As a card-carrying good guy (or gal), life may someday feed you a giant crap sandwich. You may have to shoot a violent criminal predator to defend yourself, your family or other innocent life. Unfortunately, in today’s world, politically-motivated “community activists” may come for your scalp if it suits their political interests. To make matters worse, unlike most police-involved shootings, you will not have a body cam or dash cam to back up your side of the story.
As an example, police in North Little Rock, Arkansas shot a suspect last Sunday. Police reports said the suspect pulled a gun and fired at officers. Of course, some quickly disputed the police account. Local “leaders” sounded harshly critical of the police. Without a shred of proof, nationally-known master race-baiting agitator Sean King chimed in, claiming “friends” of the “beloved son and student” called the police stop “classic racial profiling”.
The brother of the dead teen (pictured above in better times) went much further. He told a very different story from the police account to the local ABC 7 station, KATV.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — When Juwaun Jordan was riding in the car with his younger brother C.J. Smith and a friend Sunday morning, they were pulled over by North Little Rock Police at 52nd and Camp Robinson.
…”All three of them grabbed him,” said Jordan. “They say he resisted, but he wasn’t moving. He was talking. He wasn’t doing [anything].”
The 21-year-old continued to describe what happened.
“They were tussling him to the ground,” said Jordan. “When they were on the ground, one of them jumped up off of him, one shot went off, and he was like ‘he got a gun.'”
At that point, Jordan says he heard the gunshots.
“He just shot him five times,” said Jordan. “He couldn’t move, he couldn’t do nothing. He had three officers on top of him, so how was he moving?”
The older kin of the dead teen had not finished with his version of what happened:
When asked if Smith had a gun on him, Jordan said he never knew his little brother to carry a gun.
Becoming emotional, Jordan explains he still has unanswered questions about what happened.
“Why did y’all shoot him?” Jordan asked. “Y’all got tasers. Use them tasers. Why did y’all have to kill him?”
Police released the dash cam of the incident. Read Juwaun’s account once more, then watch the video. Skip to the 4:00 mark to cut to the chase.
In the video, the “beloved son and high school student” struggled with cops, producing a gun and firing a shot, narrowly missing his comrades.
The gun malfunctioned, so the teen racked the slide and popped off another round, narrowly missing the head of a police officer trying to restrain him. Once more, the gun malfunctioned.
The teen racks the slide yet again before receiving some ballistic therapy from the good guys. Some of those rounds no doubt hit the suspect in the back. From there, the would-be cop killer died face down in the gutter with his GAT in his paw. Have a nice day.
Now imagine that’s you one evening shortly after midnight. You stand in the Quickie Mart, agonizing over the healthiest Twinkie you can find. Or maybe you’re pumping gas because your spouse or teenage kid didn’t.
Or maybe you’re walking to your car after a movie or play. Some young hoodlum with foul breath and crooked teeth sticks a gun in your side and asks you ever so sweetly for your phone and your wallet. You see he’s got a couple of fellow wolves grinning at you like you’re a winning lottery ticket. Or a steak dinner.
You decide you’re not going down without a fight. In a tussle, you manage to redirect the bad guy’s weapon. By God’s good grace, you manage a fumble-free, one-handed draw and fire rapidly and promiscuously to stop the threat. A majority of your rounds enter the bad guy’s back.
The cops show up and you’ve got the smoking gun. The “beloved son and high school student” can’t talk, but the holes in his back speak volumes.
From there, the bad guy’s partners in crime then go to social media and mainstream media outlets claiming you shot their friend for no reason. In the back. Perfect fodder for the 10 O’Clock news. The next day, it’s “No justice, No peace” and all that nonsense.
Add to that a liberal prosecutor, who owes his or her elected position to the low-information voters. Will that state’s attorney do the right thing? Why would they? They don’t owe you, the law-abiding gun owner, any favors!
