imported post
smithman wrote:
Landose_theghost wrote:
Just throwin my hat into the ring here, but I also carry Pepper spray whilst OC'n. That andI also bring with me a custom Left hook followed by a nice overhand right :lol:!
Bad idea in my opinion. If you don't use your pepper spray and go straight for your gun, you will face a barrage of questions from a DA and prosecuter who will try to show that you didn't use lesser force, even though you had it available to you.
I've been trying to grapple with this question myself for quite a long time. If I recall correctly, when I took the MN CCW class a number of years ago there was a suggestion expressed that is similar to smithman's.
On the other hand, a prosecutor can, and ought to always ask whether the person could have used a lesser force in a particular case. One almost always has a lesser force available: e.g., fists. If it isn't clear that deadly force is justified, don't attempt to use deadly force. If it isn't clear to you, then it certainly won't be clear to the DA or the jury. If you don't have a reasonable understanding of the self-defense law, then probably you are better off reserving your gun for use on the range, hunting, or other recreational use. Leave your knife home too.
It's wrong to say that you will face a barrage of questions from the DA since you never have to testify against yourself. But the DA may raise the question for the jury to consider.
As far as pepper spray itself, my feeling is that it is good for police, who have a relatively good understanding of and training in the "continuum of force" and who will often face situations where they know deadly force is not going to be required but some level of force will be. And it is good for people who don't like guns or don't or cannot own a gun; or who are not the type, for whatever reason that ought to have a gun, or have no proficiency with a gun. And finally, it's good for taking into places where you cannot take a gun.
Pepper spray has plenty of drawbacks too, including: It's not that fast to deploy if you don't already have it in your hand when you need it. It blows back into your face. It has a fairly limited range. Some people are unaffected by it. Drawing and shooting a gun takes about a second. Digging out your spray, taking it off "safe" and orienting it correctly to the threat (and not back at your own face) will take several seconds under the best circumstances. If you did spray, but still needed to shoot someone, how would that look? Might
appear that you just shot a helpless person.
I doubt that I would ever attempt to deploy pepper spray in a situation that I had a gun and use of deadly force was justified. I keep it around the house, but I rarely carry it outside the house.
So my personal debate continues. I welcome comments.
