That’s both good and bad. Your family will be intimately involved in the aftermath of any shooting you are in. They will probably support you but they will also suffer just as much as you do. What I call ‘The Myth of the Lone Gunman‘ is about as far from reality as it can be.
Following last weekend’s MAG20 course, taught by Massad Ayoob, that I hosted here in Atlanta, Armed American Radio broadcast its weekly show from the host facility. A surprise call-in came from George Zimmerman. His comments were heartfelt, sobering, and bear listening to by anyone who is armed. They are something to consider in your decision about whether a shooting is absolutely necessary.
tacticalprofessor 
I think Zimmerman’s a pretty rare “special” case. Of the three SD shootings I know of, no one spent a dime. I think it’s like with shark attacks, you only hear about the cases where someone is spending a lot because they are a spectacle and make news. “Man jailed/sued for shootings armed car-jacker” doesn’t happen very much (if at all).
But then, hell, if I was unarmed and being stalked by an armed guy (even if I didn’t know he was the neighborhood’s self-ordained guardian who’d called the cops like 30 times in the last year 2 years), I may resort to ‘standing my ground’ against him if I could get the jump on him from behind bushes. If he killed me, I wouldn’t mind his financial burden. Or being outed as a child molester. Or whatever.
See the comment by a Detroit lawyer on an earlier post about a person who shot at a carjacker and killed a grandmother a block away by mistake. He’s still doing time.
IMO, the reason Zimmerman turned into such a big deal was because his name sounds like he’s a Lugerhead like me. If the news media had done a modicum of due diligence and realized he’s Hispanic, things might have been quite different.
Even if there’s no prosecution, that doesn’t mean your family doesn’t get threatened and spend a lot of time looking over their shoulders. A local deputy shot a dog in a totally righteous fashion and was cleared over it. His family has received over 100 death threats. That’s lots of fun for his kids, mother, and grandmother to go through.
Are you talking about Edward Bell in Detroit? He accidentally shot a grandmother when shooting at a carjacker–but he only got a year probation with the first 4 months in jail as far as I know (I think it was time-served then probation…see link). He should never have taken the plea deal–they offered him such a wimpy sentence because they knew it was a weak case and the carjacker deserved all the blame.
http://www.examiner.com/article/edward-bell-offered-plea-deal-geraldine-jackson-shooting
I think Zimmerman was a big deal since he was out playing police and the victim was underage and unarmed, and they could kinda play the race thing (though it was hispanic/black not white/black).
Yeah, I definitely think a lot of shooters get death threats–a neighbor shot at two kids climbing in his window late at night, and he hit one. He was cleared and nothing came of it–but I know some local relatives of the kids scared him.
Thank you for correcting me on the Edward Bell incident. Obviously, I had misremembered the details. The research I did on him will enter into another future thread, so thank you.
Unfortunately, as the article mentions, the deal he accepted was for “felony discharge of a weapon at a dwelling house,” the key term being ‘felony.’
Very thoughtful introspection into the often-ignored aspect of a shooting’s aftermath, regardless of whether or not you were in the right in doing so. Thanks for sharing the insight.
Let’s not overlook the fact the 17-year-old Martin could have easily run away and escaped the 30ish chubby Zimmerman if he was alarmed at being followed. That he chose otherwise makes me believe that he intended to attack and beat Zimmerman.
He chose poorly.
It was a long straight sidewalk he was headed down without a lot of cover and little concealment. Choosing to “Stand your ground” against an armed stalker is always dangerous, and most people probably lose. Better than being shot in the back or forced into Zimmerman’s car and taken somewhere to be raped by that lunatic.
Ok Den.
Reblogged this on disturbeddeputy and commented:
I won’t be like what you’ve seen on TV.