You’re a civilian concealed carrier, out and about on a typical day. You stop into the grocery store, turn to grab a box of Wheaties and hear screaming coming from the front of the store. Unsure of what is going on, but knowing you are armed, you now have to make a decision … investigate and possibly get involved, or avoid the area.
In this article, I am not talking about being personally attacked inside or outside of your home, or your family member being attacked. Of course you should defend yourself and your family against any attack with appropriate force. Instead, I want to address deciding to use force on a stranger’s behalf.
There are hundreds of considerations you should be processing before you decide to intervene with deadly force on another’s behalf. The type of crime being committed and the number of attackers are just two of these.
But… there is one mindset that can cloud your decision-making process, and get you killed. I have seen it in the Marine Corps during firefights and as an LEO.
by Matthew Maruster