We have a Two-Fer Tuesday!

SMYRNA – An accidental police gunshot into lobby carpet at Town Hall startled officials attending a Town Council workshop Thursday night.

No one was injured after the weapon of Lt. Earl Barnes, the SWAT team commander, discharged after he tied his shoes in a chair in a lobby area.

via SWAT commander misfires gun into carpet at Smyrna Town Hall.

And then….

Zara Adil, 21, was working Friday at Tobacco Zone when two men entered the store wearing masks. One of the men can be seen approaching the register and demanding cash, brandishing a handgun. Adil obliged, opening the register and then stepping away.

That’s when the would-be robber made his mistake — setting down his gun to gather the money.

“So I picked up the gun and pointed it at the second guy, and said, ‘You run or I will shoot you,’” she told ABC affiliate WTVQ in an interview.

Despite the warning, the man approached.

Adil fired the gun, and the man was shot in the shoulder

via Bearing ArmsStore Clerk Keeps Her Wits, Shoots Robber With His Own Gun – Bearing Arms.

Those prejudices and the Narratives: they keep coming apart, don’t they?

I don’t kn ow if you can, but sure as hell the idea would send many an AR owner into rage. And I just love pulling tails.

Hat Tip ENDO.

Holy s*** Sparky! Did you finally figure it out?

Not really. If you follow what is being said in the comments, it appears that the guy went to NRA HQ and was given the gun for free.

Back to our regular show.

I think I can pretty much give up trying to separate Immunity from Prosecution & Stand Your Ground, so I will just mash the names together and apply the differences as needed. Let’s get with this case:

The fight that ended Rankin’s life happened August 17, 2013, when he a group of friends were out in Ybor City.

A run-in with another group of guys led to Amore getting punched and knocked out cold.

Less than 10 minutes later, Amore was attacked again. His attorney says while he was being badly beaten, he grabbed a pocket knife to defend himself.

One of the attackers, Joshua Rankin, would die after being stabbed three times.

via Tampa man cleared in Ybor stabbing by ‘Stand Your Ground’ law – FOX 13 News.

This case slipped from under my radar when  it first came out. I did a search for it and got a couple of news items and the obligatory interview with the parents of the deceased. In fact, from this interview we get the “original” version of what happened:

So early Saturday morning, when Rankin, 21, saw a buddy get attacked in an Ybor City parking lot, it was natural for him to come to his friend’s defense….

…Later, at about 2:45 a.m., they confronted Medeiros and Rankin near E Fifth Avenue and N 15th Street, according to police. One of the men, Joseph Amore, pulled a knife. Rankin stepped between his friend and the blade.

A noble, self-sacrificing young man who died helping his friend from an unnecessary attack. Or at least that was the initial idea put forth by the media as the evidence presented in court turned out to portray a completely different event.

In fact, there were two confrontations between two groups of young people out for the night. The first time they intersect, somebody said something to somebody else and ego made its presence. Joseph Amore ends up knocked out on the ground. This is not a literary usage of the word, Amore went unconscious. The groups split.

For whatever reason, Rankin decided to go back after Amore’s group. This time Amore is attacked by more than one person, thrown against a car, beat up and here is when he pulls out a knife to defend himself. Rankin gets stabbed twice in the neck and another one on his group gets non-threatening injuries.

So, why did this case even had to go court and the defendant request an Immunity from Prosecution?

 Prosecutors argued that Amore started the whole situation by making an aggressive remark toward one of Rankin’s friends.

Now, I am not a genius legal expert (or even a bad one), but once the initial confrontation ended with the knocking down of Amore. the clock died for that particular event. Amore was no longer a threat, nor was looking for more trouble, both groups separated, in fact you could say that Amore was the victim as no amount of verbiage is excusable as to inflict bodily harm.

Rankin’s group going back to Amore’s group started a new event, one in which their actions triggered Self-Defense, specially since a disparity of force was well-defined against Amore:  He was not physically well and more than one attacker went after him.