More than likely, he or she will simply move forward with a prosecution and let a jury sort it out. Just to be sure. After all, criminals shoot people in the back. Not good guys. After all, you don’t have any crisp, clear dash cam or body cam video of the goblin unlawfully trying to end your life before you poked him full of holes.
You can imagine the prosecutor’s stump speech already: “That hot-headed, trigger-happy lunatic was just looking for trouble when he shot poor C.J. in the back, killing him. C.J. was going to go to college and then medical school to become a brain surgeon, too! I tried to send that gun toting redneck off to prison where he belonged, but the jury let him off.”
Recognizing reality in today’s world
In so much of America today, even law and order has become politicized.
Expect to face criminal charges if you use your gun to save innocent life, even in a righteous shooting. If you need another example, look at the active-duty Marine arrested after returning fire on a would-be home invader in Detroit in recent days.
Lord help you if you happen to perforate a so-called unarmed attacker who merely possessed a club, knife or toilet bowl lid. Count on a prosecution if you ever shoot a criminal that does not have a gun, no matter the disparity of force present.
Criminal defense attorneys don’t come cheap.
Have you signed up for legal defense insurance? If not, I recommend the companies that pay up front, including the Armed Citizens Legal Defense Network and US Concealed Carry Association to name a couple.
Other companies, such as the NRA’s Carry Guard, pay a little up front, and the balance upon acquittal. I don’t have $50,000 rotting away at Chase Bank waiting to pay Dewey, Cheatham and Howe for a criminal defense retainer. You probably don’t either.
You will likely face sleep disturbances (otherwise known as nightmares). Others will brand you with the Mark of Cain for taking a human life. Fair weather friends will become scarce and it might cost you your job. Your fellow church members may shun you.
It will stress your family as well as they deal with the societal aftermath of you shooting someone’s “beloved son” that so-called witnesses say was unarmed and minding his own business. Yes, even if he threatened to stick you with a screwdriver if you didn’t surrender whatever he (or she) wanted.
You may have to move so your family does not have to face threats of retribution.
And you may face trial because it serves the political interests of some in the community. In part, because unlike the local cops, you don’t have a dash cam to backup your side of the story.
Just to clarify, ACLDN is NOT insurance, it’s a fund. You are not required to use their lawyers, or take any deals, and there is no reimbursement involved. Additionally, they give you a whole bunch of training videos and books, which in addition to helping you avoid the bad situations, can also be used as evidence showing what-you-knew-at-the-time later on (assuming you do your job and document it properly).
In the interest of full disclosure, I may be super-extra-biased in this case, having worked with Marty Hayes and Massad Ayoob for years. I trust them to have my back about a bajillion times more than I trust the NRA.
My understanding is that ACLDN has a panel of people that decide whether or not to accept your case, instead of being required to like other options (unless it’s clear you were committing a crime). Is this an issue?
Yes, they use a panel to evaluate whether to take your case. The NRA version is insurance and DOES NOT PAY OUT if you are convicted of ANYTHING, including if you take a plea to a lesser charge. For instance, if they are going to charge you with manslaughter and your lawyer gets it talked down to a unlawful discharge of a firearm (misdemeanor version), that’s obviously a good deal to take. NRA will not pay out at all because you were convicted (even if it was a disturbing the peace they would not pay out because you’re guilty of something). Don’t take my word for it though, call and ask. I don’t recall where USCCA came out. I recall from my research that, if money was no issue, I would go with both ACLDN and USCCA top tier. My personal opinion is that if I have to pick one it would be ACLDN. I highly recommend you do your own research though, it’s a very important issue
Also, NRA Carry Guard ONLY covers self defense with a firearm. USCCA covers other weapons as well
An interesting side effect of the crime in Chiraq is the generally positive reporting of DGU. This on the leftard news too…but yeah don’t carry without some kind of insurance. Even in Chicago the leftwing media occasionally gets it RIGHT.
I’ve been with USCCA for almost four years, and sleep better at night knowing that they have my back if I ever have the unfortunate circumstance of having to defend my life against the predators that roam our streets.
