# Do Not Fire 'Warning Shots' part eleventy dozen...



## Bill Mattocks (Apr 17, 2012)

http://www.hometownlife.com/article...dford-resident-stops-car-thieves-faces-arrest

Don't be a moron.  Do not fire warning shots.  If you are legally justified in engaging in self-defense using deadly force, then either do so or choose not to do so.  Do not draw your weapon, do not brandish it, and definitely do not fire warning shots to 'scare someone off'.

The good guy gets arrested and goes to jail.  Sucks?  Yes, it does, but the good guy was stupid.  Don't be stupid.


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## Big Don (Apr 18, 2012)

This is why I like pump action shotguns. Everyone recognizes that noise...


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## WC_lun (Apr 18, 2012)

Warning shots are like telling someone you will defend yourself.  A waste of that time frame and not a very efficent use of action.  At the price of ammunition is is expensive too!


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## Bill Mattocks (Apr 18, 2012)

WC_lun said:


> Warning shots are like telling someone you will defend yourself.  A waste of that time frame and not a very efficent use of action.  At the price of ammunition is is expensive too!



More importantly, they will get you arrested in many places.  And if your 'warning shot' ricochets or otherwise manages to hit someone, you in in a heap o' trouble.


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## punisher73 (Apr 18, 2012)

Bill Mattocks said:


> More importantly, they will get you arrested in many places. And if your 'warning shot' ricochets or otherwise manages to hit someone, you in in a heap o' trouble.



We are always told that every bullet costs over a million dollars.  If you shoot and it hits someone else or you are not justified in shooting, then the court case for that bullet is going to be in the millions.


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## seasoned (Apr 18, 2012)

Sad but true, once the trigger is pulled, there is no taking it back. 


For this simple reason I feel gun safety and handling is paramount to gun ownership. There are also people that think shooting up in the air is safe, but what goes up MUST come down. 

You need to use your head, but not for a bullet catcher.


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## ballen0351 (Apr 18, 2012)

seasoned said:


> Sad but true, once the trigger is pulled, there is no taking it back.
> 
> 
> For this simple reason I feel gun safety and handling is paramount to gun ownership. There are also people that think shooting up in the air is safe, but what goes up MUST come down.
> ...



*Amish Teen Bullet* &#8211; An Amish teen was killed by a stray bullet in Ohio from a man who was cleaning his gun almost a mile and a half away. The girl was killed coming home from a christmas party by the stray bullet. She was later found lying on the side of a road
According to an Ohio state sheriff, 15-year-old Rachel Yoder was found after horse and carriage was found by her brother just circling outside their home. He went out to find Rachel lying on the side of the road, initially investigators thought she had fallen from the buggy and struck her head. On Friday however, the bullet wound was found by the medical examiner.
Sheriff Timothy Zimmerly from Holmes county, said the man who had fired the bullet into the air, has come forward after hearing about the incident and also after neighbors heard a shot around the same time as the girl being struck. 
Investigators are checking the rifle for a ballistics match, Zimmerly says.
&#8220;In all probability, it looks like an accidental shooting,&#8221; the sheriff told the AP, and no charges have been filed. ​According to an AP report he has informed the Yoder family that the incident appears to be accidental. 
&#8220;Obviously, that makes them feel a lot better than if someone might have been targeting the Amish or (if it was) a random shooting murder,&#8221; he says.​The shooting leaves the community horrified that a Amish teen can get hit by a stray bullet miles away, with a headshot, which makes this a is very unusual case under the circumstances.


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## chinto (Apr 18, 2012)

NO WARNING SHOTS!! absolutely!!  If you draw a weapon it should point, if it points, it should be fired, and not for warning! Once that weapon is drawn, its as far as most law enforcement and others considered a declaration of intent to kill!  If you do NOT intend to kill, why are you initiating deadly force???!?

  You may hold some one at gun point yes, But, you had better remember that all that have in a gun IS A TOOL FOR MAKING HOLES AT A DISTANCE!!  IT is not a magic wand! So if it shoots It should be shooting to kill!! if it was not serious enough to kill over why is it out???  ( and boy will a DA and jury be asking that!!)  

So think, then act when it comes to weapons use. And remember NO MATTER WHERE that round goes you will be responsible for what it does!  Either way you figure you will have lawyers bills and things if you have to shoot. but better to be judged by 12 then to be carried by 6.


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## oftheherd1 (Apr 18, 2012)

My guess his problem is two-fold.  He was defending property rather than life, and he didn't know if the bad guys had guns.  Together, depending on his state laws, he may have committed a crime.  A jury might now wish to convict, so the prosecutor may try for a deal.


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## chinto (Apr 20, 2012)

in my state its black letter law, burglary of a dwelling is a deadly force issue.  you do NOT need to know they are armed, just feel that its a threat situation.


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## Bill Mattocks (Apr 20, 2012)

chinto said:


> in my state its black letter law, burglary of a dwelling is a deadly force issue.  you do NOT need to know they are armed, just feel that its a threat situation.



In the story I cited, the man heard people breaking into his truck.  He went out armed and fired 'warning shots' into the ground.



> &#8220;I wasn't 100 percent sure they had a gun,&#8221; said Trost. &#8220;I didn't want to kill anyone who was unarmed. I thought they had a gun. That's why I shot.&#8221;
> 
> The bullets struck the intended target that night and they had the desired affect. The suspects drove off and his truck remained exactly where he had parked before going to sleep the night before.
> Not so sure
> ...



It wasn't his best option.  He's probably sure now.

As you said, if I have occasion to draw my weapon, I will be certain that I am in mortal danger and that I have the legal right to defend myself with deadly force.  If I draw, I take aim.  If I take aim, the next thing that happens is I put two rounds center mass on my target.  There is a slim chance that the person whom I am about to shoot will do or say something to convince me to momentarily hold my fire; if he surrenders or turns to flee, I will refrain from firing if I feel it is safe to do so.  Under no circumstances will I fire a 'warning shot' into the air or the ground.  If my weapon discharges, the person who intended to harm me is in serious trouble.


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## chinto (Apr 21, 2012)

that is the way to do it all right!  If you were in enough danger to fire, you better be firing for effect!! if you are 'firing a warning shot' you obviously are not in enough danger to be firing at all!!


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## Kong Soo Do (Jun 2, 2012)

Big Don said:


> This is why I like pump action shotguns. Everyone recognizes that noise...



Also, "this is the AK-47 the preferred weapon of our enemies, and makes a distinctive sound when fired at you".

Gunny Thomas Highway
Heartbreak Ridge


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## chinto (Jun 7, 2012)

oh ya, a riot gun gets racked and you KNOW its serious!!!


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