However, time and time again we allow preconceived scenarios other people have laid out for us to become our future predictors. There is a distinct difference between sitting at a red light and seeing pistol pressed against the driver's side window and, sitting in an outdoor cafe somewhere and hearing gun fire, followed by a guy with a handgun running in your direction.
Gun does not always equal threat.
Obviously. If that were true, every time we held a meet and greet, everyone else would be dead, unless they got me first! Nor is a guy with a handgun running in my direction necessarily a threat. He's a potential threat, to be sure, but what is he doing with the handgun? Is he merely carrying it? Is he aiming it? Shooting it? If merely carrying it, is he looking over his shoulder? Fear on his face? Anger? Dead calm?
Just because he's running towards me doesn't mean I'm going to draw, either. If he's the victim of attack, he's likely to shoot at anyone with a firearm. That would be pretty stupid of me to contribute to my own demise. The good thing about open carry is the lack of time it takes to draw and fire. It's better to continue to assess the situation. If he starts popping people, I'll drop him. If he takes cover, that's a different story. If after taking cover two cops round the corner with their own firearms drawn, then maybe he is a bad guy. However, the cops could have been chasing his attackers, so who knows? Gather more information.
My decision matrix is quite small: If I'm in immediate danger of life or limb, draw. If I'm in imminent danger of life or limb, fire.
Naturally, this requires some definitions:
1. Immediate danger of life or limb: One or more individuals have presented themselves as a credible threat, and they're in a position to engage.
2. Imminent danger of life or limb: The individuals are engaging or have engaged.
3. Credible threat (three definitions):
a. A threat that is "real and immediate, not conjectural or hypothetical." Kegler v. United States DOJ, 436 F. Supp. 2d 1204, 1212 (D. Wyo. 2006).
b. A "credible threat of violence" means a knowing and willful statement or course of conduct that does not serve a legitimate purpose and that causes a reasonable person to fear for the person's safety or for the safety of the person's immediate family." - IC 34-26-6-2 “Credible threat of violence” defined.
c. "Credible threat" means a verbal or nonverbal threat, or a combination of the two, including threats delivered by electronic communication or implied by a pattern of conduct, which places the person who is the target of the threat in reasonable fear for his or her safety or the safety of his or her family members or individuals closely associated with the person, and which is made with the apparent ability to carry out the threat to cause such harm. It is not necessary to prove that the person making the threat had the intent to actually carry out the threat. The present incarceration of the person making the threat is not a bar to prosecution under this section. - 2013 Florida Statutes, 784.048 (c).
4. Position to engage: Able to begin endangering life or limb without delay. This varies widely, depending on the individual, their weapon or lack thereof. Even if they appear to be without a weapon, anyone with minimal training can learn to palm a knife such that it's available within a fraction of a second. If they're clearly not armed, I'm using the 21 foot rule. If I don't know whether they're armed or not, I'm using the 30-yard rule, beyond which throwing knives are ineffective. If they armed with a firearm, even a handgun, back that up to at least 100 yards or more, depending on the firearm and the circumstances.
If an unarmed person is stationary 21 feet distant, they're in a position to engage. If they're 30 feet away, they're not.
Caveat: There's no way you can think through this under fire. You have to know it cold, forwards and back, six ways to Sunday.
