Deadly Force is any force that carries a substantial risk that could result in the death of any person.
Here are a few instances where a person could exert a force that could cause death. The use of deadly force is:
- Shooting someone with a firearm
- Stabbing or cutting someone with an edged weapon
- The recent phenomenon of using of a motor vehicle to plow people down
- Even using common everyday items like hammers, screwdrivers, or a baseball bats can be used as weapons
If you carry a gun or knife for self-defense, these carried weapons are intended to deliver deadly force. You must remember that your carry weapon or EDC (Every Day Carry) is not intended to be used as a scare tactic or intimidate someone. In most places, that is a crime in itself (which will be covered later.)
Your EDC is not intended to make you “feel” safer. If you wouldn’t normally do something while unarmed, you definitely shouldn’t do it while armed. Everyone has seen that person who after a few drinks develops “beer muscles.” Beer muscles cause normal people to act out in ways they would never act without alcohol. Just like beer muscles can make you act out abnormally, so do “gun muscles.” Gun muscles also can make people act out in an abnormal manner. Never carry a firearm with the mindset that you can feel safer doing dangerous things or that can act out in ways that put you in harm’s way just because you have a firearm and no one could harm you.
- Your defensive firearm is intended to give you the capability of delivering deadly force under the proper legal circumstances.
- You must become confident about when you can use these tools to defend yourself and people you love.
You must educate yourself to the point that this information is embedded deep in your subconscious. Remember that every deadly force situation is different. A defensive shooting can be as little as a single shot fired at close range which lasted only a few seconds. On the other hand, it could result in 40 or 50 rounds fired during a running gunfight at distances up to 100 feet away that took up to several minutes.
You do not have any time to waste. Plan ahead for the fight and prepare yourself mentally. There is no time to hesitate. The greatest source of hesitation is not being mentally prepared. The two main sources of hesitation are that the people have doubts about using deadly force based on their religious or social concerns or doubts about the laws regarding when deadly force can be used.
A defensive shooting is about self defense and never about revenge; otherwise, it is murder. You cannot be Judge, jury, and executioner. – By: First Liberty Foundation
