From: forda@gtephx.UUCP (Andrew Ford @ AGCS, Phoenix, Arizona)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: Black Talon Bullets
Date: 9 Sep 92 03:16:20 GMT
Organization: gte

In article <1992Sep5.221220.14890@math.ufl.edu>, sorrow@maple.circa.ufl.edu writes:
# 
# #I don't understand why people are concerned about the legal
# #ramifications regarding the type, style, or name of the
# #ammunition they choose to defend their and their loved one's
# #lives with.  I myself would choose the must effective
# #ammunition availiable on the commercial market to defend
# #life and limb.  I am more concerned with what Mr. Bad Guy's
# #intentions are rathar that any prosecuting attorney and a
# #jury of my peer's.  Anyone out there who dos'nt feel the
# #same and want's to rid themselves of their tool's of 
# #destruction, drop me a line.  Besides, if your worried
# #about the after affects of "dusting" a bad guy then you
# #should'nt even qwn a gun in the first place.
[...]

A little extreme.
 
# WHAT?  There is a difference between practical and reckless.  If you load
# up your "Colt Super Python Death Dealer" with ".357 Magnum Flaming Death
# Hollowpoints" and blow away some intruder, odds are, you WILL serve some
# time in jail.  The reason?  You will be painted as a wanna-be Rambo/Hero
# who killed someone else for your own personal glory.  It doesn't matter
# what YOU think you were doing, or if the felon was armed with a 12 gauge
# and holding your child hostage, if you are perceived by the judge/jury as
# a wanna-be hero, any actions you took, although successfull, would be
# perceived as reckless.  Woe to you if you have an extensive gun collection,
# because then you are also a "gun nut" or a "survival freak" who was
# "waiting for something like this to happen".  It's twisted, but that's
# the American Way.

Also, a little extreme.

The truth lies somewhere in between.  Even in the worst jurisdictions,
if you should happen to kill the Son of Sam, Charles Manson, or someone
of similar noteriety(sp?), you'll likely get an award.  

However, in some jurisdictions, if you shoot the joe average criminal
then you may well go to jail even though you are totally justified.

In nearly all jurisdictions, if you get out of bed, put on your camo,
stalk an intruder and shoot him in the back as he is leaving your 
home, you'll probably do some time.

What's most important is the conditions under which you fire: if your
life is in immediate danger and there is no other way to stay alive 
and/or remain physically unharmed, you'll probably be ok (after some
hassles) in almost all jurisdictions.  

In some jurisdictions you choice of ammo will make a difference (ie:
places where justification does not provide civil immunity).  In
some situations (ie: borderline justified) the type of ammo you use
may also be important.  

As someone else has already said, get to know your area.  If your 
local library has an on-line newspaper index, use it for info on
shootings (key in on un-justified self-defense cases -- where the
shooter thought he was justified, but the cops/DA/jury thought
otherwise).  If you don't find much from the paper, try the
legal section (librarians will usually help you *a*lot*.).  

And for god's sake don't screaming across the net how the 
DA WILL paint you as a wanna-be hero: this attitude is 
probably the exception (ie: big cities are more likely to
have this problem).  "The DA *MAY* paint you as a vigilante
or a plain old murderer looking for an excuse," is a lot
more plausible, less likely to induce flames and far more
accurate when dealing with the entire *world* (not just the
city *you* live in).  

-- 
"25 States allow anyone to buy a gun, strap it on, and walk down the street with
no permit of any kind: some say it's crazy.  However, 4 out of 5 US murders are 
committed in the other half of the country: so who is crazy?"   -  Andrew Ford
gtephx!forda@enuucp.eas.asu.edu  OR  !uunet!samsung!romed!enuucp!gtephx!forda