Something that many people don't agree on, is when it's okay to pull a firearm.
I was looking to post a “stupid people with guns” post, so we can analyze more of what people shouldn't be doing with a gun. But, I found this little gem instead. The comments on this video are very mixed. Some are loud in support of the older gentleman who produced the firearm, while others criticize him, saying that he used the firearm to intimidate instead of in self-defense. After watching the video several times, to include a frame by frame play, this is what we discovered:
Before we get there, however—we have to admit that we don't know exactly what was happening beforehand. As you can see, the video began after the altercation had already started.
But, based on what we can see right around the 5 second mark, the punk in the red shirt seems to give serious thought to using his skateboard as a baseball bat.
If you only watch the video once, you'll likely miss it like I, and so many others, did. But, he does rear up with his skateboard, and it wasn't until after this point when the older guy pulled his weapon. How do we know? Well, the moment becomes crystal clear when most of the other upstanding citizens run away yelling the most colorful of language.
Of course, two of the punks decided to stick around and continue taunting the man. I'm fairly certain that the gun equalized a disparity of force. Had it not been equalized, it could have landed the older gentleman in a hospital bed, or worse.
I'm a firm believer that those two skater morons won't live a long and prosperous life. After all, it looks like they have a death wish since they continued taunting the only man with a gun. Thankfully for them, he didn't shoot anyone.
Now, we need to address whether he was on college property, as the punk pointed out. It's hard to hear which college they are at, but it could have been illegal for the man to have a gun on that property, depending upon which state they were in. Then again, maybe he thought that it's better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6…
Here's the video. If you've got time, rewind it a few times to make sure you see what I'm talking about:
What do you think? Do you believe the gun carrier was justified to pull out his weapon? What would you have done in a similar circumstance? Let us know in the comments below.
Finally, one of the most important things you could ever do as a gun owner, is educate yourself about your state's firearm and self-defense laws. Trust me when I say, you think you may know, but you really don't. Read this article about the best way to learn your home state's gun laws, before you go carry concealed again.