Aklim,
you bring up a good point...

I can see a situation like this, Mr. CCW and his wife drives up and sees this taking place. now Mr. CCW knows that his life is not in danger, and knows (ccw classes =) that he really has no legal authority to touch what is going on.
Mr. CCW also knows that the child-beater might be carrying
If Mr. CCW had a firearm, could he have fired a "warning shot" or brandished his weapon (?) to get the beater's attention - thats all we wanted in the first place anyway. "warning shots" are not in any police/law enforcement doctrine, but Mr. CCW is not a cop - just a dude who wanted to stop something from happening. In this case, Mr. CCW might get a ticket/night in jail for discharging a firearm in a place where it is illegal to do so (many communities/townships...) but if it were that or the life of the child, I'd do it. easy for me to say now that its all over...

interesting...

-John

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