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Ok guys, I am not disagreeing that the officer should have presented his id a little better.
Let me ask you guys this...
Imagine you have a ccw and are currently carrying your gun with you. You are at a public place maybe a mall or a busy street corner a restaurant or someplace similar. You suddenly notice a man standing in the center of all the hustling people with a firearm in his hand pointed at the ground.
When would it be justifiable to pull out YOUR firearm and defend yourself or the others around you? At what point would you pull out your gun? Would you wait untill he raised his arm as if to shoot someone, or would you take him out right then and there?
Or how about this, You are witnessing a stand off with the police and some unknown guy who is standing next to his car with a gun pointed at the ground. When would it be ok for the police to engage this guy? Should the police use all other non-lethal means first or should they wait till he starts shooting at them or should they just take him out right then and there.
I'd like to hear your opinions on what is legal and what is not regarding the above.
My point is that there is a huge difference with a gun being pointed directly at someone or not. One would be considered as assault with a deadly weapon and the other is probably brandishing (sp?)
I'm not denying the fact that having a gun out is going to seriously scare and piss some people off. It all has to do with the decision of the officer. But the decision to un-holster his firearm is the officers at any time HE sees fit. Was it the decision that every cop would make? Probably not. But all of us here can only speculate what really went through both of these guys minds. Who knows why he felt like he had to un-holster his firearm. Maybe he was on a power trip. Maybe he had a real founded fear that the biker might try and run him over. None of us will know for sure.
AND JUST TO CLARIFY, I AM NOT SAYING THAT THE OFFICER COULDN'T HAVE DONE A BETTER JOB PRESENTING HIS IDENTIFICATION.
Furthermore, the law regarding firearms, traffic, and some other things are very different between sworn officers and civilians.
Which leads me to ask.... If the officer was in uniform would pulling out his gun be any different?
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