Yeah that's true. Especially when you consider that just saying "I'm on your side, I'm trying to cooperate" can also just as easily get you shot. Of course cops shoot people for no reason sometimes too.
I saw a thread over on IA that got me thinking about self defense with a weapon like a 9mm. The thread basically says that two dudes got into it and one guy went down and wasn't moving but like 2 or 3 other people were still stomping him until he started convulsing (sp) on the ground like he was having a seasure. If I were there i would hesitate to try to stop the fight by jumping in front of them knowing that they may get a little happy and try to start something with me as well... My question is, if you had a hand gun either on your person or in your car, would there be any good way to use it to get the guys to stop smashing a knocked out guys face into the pavement? I mostly am questioning the legality of that. I'm not saying that I would really ever try anything like this but just in case...
Hmmm..... Self defense (or defense of others) is a big grey area, especially when it involves deadly force, and especially if the other person is unarmed. It all pretty much boils down to how you can articulate the situation to the judge after the fact. If you honestly feel in your heart that that man will die if you don't do something, and the number of people attacking him leads you to believe that they would turn and try to seriously injure or kill you if you tried to intervene otherwise, then you do what you have to do.
Well put. That answers my question... I feel so bad for this kid that got stomped. He may have been talking crap to people but there is no need to stomp someones face into the ground after he is down...