Buy The Most Recent Issue of COMBAT HANDGUNS

[ExSoldier]

Dated May 2007. It has an article that we here on Combat Carry have debated many times, basically: How Things Should Be versus How Things Actually ARE Title on the story is however, SEVEN MYTHS THAT CAN HANG YOU IN COURT backed up with multiple case histories for each "myth."

Myths 1 thru 7:

#1 Caliber and bullet type don't count.

#2 Handloads are fine for self defense.

#3 "Don't worry about replicating gunshot residue patterns" This is a variation on the handloaded ammo myth.

#4 All that matters is IF the shooting is justifiable.

#5 Never enter firearms competitions! Prosecutors will paint you as a "GUN NUT."

#6 Miscarriages of Justice won't happen to me because I live in a Pro-Gun state. (Count ExSoldier as guilty of having THIS mindset until I read this piece!)

#7 Changes in the Castle Doctrine Law will insulate me from a civil lawsuit. (Another ExSoldier fantasy blown apart)

Go read this article. It might save your hide.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[falcon1]

Thanks for the heads-up. I'll look for it on the newsstands.

[retsupt99]

I believe that you have aroused my curosity...I will buy this issue on the weekend...or read the article in the bookstore!

ret

[lowflyer]

No surprises in the list for me, but seems like a worthwhile read anyway.

[Colin]

Yep, I always look forward to reading the articles, honest I never look at the pictures and they never influence the next pistol I want to buy, now who has the new Armalite pistol for sale!!!!

[Pete]

CH is always my preferred read when it arrives in the mail, but when the May issue arrived yesterday (it was still January) I couldn't help smiling.
Good article regardless.

[Ron]

I read it. It is well worth reading for everyone who carrys. It emphazises things that have previously been written on this Forum: Do everything you reasonably can to avoid a confrontation that could lead to the use of deadly force; do nothing, in terms of modifying your gun, or using ammunition, that could help the prosecution or a civil plaintiif's attorney in the case against you; recognize the reality, "unfair" as it might be, that a "justified" shoot is no guarantee that you wont be prosecuted or sued in a civil suit for damages. Prosecutors, at times, decide to prosecute for reasons that have little to do with the facts of the shooting(the Duke alleged rape case should be a lesson for us, even though not involving a shooting), and juries in civil cases sometimes do strange things; "Castle Laws" and "Stand Your Ground Laws," while very helpful, offer no "guarantee" that you will not be prosecuted or sued for damages.

For me, the bottom line is that deciding to get a carry permit and carry a gun is, in a sense, a scary thing. Not scary in the sense of the possibility of getting into a shootout with a BG, but scary because of the very onerous potential consequences of using deadly force, albeit "justified," ie, the possibility of going to jail and financial ruin for our families from a civil suit for damages.

I know that I have written similar words before, and hate to sound like a broken record, but, IMO, these are things that we all need to hear repeatedly so that they get burned into our memory, and not forgotten.

Sorry for the lecture, and I know that some will not agree with me, but I really feel strongly about this.

Ron

[Tangle]

One thing that was left out was trigger work on a SD gun. While very contraversial, it could be used against you in a courtroom. You may win, but it may cost you a lot, lot, more.

I'm afraid I've been guilty of depending on the "a justified shooting is a justified shooting." But 'justified' will be determined in a courtroom, by gun illiterate sheeple, not by you. While many times the shootings are clearly justified and never even go to court, if it does, everything you do, say, and have done, can be used against you in a court of law.

One of my major concerns is for those of us that own a lot of guns. Sheeple, if they even own a gun, don't understand why a person needs so many guns for SD. They may very well see us as the attorney depicts us as 'on-the-edge', just waitin for the opportunity to use their guns.

[Tom G]

I have already got my copy It was some good reading. You can count on the prosecutor to have a different view. All you can do is use good common sense and don't be trigger happy.

[Musketeer]

Haven't read it yet but I will pick it up over the weekend. I would be willing to bet Ayoob wrote the article. I also will bet there will be plenty of "He is full of $#&%" complaints to follow.

I have had trigger work on my carry 1911. I have small hands and needed it to fit properly. The pull may haev been smoothed but not lightenned. I really do not see this as a liability and it can be as easily counterred as using hollowpoints.

[Rob99VMI04]

There always is a court of appeals and counter suits for damages and lawyer fees.

[CopperKnight]

Sad as it is, it sounds all correct. I'll be looking for the current episode.

[TN_Mike]

I subscribe to this magazine and read that article.

I thought it was a good read.

[clemco51]

NEW, I am from TN and I may not be the biggest magazine guy, but I dont think I have this one - I am going to Google it, Is there a website for it - and now that I think about it, Is this the website for the magazine?

[PaulG]

I will also bet that Ayoob wrote the article. I also agree that a lot of people consider him to be an alarmist and that he is full of $#&%. I have frequently heard statements such as “if you listen to him, you will be too afraid to defend yourself”.

I disagree with this philosophy. We should know all of the possibilities after a shoot. I always recommend that anyone who applies for a carry permit also get a copy of his book, “In the Gravest Extreme”.

That’s what we are talking about here – the gravest extreme. We must never let ourselves to adopt the attitude that shooting someone is a good thing or an acceptable thing.

It is not. It is a last-resort-everything-else-has-failed-we-are-going-to-die-unless-we-shoot situation. Like the quote goes, “success is avoidance; everything else is just damage control”.

If we stick to this rule, most of the legal worries are irrelevant. Don’t shoot unless you are going to die or be seriously injured if you don’t. At that point, don’t worry about the jury because you are alive. That’s the whole point of the exercise, isn’t it?

I haven’t seen the article yet but am betting I will agree with most of what is said. While I won’t be overly worried about the aftermath of a shoot, I won’t go out of my way to do things that could hurt me later.

For example, I won’t carry my S&W620. I have had a trigger job on it (mainly for ICORE competitions). It’s not extremely light but lighter than normal. We do use it as a bed side gun so that my wife will have no trouble pulling the trigger. But carrying it seems a bit risky to me.

I also only use reloads for practice and competitions; never for defensive purposes.

I want to hear about the risks involved in a shooting. I am a reasonably intelligent guy. I can read about things and determine for myself whether it is valid or BS.

I don’t think we should ever dismiss any information that suggests that we should do everything to not only avoid shooting but to help mitigate the legal problems afterwards.

I look forward to getting a copy of this issue.