Armed Citizen Stops
Assault on Chicago Lakefront
By Rob Morse. July 5, 2024
Article Source
We don't want a fight, but that isn't always up to us. We can try and de-escalate the confrontation. We can try and walk away. Sometimes we don't have those options. Sometimes those options don't work. A licensed concealed carrier had to defend herself last week. Let's look at what we know, what we don't know, and what we can learn.
A seventeen-year-old woman was arguing with a 26-year-old woman. The 26-year-old had her Illinois Firearms Owners Identification Card. She also had her Illinois Concealed Carry License. She was armed that night.
The argument escalated a half hour before midnight. The younger woman stabbed the 26-year-old in her right arm. The victim then presented her firearm and shot her attacker one time. The attacker stopped. The victim was taken to the hospital. The attacker was arrested two hours later. She was taken to the hospital to treat a gunshot wound in her left shoulder. The attacker was charged with felony aggravated assault.
That is the story but it leaves a lot of unknowns. You're not allowed to drink when you're carrying a concealed firearm in public in Illinois. That tells me the victim was probably sober. In contrast, most assaults are committed when the attacker is intoxicated. People who are drunk or high are unpredictable. We want to avoid them.
No one wants to feel bullied. We feel bad if we were forced to leave our friends or our favorite band. Now compare that feeling with the alternatives.
No one wants to call 911 while they are dripping blood. No one wants to put on a tourniquet while they wait for Emergency Medical Services to arrive. Then you get to sit in an emergency room and tell the police your story. Every bit of that stinks.
I'd rather go home with my feelings hurt and then read about two strangers who got into a fight. That is better than becoming an inadvertent victim. Best-practice is to go home and read about the craziness in the news rather than becoming the news.
If we can't avoid them, then we want to put an object between us and the belligerent person. You stay on your side of the table and I'll stay on mine. A table doesn't stop an attack but it does buy us more time to see and react to an attack.
A knife is a lethal weapon. We don't have to wait until we're stabbed to retreat and present our firearm. If the attacker closes the distance, we want to shoot until the attack stops. That could be one shot or the entire magazine. Hopefully the attacker stops before we have to shoot.
We want to move to safety after we're attacked. We don't know if the crazy girl with a knife has more drunk friends. Is there a shop across the street where you can ask for help and make a cell phone call? Can we call from the restaurant's kitchen?
We also want to be the one who calls the police. The first person to call is usually considered the victim. The advantage of staying at the scene and asking for help is that all the people around you can call 911 for you. Hint- That gives the police their cell phone numbers. It is good to have witnesses who can verify your story.
You want to be brief when you talk with the police. Give them the facts, but don't speculate. When in doubt, shut up. You want to call your self-defense lawyer. He can help you fill out your official statement that you submit to the police. That statement is designed to keep you out of court. He knows how to do that and you don't. It is better to have the lawyer from the start so he doesn't have to explain away the stupid things you said while you were bleeding or getting stitches.
That is a lot to think about. Few of us are very smart at midnight. Read this story again so you form a plan of best practice. I hope you never need it, but please use it if you do.
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