Scenario two: Do I want to react and become involved

As a result of attending a two-day training session, the following is offered for your review and consideration in order to promote thought as to how you would respond.

This is a follow-up to Segment 1.

In this scenario you need to make a more difficult decision with the decision: being do I want to become involved in a situation where I may have no legal obligation to do so, but may feel a moral obligation to do so.

As outlined in the prior segment This segment also involves a situation in which the student is fitted with protective gear and an airsoft pistol and is faced with a different scenario.

In this instance, the student is told when he opens the door there will be a long corridor in a neighborhood convenience store. At the end of the corridor there is a checkout counter with open doorways to both the left and right of the counter. What is beyond these open doorways is not visible until you reach the counter. The long corridor is approximately 25 to 30 feet long and as described in the prior segment, the walls are about 10 feet high with a viewing area at the top. Where students can view the responses of other students

The student is instructed to respond appropriately if and when entering the convenience store. The student is advised that he or she needs to make a decision as to whether to shoot or not shoot upon encountering an assailant.

When the door is opened, the student is faced with an instructor/ assailant approximately three quarters of the way down the hallway, straddling what appears to be a person lying on the floor, with the staff/assailant engaging in what appears to be stabbing motions with an object. (The object is purposely not being described)

Upon opening the door, the student is then confronted with a second instructor/ staff member; yelling that the woman is being stabbed; and to draw your concealed firearm and shoot the attacker/assailant.

This second instructor/staff member is holding up a cell phone and yelling further that the assailant is now raping the woman lying on the floor.

The student has seconds to make the decision as to whether to become involved and enter the corridor; to close the door and call 911; or to walk away.
It is suggested that each of the 10 students reacted differently, with some students rushing the assailant, pulling their concealed airsoft pistol and shooting the assailant.

One student chose not to draw his concealed firearm and to tackle the assailant.

Another student made the decision not to enter the corridor, close the door, and call 911.

In a situation such as this, you need to ask yourself, to what extent do you want to get involved?

I suggest that once you become involved, there will be no turning back and there may be significant consequences including legal consequences (both civil and criminal) to your actions.

Unless you are law enforcement, one of the options which you have is to do nothing. The fact that you are a properly licensed concealed carry holder with a firearm does not obligate you to go to the defense of an unknown stranger.

In the situation presented, the purported victim who is being assailed is not identified as being one of your family members.

I suggest to you that in today’s environment of YouTube and Tik Tok videos, one of the factors you need to consider is whether what was taking place is in fact a YouTube or Tik Tok prank by some misguided social media influencer

You may also consider that if the alleged victim who is lying on the floor is being stabbed repeatedly with a knife, they’ll no longer be alive and you may be engaging the perpetrator who has killed someone, and therefore your actions are not protecting a life.

Should you take action and you are wrong, you could face multiple lawsuits by the person you have now shot.

Many states have Good Samaritan laws to protect those who provide emergency medical service to protect the life of another.

I suggest that you also consider that in Massachusetts there is no duty requiring you to intervene or render assistance in an ongoing crime under Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 268, Section 40.

Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 258C, Section 13, provides “Good Samaritans” liability protection Section 13 provides, no person who, in good faith, provides or obtains, or attempts to provide or obtain, assistance for a victim of a crime as defined shall be liable in a civil suit for damages as a result of such acts or admissions in providing or obtaining, or attempting to provide or obtain, such assistance unless such acts or omissions constitute willful, wanton, or reckless conduct. (Emphasis added)

I suggest that a fair every day interpretation of this law is that, at most, you have a duty and obligation to call 911 to report the incident, but you have no duty/obligation to draw your concealed firearm and react.

Although we all want to be good citizens, helping the neighbor and those who are victims, we also need to recognize an incident involving Jordan Neely who died as a result of an alleged chokehold by Daniel Penny. Daniel Penny is currently a 24-year-old marine veteran facing second degree manslaughter charges for his intervention in the subway incident. Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide Wednesday in connection with the May 1 chokehold death of Neely aboard a New York City subway train.

I suggest to you that in a situation where a firearm is involved there will be greater scrutiny than what Daniel Penny was, and, is subject to.

The time to consider what you would do in a scenario such as this is to be decided and thought about while you are sitting comfortably in your home or office so that you will know how you would choose to react should the situation arise, and when your decision needs to be made in seconds or less

The fact that you may have a Second Amendment right to carry a concealed weapon and you exercise that right places upon you a certain burden. You need to think about ow you would react in certain situations so that your actions do not violate your Second Amendment rights. I suggest that as you carry the firearm, you do not make a decision which will cost you your freedom and financial security.

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