Knowing When To Use Deadly Force

An intruder breaks in late at night. You reach for a loaded handgun next to your bed, get up, creep closer and spot a shadowy subject rifling through your belongings. Should you shoot? You’re a bystander when a street fight breaks out. Someone brandishes a gun and points it at someone else. Should you pull your concealed weapon, take aim and stop the would-be shooter? A woman is threatened by an enraged man who forces her back against a wall. Should she use the Pink Lady handgun she’s already pulled from her purse? In all three examples, the ability to pull a trigger is obvious. But the legality of using deadly force is always in question.That’s why Phil Nelsen, a 28-year-old recent University of Idaho law school graduate, teamed up with his brother, also a lawyer, to form a company called “Legal Heat.” The two, along with other attorney instructors, offer concealed weapons training classes throughout the United States. And business, you might say, is going great guns/ David Johnson , Lewiston Tribune. More here. (Steve Hanks Lewiston Tribune photo)

Question: Would you know when to use deadly force to protect yourself?