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Florida Approves Warning Shot to ward off attackers

 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/04/florida-lawmakers-approve-warning-shot-bill-revising-self-defense-laws/

 

 

 

I would not even tell someone I was carrying in IL let alone fire off a shot.

 

Approve or DisApprove?????

 

 

 

Headlines: Illinois police fired warning shots over the heads of rioters today. Unfortunately, they killed six members of the family watching from a balcony.

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This is because of that stupid woman who shot a "warning" shot at her estranged husband and she is facing like 20+ years in the pen. Of which she deserves all 20 years. Firing a warning shot is the dumbest thing you can do IMO. If a group of individuals is going to do something bad to you and you fire a warning shot, they will more than likely keep coming after you. Now if you pop one of those individuals in the chest and they see him/her hit the ground like a sack of potatoes they will probably scatter like the roaches they are. But yea the law is pretty much some feel good measure to keep that lady from going to prison.

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First thought. If your carrying something with only 7 rounds (less for revolver folks) why waste the one that might be what saves your life?

Second, if you feel so compelled, first one center of mass, second in the dirt.

Witnesses are incredibly unreliable, but you have 2 spent cases, everyone heard 2 shots...

So you did give a "warning shot".

 

Your word against theirs as to which went where and when.

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There is more to the bill than "warning shots", as usual the media is not giving reasonable information.

 

More importantly, it covers "brandishing" or other display of a firearm for defensive purposes. The old law had some unintended consequences in that if you had a firearm but did NOT shoot at someone, that you could well be charged with a (potentially very serious) crime.

 

This bill fixes the odd legal situation of shooting someone putting you in less legal jeopardy than not shooting someone. The bill allows you to justify under a theory of self defense actions with a firearm less than actually shooting someone.

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IMO this isn't about advocating for warning shots, the law is to prevent gun owners from being prosecuted for firing a warning shot.


Just for example:


A woman is accosted by someone, she pulls her gun, and maybe in a moment of indecision makes a bad choice and fires a warning shot. The assailant runs away. An anti-gun prosecutor decides to charge her with something crazy like reckless endangerment reasoning that she didn't deploy her handgun in self defense because if she REALLY felt her life were threatened she would have shot the attacker.


One of the effects of being convicted of something like that would be the loss of CCL,


You don't think people like Anita Alvarez and Tom Dart would do that to gun owners? Every gun owner that they can punish in any way shape or form is a victory for them - you bet they'll do it.


I just think this law keeps that from happening in FL.

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I feel like they could just write a law that alters the presumed intent of somebody firing a firearm.

 

It is silly to me that somebody that hurts absolutely no one (though they could be trying to kill somebody) will get the book thrown at them for attempted murder when they didn't actually mean to kill anyone, just because a gun is there and was fired. The intent, unlike any other weapon (or fists) is presumed to be a deadly intent.

 

I've heard of people being stabbed or stabbing, trying to run over people on purpose, beating the heck out of somebody with bats - and they didn't get attempted murder charges though that person could have seriously died. Attempted murder requires malice aforethought, and much of the time that isn't a factor (though people here and in some other places, people do get charged with 'aggravated battery' and equivalent).

 

Don't know. Maybe the warning shot people should face civil court if they can't prove they actually wanted to kill somebody, like reckless endangerment + lawsuit or something like that. They are dumb people, in my opinion, but 20+ years seems insane to me when using anything else it might have been (relatively) fine.

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I believe the intent of this law, is to stop people from going to jail for firing a warning shot....

 

HOWEVER...I'm worried for them (and the rest of us, really) that this could lead to prosecutors to expect a warning shot. I could just see them telling the jury, "he could have fired a warning shot! Instead, he shot the 'victim' in the chest twice!" :no:

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I believe the intent of this law, is to stop people from going to jail for firing a warning shot....

 

HOWEVER...I'm worried for them (and the rest of us, really) that this could lead to prosecutors to expect a warning shot. I could just see them telling the jury, "he could have fired a warning shot! Instead, he shot the 'victim' in the chest twice!" :no:

 

The First one was a warning shot....

 

If my first bullet doesnt stop you... YOU KNOW I will fire again.

