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Lott on defensive gun uses
John Lott has a study of press-reported defensive gun uses. (In my experience, defensive uses are very rarely reported in the press). I especially like this story:
"Young yelled at the deputies and then fired on them. The first deputy was hit in the head and dropped to the ground.
The second deputy stepped forward and returned fire in an effort to protect the deputy who had already been shot...
Police said that was when good Samaritans armed with their own weapons stepped forward and fired multiple shots in the direction of Young to provide cover for and protect the wounded deputies, the Bellingham Herald reported.
The good Samaritans told KING that they were military veterans and they weren't going to sit still and watch law enforcement officers be murdered so they took their children inside their homes and came back out with their own guns...
The sheriff wrote that ... "Second, we are extraordinarily blessed that several armed citizens came to the deputies' assistance at the critical moments when they were most vulnerable....""
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We'll never know.
Maybe, knowing the cops would seize the gun, they stepped back inside to put the unregistered gun away and get the "legal" gun.
So far as I know, it is not illegal to own an unregistered gun in California. All handguns sold through a dealer since about 1992, and all long guns thus sold since 2012(?) are automatically registered. No private sales are allowed unless processed by a licensed dealer. To the best of my knowledge there is no retroactive registration requirement for older guns acquired decades ago. Someone please correct me if that is wrong.
The anecdote should lead to media questioning their "local" police departments: In this scenario would you advise armed citizens to spring into action or wait for the LEO(s) fellow officers to arrive ?
Separately, it would be useful to know how the police and DA investigators treated the "Samaritans": were their weapons confiscated (have they been returned) ?; were they each granted immunity before talking to investigators ?; were they read their rights ?; were they deputized after the fact ?; ... etc.
And, how is the attorney for the initial alleged aggressor responding ?
Being in a major NE metro area, over the last 30 years I have come to question whether I would step in to assist a police officer. I must admit more than being injured, likely shot by the police themselves, I am afraid of the persecution and prosecution that would follow - "politicians" / DAs, media and the self anointed community leaders all "Monday morning, quarterbacking" because a "civilian" attempted to help the "professionals".
Police rank and file need to rethink their "we / them" mentality and support "civilians'" right to self defense, with no less commitment than the "right" as applied to LEOs.
It angers me a bit when they point out the gun was registered, one wonders how many times an otherwise law abiding citizen would not step in for fear of prosecution for an unlicensed firearm.