated by pointing and/or shooting at the good Samaritan, the good Samaritan would have been completely justified in shooting," Rothman said.
Says japete:

There will be a lot more about this one before it's over and not much can be determined yet.
I'm not that generous. To me, when a cop or an armed civilian chases a fleeing criminal, it's very unlikely that killing that criminal will be justified. Of course, afterwards it's easy to say he turned around and aimed a gun, or you thought he was reaching for a gun, but I find it incredible (not believable).

This is the problem with DGU statistics. Whether you believe the truly bizarre numbers of Gary Kleck or the more reasonable numbers produced by the CDC or even the FBI, some percentage of them is NOT defensive at all.

Even when evidence is so overwhelming that legitimacy cannot be sustained, they get a slap on the wrist. You remember the Detroit vigilante, Tigh Croff. He got 2 years for cold-blooded murder.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

3 comments:

  1. I know the fantasy is for these crazed gun people to stop crime, but that's not their job.

    First off, Law Enforcement has a lot more legal leeway than a private citizen does in this matter since it is their job to enforce the law.

    Secondly, vigilante justice isn't justice.

    Is it correct to see the US turn into an anarchy with no proper government. That's been tried and shown to always be a failure.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Personally, I don't feel comfortable with any armed yokel "playing cop" on my behalf, legal or not, and feeling justified in chasing down and shooting someone over the stealing of some possession of mine.

    And isn't it telling that the thief wasn't just shot, but shot multiple times? Over a purse?

    Vigilante justice shouldn't be tolerated in a civilized society.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The fact that it's so tolerated says much about the society and its relationship to guns. Vigilante justice is another manifestation of the unhealthy motives people have for wanting guns in the first place.

    ReplyDelete