 

I like the above comment that says the first should go center mass and the second in the dirt.

 

 

So a while back I was ridiculed because I said one magazine (clip is what I said) would be enough and you wouldn't need any more magazines with you. Everyone here though is talking about 2 or less shots.

 

Please do not start arguing and changing the subject of the thread. I am just making an observation. :ermm:

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the funny thing is that the 'warning shot' bill doesn't authorize warning shots... Andrew Branca has a nice summary of the law that can be found here

 

From his article:

 

So, what exactly does SB-448 do (note: the full text of the proposed bill is embedded at the bottom of this post, but all hyperlinks are to the statutes as they currently exist prior to modification by SB-448)? Here’s a bulleted list, with details below. In summary SB-448 provides:

  • No statutory authorization for firing “warning shots”—indeed, the statutory language would deny justification to any “warning shot” that “poses a threat to public safety,” which would seem to apply to all but the rarest circumstances.

  • No substantive change to stand-your-ground.

  • Where the use of force would have been lawful in defense of a person, the mere threat is also lawful in defense of a person.

  • Where the use of force would have been lawful in defense of a home, business, or occupied vehicle, the mere threat of force is also lawful in defense of a home, business, or occupied vehicle.

  • Where the use of force would have been lawful in defense of personal property or to prevent a forcible felony, the mere threat of force is also lawful in defense of personal property or to prevent a forcible felony.

  • Where immunity would attach to a use of force, immunity will similarly attach to a mere threat of force.

  • Allows for expunction of criminal history associated with a lawful act of self-defense.

It is actually a really good bill.

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If someone demands my wallet in Illinois, and I draw, but do not fire, is that brandishing?

 

Were you in fear of your life or great bodily harm? If so then no. However if you simply didn't want your wallet stolen and you weren't in feat for your life then yes you could be charged with brandishing.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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If someone demands my wallet in Illinois, and I draw, but do not fire, is that brandishing?

 

 

 

Some criminals in Chicago are pretty smart about how they rob people. The various charges escalate from robbery to aggravated robbery to armed robbery.

 

Here are the statutes concerning robbery

 

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?ActID=1876&ChapterID=53&SeqStart=61900000&SeqEnd=62600000

 

So if a thug comes up to you with a weapon that is clearly visible and verbally threatens to use the weapon if you don't turn over your wallet, he has committed armed robbery and is looking at an additional 15 years being added to a sentence, (although in practice the robber probably only gets an extra year).

 

If a thug simply approaches you and says "give me your wallet" - no mention of a weapon, no weapon visible and no threat, then the robber, (if caught) will probably receive a lesser charge of just robbery.

 

Illinois is not Florida, if someone comes up to you and "demands" your wallet, your justification in drawing your firearm is evaluated in light of 720 ILCS 5/7 1) (from Ch. 38, par. 7 1), Sec. 7 1. Use of force in defense of person.

 

http://illinoiscarry.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=19429

 

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=072000050K7-1

 

The law says a person is justified in using force when

 

1) he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or another, or

 

2) prevent the commission of a forcible felony.

 

 

An argument can be made that when someone comes up to you and demands your wallet that there is an implied threat of force if you do not comply, but a stronger argument is that you were being robbed. Robbery is a felony, therefore the use of your firearm (even if you did not fire it) is justified under the statute since it was necessary to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.

 

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I never understood the concept of a warning shot..... Nor the concept of aiming for something other than center mass.

 

If you have pulled your gun in defense of yourself or others, then the threat needs to be stopped as efficiency and effectively as possible (center mass)........ Unless the Acton of you pulling your gun cause the threat to retreat, in which case you might not need to squeeze that trigger.

 

Bottom line, we are responsible for every round we that allow to leave our barrel..... Warning shots are just bad mojo.

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This seems like a good bill. Mainly covers people who pull but the threat stops before they have to fire. That said,

 

I am strongly against legalizing 'warning shots'. This seems like the first step in going after lawful CCW holders. EVERY case will start with "why didnt you just fire a warning shot? Were you just looking for someone to KILL?!" Imagine if warning shots were legal in the ZImmerman trial.

 

Bad juju. Just make all your shots at the threat, if they miss, well thats not unusual.

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