Tuesday, June 20, 2006

More on carry permit class

One of the most striking things about the carry permit class I took was its de-emphasis on what we were all most interested in; the guns, of course. Rather, it was primarily a tutorial on how to avoid it, and the only test given (besides marksmanship at the end) was the four conditions required in Minnesota law for legal use of lethal force--including, but not limited to, firearm use.

1. One must be a reluctant participant.

2. One must have immediate reason to fear death or great bodily harm.

3. No lesser force will end the attack.

4. One must retreat if practical.

Not a bad set of rules, really, even if one is unarmed. Or especially if one is unarmed.

2 comments:

Mercy Now said...

Yes, the right to carry is not for someone who's aggressive but use it as THE very last resort. It used to be that one must always retreat unless he's in his house, the castle doctrine. However, FL passed a law late last year that goes beyond the castle doctrine and that is you no longer have to retreat when not in your home.

Bike Bubba said...

Well said, Mercy--I would almost say that it's not for the guy who always has something to prove.

Interestingly, our instructor also noted that point #4 is still wise even if the state removes retreat as a requirement--the point being that even if one escapes legal liability, one still must deal with the emotional trauma of killing someone.