So Justice was made even when some appeared to be on a witch hunt or just simply flexing legal muscle. It is certain that Mr. Amore had to spend money for the lawyer and other costs, but the bill is probably way smaller than if the case had gone straight to full trial. It also saved the taxpayers money wasted on a trial that did not need to happen, although I am not sure if the defendant can claim the State to refund him for legal costs. Still, cheaper than a full trial.

I think it was either Massad Ayoob or Marty Hayes that I heard the idea of maybe why some obvious cases of self-defense go to court and why many defense attorneys do bad work on those cases: They are used to deal with career criminals and so, they are good at defending the guilty person, but they suck at defending the innocent because they lack the experience. In this case, we had a lawyer who apparently knew what he was doing and a law that helped an innocent man remain free.

There are more details pertinent to the case and I urge you to read the judge’s motion to grant immunity.  If you feel like it, Google the case and see what was published initially (specially by “We Hate Stand Your Ground” Tampa Bay Times) and compare it with the facts of the case.

And again, if your state does not have Immunity From Prosecution, get moving, join whatever group needs to be joined (Or create it if it does not exist) and get it in the books.

The BRUZER™ LESS LETHAL ML-12 Launcher Platform was designed to fill a void in the Less Lethal option for Law Enforcement, Military, and Citizens.  As the world view evolves, the demand for political correctness, the mitigation of loss to property and human life is in high demand.   The BRUZER™ LESS LETHAL ML-12 Launcher Platform is that option

via BRUZER™ LESS LETHAL: 12 Gauge Less Lethal Launcher – 

Ugly as sin but interesting concept. From what I gather is a big deringer shooting 12 gauge less-lethal ammunition.

And you are asking: Does it shoot regular 12 gauge? No idea but I figure you don’t want to play with buckshot on a plastic gun like that. And you know some idiot will try it…once. (UPDATE: Apparently newer models cannot be loaded with lethal ammo and older models can be retrofitted to do the same.)

My only worry would be the legal part. Will it be considered a deadly weapon in your jurisdiction? Till proven otherwise, make that a yes.  Would you need to have a CWP to carry it? Again, till proven otherwise cover your butt.

I have no experience with this type of weapon, but I would not have it as stand-alone. I do believe that any viable solution to an encounter that does not end up with somebody bleeding and/or taking a ride to the hospital or morgue, is a good one. Do remember that if you shoot somebody close enough with bean bags or rubber balls at the right location, you will kill him. Always keep the recommended distances.

The cost is $650 and comes with a holster  and bean bag ammunition is $23.75 per box of five. I figure that you could safely shoot other types pf Less Lethal such a Pepper Blast, but I would recommend contacting Bruzer and ask them directly. OAW /NFA rules apply.

So yes, in my very uninformed opinion this might be a very good option.

This is was done after consulting every AR forum and polling the information from different discussions by several thousand experts on the field.  We not aware that the Special Forces/SWAT/SEAL/RECON/PMC community comprised some 300 thousand active members.

Hat Tip to PMH

A Columbia woman who admitted shooting a former boyfriend in her apartment at 2807 Schoolhouse Road on Feb. 21 acted in self defense and will not be charged “at this time,” Columbia police chief Skip Holbrook said in a news release.
The unnamed woman called 911 around 7:30 p.m. and told police she had shot her ex-boyfriend with his own gun after he dropped it during a physical struggle. The man, identified by the county coroner as Jermaine A. Johnson, 33, had a “documented history of domestic violence allegations,” Holbrook said. The woman was in the process of getting an order of protection against him and had met with the police.

via Columbia Police: Woman who shot boyfriend acted in self defense – SCNow: State.

Oh, stop that! I can see you smiling all the way here.

No doubt she was at risk and at least a ray of luck was with her when she decided to go physical to save her life. But to deny that women can defend herself or operate a firearm because of some Hollywood fantasy writing can be very harmful to your health. Just last month, a son gave her widowed mother a gun for home defense and she had to use it a week later with excellent results.

They may be the weaker sex, but they are far from not being the deadliest.