It's been asked before... Would you....

[ghost tracker]

+1. I agree that it's important to assess a situation and we should always be ready to call 911 too. But with a child screaming and being pulled and hit by an adult, I'd probably intervene even if I knew that the adult was the child's parent. No child should be subjected to that kind of treatment.

Agreed, but be careful. My cousin was in Walmart with her 4 year old daughter. When her daughter didn't get her way about something she wanted, the child began to scream (at the top of her lungs with accompanying tears) "Somebody HELP ME! This isn't my Momma! AHHHH, HELP ME!!!". My cousin gathered-up her daughter in her arms and started heading for the door. Of course, the store went into full lockdown and an employee stepped in front of my cousin to stop her progress. She looked this fellow dead in the eye and calmly said, "There are freckles on this little girl's butt that only her mother has seen. And as soon as I get her to the car...I'm gonna' wear 'em right off of her". Smiling, the Walmart employee realized this was no bluff & certainly not a kidnapping. He stepped aside & the little darling now has grown into healthy adulthood with little ones of her own. I relay the story only to remind us (all) that what we think we see happening isn't always what really IS happening. Your best weapon is your brain, never leave home without it.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[pittypat21]

....intervene on behalf of another in peril?

Here's someone who did.... it's a shame he wasn't armed.... but he saved the potential victim...

Story

I wouldn't have pushed the guy. Well, actually, I would've. I would've pushed him with a .45 hollow point.

[Jeanlouise]

In that exact scenerio I would have tried to intervene. Sometimes it doesn't take too much to make creeps back off because a lot of them are cowards and are looking for the easy prey.

Even sitting in your car and blowing the horn repeatedly is enough to scare some off. They don't want to get caught or draw any more attention to themselves than necessary.

Sometimes I have a fantasy of just going around shooting BGs (like the one in the article). Just ridding the town of scum. Like a Clint Eastwood movie. No lawyers, no trials, no lawsuits...just bang bang, done...next. /fantasy

[ghost tracker]

That's not Clint Eastwood. It's Charles Bronson. And he made his vigilante role semi-famous in "Death Wish" (plus about 4 increasing bad sequels; "Death Wish II", Death Wish Disney on Ice", "Death Wish Lion King on Ice"...pretty weak by the end)