Good day folks.
As some here know, I'm a retired LEO after 38 years on the job. There's lots of good advice here. There's lots of knowledgeable folks here too. Let me throw my .02 cents worth in.
Everyone that makes the decision to carry a firearm needs to get training from a qualified instructor. Some states require this AND a shooting test with their hand gun. My state, Maine, does not require the shooting test. We used to be required to get a permit to carry but we recently voted in Constitutional Carry.
Regardless of any states laws, please, please go get some good training that includes both law and hands on shooting training. Almost every state has a so called self defense law, per se. Read those laws several times a year after you've received good instruction. Read any case law you can find with your state's cases AND other jurisdictions. Here is some more stuff you should do:
1. Go get Mas Ayoob's self defense books. He is one knowledgeable, understandable and experienced expert.
2. Read, read, and read some more.
3. There is something called the "Castle Doctrine". States adopt different parts of this Doctrine, some use the whole thing. Maine refers to and adopts part of this Doctrine. I hear Texas not only adopts the whole Castle Doctrine, but it may have added to it. The best versions include laws that state under the Doctrine that a party defending ones shelf and/or home can not be sued civilly for his/her defensive actions once he/she has been cleared legally as justified. BUT, be aware, not many places affords that protection.
4. As someone else has mentioned, consider a good insurance policy that protects you if, God forbid, you have to use your firearm in a defensive incident. There are several companies that offer this type of coverage. Basically there are two different types. The first is the type that guarantees cash bail and an experienced trial lawyer well versed in self defense cases will be there before you can warm up a seat in the booking room. These types also guarantee legal expenses for your criminal side as well as the civil side up to a certain amount that you chose to pay for. NOW, the other type of coverage is more of an indemnification arrangement. These types of policies will not only cover you with the bail thing and legal expenses, it will cover any civil award against you in a civil suit against you. Again, you chose what monetary level you want to be protected from. As you can probably guess, this type of coverage is usually more expensive.
Please note: I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY AND I DONT CLAIM TO KNOW ALL THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT THE ABOVE COMMENTS AND TYPE OF COVERAGES. I JUST WANTED TO TOUCH ON SOME HIGH LIGHTS.
One other thing: there has been debate on this forum and others about what may happen to you with the responding police in a self defense situation. Your training will advise you, but know this: you stand a good chance of at least being disarmed by the police and handcuffed, not to mention the real possibility of being transported, in police custody, in handcuffs to the police station. You'll receive training on how to call in your incident and what to say that I wont go into here. That's why good, on going training is so important. In a deadly encounter where you have taken someone's life in self defense, weather it is justified or not, you WILL need a lawyer, period. So, think about coverage, think hard.
One thing I have learned, some folks think their home owners insurance will cover them if they smoke someone on their property. This is not true as almost all home owner's policies do not cover intentional acts. Using a firearm to defend ones shelve is, of course, an intentional act, justified or not. There are others that claim that they have an umbrella policy that will cover them should they use deadly force to defend themselves. I have almost no knowledge about umbrella policies, But, I have asked my insurance guy about this and he told me to go get specific coverage for self defense protection.
Well, as usual, I got long winded here when I didn't mean to. But, there is so much out there to learn about in protecting yourself not only from a bad guy, but protect you from the system.
If you decide to arm your self, it's up to you to get trained, learn everything there is to learn and not just " John Wayne" yourself into casually carrying a firearm.
I guess this ended up being a lot more than my .02 cents worth, didn't it
I hope I haven't offended anyone in my comments, and I hope if someone thinks I said something really misleading that they will come along and add to the conversation, but remember, I did not begin to cover all the issues in this particular question in this particular forum, I just wanted to give you some things to think about and then do you own research.
Let's be careful out there,
God Bless.
Mark
