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Wow you people are paranoid. At thats what gets you shot.
Whether or not you choose to believe it yes a cop can use deadly force if a person is holding a gun on them. Just try it and see.
That is why cops are not charged with murder when they shoot someone who is holding a gun on them.
Not if that person is in their home, and in legal possession of a firearm. And especially not if the cops have failed to identify themselves as police and asked the person holding the gun to drop their weapon.
What you go to the door with your gun in your hand, how long have you been in the witness protection program.
Why not just install a spy hole and door chain, that way you can see whose on the other side of the door and see the police and even ask for ID.
No police officer on earth is going to be happy with a gun being pinted at them, nor will they just walk away after someone points a gun at them. Indeed they will want to enter the property to make sure everything is okay and that you haven'tr shot or injured anyone, as that is their job.
The man may not have been shot dead in other countries, however the US Police generally revert to lethal force very quickly when a gun is pointed at them, and this is well documented.
You are correct. You don't have to live in this country to know that either.
I cant believe the majority of people answer their door armed.
I live in the country alone and cant say I have ever answered my door holding a gun in view.
I have actually had the cops knock on my door late at night to inform me of a death. My reaction was not to pull a gun on them.
If someone were do drive down my long dark secluded driveway and come to my door in the wee hours, if I brought my gun to the door it would be out of site. I would also inquire as to who was at my door.
Maybe people are just stupid.
Not if that person is in their home, and in legal possession of a firearm. And especially not if the cops have failed to identify themselves as police and asked the person holding the gun to drop their weapon.
The cops are 100% in the wrong here.
Two courts said otherwise.
Being in legal possession of a firearm and pointing it at an officer are two completely different things.
We don't know if the officers asked or not. I'll assume Scott knew they were cops when he saw their uniforms. We dont know exactly how it went down. If you have the court transcripts of testimony and evidence, please share.
Yes and average citizens LIE all the time. Especially when they are seeking monetary damages.
Do the country a favor and NEVER get in law enforcement. Your pathetic excuses for LEOs tells me you'd be a Thin Blue Line supporter, one who would LIE in order to protect anyone else in the Thin Blue Line, because according to you, average citizens lie all the time. The average citizens wasn't trusted because of an oath they took to protect everyone's natural rights. Yea... THAT is what it means to support and defend the Constitutions from all enemies foreign and domestic.
I've taken that oath. I served a single enlistment. My father, a retired US Army CSM is interred at the Fort Riley National Cemetery. He served this country for 25 years so people like you can sit there and proclaim how citizens don't have a right to answer their door while carrying a firearm.
Go away because you and that other dude, Brave new scum make me sick to my stomach.
BS. Someone knocked on his door. He was either playing video games, watching TV or sleeping, depending on which article you read. He did not have to answer his door. He could have asked who was at the door. He could have called 911. He did not need to answer the door with a gun. A knock on the door is not a life threatening experience.
Cops are nearly always armed. I see armed cops, armed off duty cops and armed citizens nearly everyday. That in itself is not a fear of your life situation.
The cop killed him. Obviously, it was a "fear-for-your-life" situation.
Pointing a gun at someone is assault, whether it is loaded or not, and I would also suggest that pointing a gun at someone does constitute a threat of harm.
No the cops do NOT have a right to defend themselves simply because someone is HOLDING a firearm. There has to be a threat of harm.
IF what you ignorantly claim is true, I would have a natural RIGHT to shoot ANY and EVERY cop who had a firearm in their hand, claiming I feared for my life. You and I know that wouldn't fly in ANY court, so you are merely excusing a cop MURDERING someone who wasn't brandishing because you typically can't brandish in your own home, a place where you have a LEGAL and LAWFUL right to be.
As I said, the officers' contact was INCIDENTAL, NOT LAWFUL. Big, BIG difference.
Yes, the cops have a right to defend themselves simply because someone is pointing a firearm at them. A person pointing a firearm at you or in your direction is a threat of harm.
As a citizen you do not have the right to shoot an armed officer. Being an officer gives you legal means to use your firearm and to arrest people. Like it or not police officers do have more flexibility with lethal force when doing their job than the average citizen does. Even as a civilian you have the right to protect yourself.
Is it legal to open your door while holding a gun, yes or no?
Should it be legal to open your door while holding a gun, yes or no?
The man who was shot did nothing wrong. Period.
But, the court ruled that the cop also did nothing wrong. They said that he followed procedures.
The officer was told to "knock and talk" at that address. He knocked, the door opened, and the guy who opened the door was holding a gun, so the officer shot him.
The argument was that the officer had reason to be afraid that he might be shot, so he shot first.
This position I find difficult to believe, since the police admitted that the victim was "retreating" when he was shot. And the victim didn't shoot when he had the clear opportunity to shoot.
Thus, the only way someone can defend the police in this situation, is if you believe the homeowner had no right to answer his door in the middle of the night while holding a gun. Or in essence, that if you answer your door while holding a gun, you deserve to be shot.
BS. Someone knocked on his door. He was either playing video games, watching TV or sleeping, depending on which article you read. He did not have to answer his door. He could have asked who was at the door. He could have called 911. He did not need to answer the door with a gun. A knock on the door is not a life threatening experience.
I agree that he could have asked who was on the other side of the door before he opened it. Though I suppose the police could have announced their presence as well(either would have prevented it).
The only thing that annoys me about this whole thing, is that the police are always held to a much lower standard than a private-citizen, and always given the benefit of the doubt.
In a sense, the police are given a right to shoot private-citizens for almost any reason, as long as they are holding a weapon, or simply believed to be holding a weapon.
This isn't limited only to public areas, they can even come onto your property, in the middle of the night, jump your fence, and potentially enter your residence(if you leave a door even slightly ajar, they can legally enter).
So if you hear a noise from your garage, and grab your gun to go investigate. They can shoot you, no questions asked. But if you shoot them, its a crime.
If they had been a private-citizen, it would be exactly the opposite.
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