What is lawful self-defense and when is lethal force justified? While you alone are personally responsible for yours and your family's safety, these and other pertinent questions are often clouded with conflicting information. Author, Isabella Hunter writes a lucid and unique examination on lawful self-defense and draws on experience as an advocate for gun safety and public education. You and Guns: A Conversation is an introductory guide for the novice and does not require owning a firearm. Highlights include perspectives on morality and lethal confrontation, the fundamentals of firearm safety, helpful considerations for purchasing a firearm, how to find a certified instructor and what to expect when taking lessons. Hunter promotes the usefulness and necessity of having a personal plan of action for life threatening emergencies. Your initiatives and actions following could help save yours and the lives of others.

YOU AND GUNS A CONVERSATION

The Practicalities of Responsible Gun OwnershipBy ISABELLA HUNTER

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Lisa Sullivan
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-4958-2

Contents

Preface................................................................................................................ix1. Police owe no duty to protect the individual........................................................................32. Emergency Plans.....................................................................................................103. History of Lawful Self Defense......................................................................................134. Propaganda, The Media and Hollywood.................................................................................295. MADD Passion........................................................................................................356. Second Amendment....................................................................................................377. Gun Permits 101.....................................................................................................398. Kids & guns.........................................................................................................499. God and Guns........................................................................................................5210. Lethal Confrontation...............................................................................................6111. Lessons............................................................................................................6512. Instructors/Ranges and Storage.....................................................................................7613. Buying a gun.......................................................................................................8014. Warriors. An excerpt from On Combat, On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman.....................85Acknowledgements.......................................................................................................97You And Guns Glossary..................................................................................................99Notes..................................................................................................................101

Chapter One

Police owe no duty to protect the individual

Criminals obey "gun control" laws in the same manner politicians follow their oaths of office.—Anonymous

There are 2.3 full time police officers to every one thousand citizens on average in America. Individuals relying strictly on police for their protection against crime and criminals will find this strategy has its shortcomings. In Warren v. District of Columbia two men broke into a rooming house and police were notified. The men held 3 women and a child captive. The women were terrorized, raped, robbed and beaten. The dispatcher taking the call, confirmed help was on the way however the women were held captive for fourteen hours. In the lawsuit brought by one of the women, the court decided 4-3 that Warren was not entitled to remedy at the bar. The court stated that official police personnel and government employing them owe no duty to victims of criminal acts and thus are not liable for a failure to provide adequate police protection unless a special relationship exists. In other words the court confirmed unless a "special relationship" exists for protection, you are first and foremost responsible for your own safety. Those living in more rural areas are usually more self sufficient and comfortable with this fact than those raised in densely populated cities. U.S. Courts have consistently ruled that the police owe no duty to protect the individual but only the public at large.

Castle Rock v. Gonzales, A United States Supreme Court Case 545 U.S. 748 (2005).

The Court ruled, 7-2, that a town and its police department could not be sued under 42 U.S.C. §1983 for failing to enforce a restraining order which had led to the murder of a woman's three children by her estranged husband. In an affluent Connecticut neighborhood 2005, police were alerted to a home invasion where a family was held captive. The wife of Dr. William Petit had been taken by force from their home by one of the criminals to withdraw funds from a bank. The other intruder remained in her home alone with her two daughter's, her husband unconscious and restrained in the basement. While inside the bank, Mrs. Petit informed the personnel of the home invasion who then communicated the crime to the local police department. And although the police department put forth the best efforts, unfortunately the two criminals murdered Mrs. Petit and her two daughters. She was raped and strangled to death, her two young daughters tied to their beds, assaulted and set on fire. The massacre lasted seven hours. Among our society are dangerous people and they have no regard for life. The socio paths, murderers, rapist and incessant career criminals present a very difficult problem for the general public and that is the inability to identify them. By mere sight, criminals can look like any ordinary person. In certain situations we easily recognize signs of danger. When you're swimming off shore in open water and a 7ft. bull shark is headed directly your way you know, you're in trouble. When raging hot flames have engulfed a home, without a doubt you're in danger however, violent confrontations within our species do not always initially present themselves as distinctly or threats always interpreted appropriately. In the Connecticut case, the recently freed predators were in the grocery store with the victims.

They may have stood in the same aisle, unnoticed just a few feet away from the mother and daughters before following them home. The mother and her daughters were unaware they had been targeted and were under attack by the predators. A sociopath by definition is "a type of chronic mental illness in which a person's ways of thinking, perceiving situations and relating to others are abnormal and destructive. People with antisocial personality disorder typically have no regard for right and wrong. They may often violate the law and the rights of others, landing in frequent trouble or conflict. They may lie, behave violently, and have drug and alcohol problems." Though this definition is explicit the definition is unable to portray what this person may physically look like because that is practically impossible. We all have stereotypes of what we think a crazy person or dangerous situation looks like but appearances are deceptive. After an alarming or terrible crime, you often hear "but they were so quiet" or "he seemed like such a normal guy", when typically there were signs, they were just not heeded or openly discussed or taken seriously by those who saw the signs. Concerns can be brushed off, excused and easily rationalized right out the window and unfortunately innocent people suffer greatly for it. By merely looking at someone, you cannot determine sociopath disorders or who may pose a threat. Unless of course a person's threat is plain as day but threats are rarely revealed in this way. We are also aware the sociopath is not limited to any economic or cultural group. Sometimes the scary looking person who might seem most likely to do something criminal can be a Good Samaritan intervening right when a person most needs help. Given that things are not always what they seem, this makes our lives especially tricky to navigate....