A friend of mine had to use a firearm in self defense..

[Love&Hate12]

He's a good guy that just happens to live in a not so good area while getting his Education finished.

Don't know every detail but he was coming back from the grocery store about 9 pm 2 nights ago and a few guys who I believe had a grudge enough to committ violence were hiding around the side of his house, when he went to the door they came around and one had a baseball bat and were threatening him. I don't know how it escalated but one of them came forward aggressively with the bat and he drew his little pocket revolver and fired, they all ran off including the guy who took the round and he called the police.

The one who was shot was arrested with the rest of them, he checked himself into a hospital so it was no problem to locate him, was in the emergency room to boot and will be charged when he's released.

My friend is a bit upset that he had to shoot someone but he's okay and that's the main thing. Those guys were there to seriously hurt him or kill him....

Wanted to share as this would be the appropriate forum.

 

[NCHornet]

I am glad your friend is OK, as it could have been the end of his life. He did what he had to do and I am proud of him for that. I don't want to scare anybody but I might be concerned with retaliation, so tell him to stay aware of his surroundings in the coming weeks/months, especially if these guys were in a gang. How did things work out with the law end of it? I hope all goes well there too.

 

[Love&Hate12]

Well in Florida we have the castle doctrine so they can't sue, I don't know if it was a gang related thing but he is in a pretty bad area, a working man who hasn't been able to get out of the ghetto.

He's definitley not going to have any problems from the legal aspect as the 3 were arrested and are going to be charged with a serious felony, I hope he gets over the emotional aspect for his schooling, he's okay but he's taken it hard, noone really wants to shoot anybody even if they are terrible people.

I will relay your message about keeping his eyes open about retaliation, I am sure he's already though of that as he knows the situation, I just came over there today as support and tried to get his mind elsewhere.

Always a foul business...

 

[delta58]

I am glad your friend is OK. As far as I am concerned a ball bat is just about as deadly a weapon as you can have at short range. That scenario could have easily had a different outcome had your friend been unarmed.
I live in Florida also, and I love the Castle doctrine law!! It means I don't have to look out for my family as we all run away from the BG, I can stand my ground and give them time to get out of harms way.

 

[timothy75]

Thats about as warranted example of self defense there is. He should feel good that he was able to defend himself considering the alterative. Tell him he was kind not to shoot all three.

 

[tony pasley]

Glad your friend is okay, he will have a tough time dealing with what happened. You as a friend be there to listen when hewants to talk and if he will have him talk to some one else who has been there.

 

[DBOUNCE1]

wow scary stuff

 

[Crosshair]

Glad to hear he is OK. Just goes to show that any gun is better than no gun. When you say "little pocket revolver" I am assuming you mean a 22? Hope you, and your friend, don't mind me asking the caliber and such of the gun.

 

[saypek]

I'd have a "little pocket revolver" than no gun at all. Tell your friend he did good.

 

[threegun]

People with the mind set of the thug your friend had to pop are not concerned with the law. They will surely seek revenge and knowing your friends home location and defense capability is going to put the advantage in their corner. I would urge him to use the time these guys are in jail to upgrade firepower and train as ofter as possible for close range encounters with an emphasis on speed of deployment and fire. I would also recommend a bullet resistant vest. Have him light up the house inside and out and get an alarm. Don't let him take this lightly if these guys were mad enough to try once imagine how pissed they are now. The concealed weapon is no surprise this time so be careful.

 

[threegun]

Saypek,

I'd have a "little pocket revolver" than no gun at all.

Me too however this thug was able to run away and walk into a hospital under his own power. Had he not voluntarily ended the attack thing could have been different. It worked this time with the mouse gun but why leave things to chance. If you give them the most powerful you can shoot well and carry you give away no advantage.

 

[Love&Hate12]

I saw him today, he's doing better and hasn't had any trouble or anything but is watchful. I am not sure of the caliber guys but I believe it was a .32H&R Magnum as I have seen the revolver and it's certainly not a full .38 special snub.

Anyway, he normally carries a .357 from when I have been around him and have gone to the range with him, that's what he likes to shoot mostly.

He seems to think that they aren't gang related but just street punks and that is a good thing, the kid was released from the hospital this morning and is the Orange County Jail right now, injured pretty significantly and his two buddies who came along are there as well, if he didn't have that little gun he may very well be dead without a trace of who did it...

It's good that he's feeling much better about the situation, several guys including me have reinforced that what he did was the absolute correct thing, it's easier for most gun guys who study in self defense and round ballistics and what not, fans of Massad Ayoob or just LEO's or Military guys to deal with a situation emotionally like this over a really laid back guy who participates in shooting every and then, but mainly just owns a gun as self defense due to the area...

Hope that makes sense to some of the guys here who are in the bracket of "good, one less bad guy" in terms of a self defense scenerio.