I have CCW Safe for myself and my wife.
How much do the plan(s) run? Does anyone have a suggested plan?
Texas Law Shield, for two, is about $270/yr.
Armed Citizens Legal Defense Network is $135 per year for the first year. A reduced rate after that. Spouses come on at a reduced rate as well.
For about $500k in coverage currently, for both criminal and civil legal defense. Includes a great stable of expert witnesses, too.
Yes, they have a panel of experts that looks at your case before they pay above the initial up to $25k in fees to your attorney. If they believe your case appears the least bit righteous, they’ll keep writing checks up to a half-mil.
Or they can recommend an attorney if you’re out of town on vacation or business.
Mention my name of Guns Save Life and save $25 off the first year’s dues. Fair disclosure: I’m not on any commission plan, and GSL doesn’t get any kickbacks either. I recommend them because I think they are the best out there. The best value as well.
John
What information does the Armed Citizens Legal Defense Network review in order to determine whether or not they take a case? Given that witness statements and police reports can be biased, inaccurate, and/or intentionally false, I really don’t see how ACLDN can determine whether someone was blatantly in the wrong before the full process of going to trial, including discovery. (Remember, police and prosecutors will not simply hand over all of their evidence to a defendant in order to facilitate the defendant’s search for a defense team.)
Short of a high quality recording (including both audio and video) showing the defendant blatantly attacking others, I would want ACLDN to take a case. If ACLDN wants to minimize spending dollars defending real criminals, they should vet their members BEFORE accepting their money, rather than vetting them AFTER their arrest.
All the info is on their website and they are responsive to inquiries. I let my membership lapse, actually need to renew, but you really need to do the research yourself rather than relying on people to tell you
Thank you Mr Boch. I shall join tomorrow morning first thing.
I joined Armed Citizens Legal Defense Network a little more than a year ago, just paid my first renewal. I looked at most of the competition first. Best deal there is.
Good recommendations I believe, and another reminder that you’re at the whim of a lot of factors out of your control if you find yourself in a DGU. Any thoughts on the concept that having prior insurance for protection against such will itself be used against you? As in, he thought he might shoot someone, so he made sure to lawyer up ahead of time.
I don’t think America’s lawyers would allow such a line of attack. Which would necessarily be advanced by … a lawyer.
Understand the police don’t have this luxury – but the rest of us need to stay the hell away from Quik Marts, et al, after dark!! To many Dindo Nuffin’s there …
Anyone actually checked out the financials, or seen real life payouts made by any of these folks?
They’re not insurance so no regulator is verifying any of their claims. After an incident isn’t a good time to find out who’s real and who isn’t.
Please stop trying to reinforce the BS idea that cops are good guys. They may take down thugs but they will take down the innocent just as well if there is something to gain. Don’t expect them to do their due diligence when it comes to raiding the right house either. I still have a faintly visible scar leftover from “The good guys” when they got the wrong house.
Surveillance works both ways and an in-car surveillance system is well worth the small investment. Two would be better, one overt, one covert, just in case someone thinks they are going to trash the video. Even overt dash cams are so compact now they may even be completely overlooked. You can get them as cheap as $50 for a single camera system.
Legal insurance is an absolute must in our sue-happy world. Unless you have your own printing press that spits FRNs, CCing without insurance is almost as bad as not CCing at all. It would be a choice between possible death by thug, or possible death by financial ruin.
“Add to that a liberal prosecutor, who owes his or her elected position to the low-information voters. Will that state’s attorney do the right thing?”
Take the personal responsibility of knowing how the political winds blow where you live and go if you choose to carry.
Use that knowledge to guide your actions as you go about your daily business armed…
“By God’s good grace, you manage a fumble-free, one-handed draw and fire rapidly and promiscuously to stop the threat. A majority of your rounds enter the bad guy’s back.”
Ow!
…Damn, I just got a sprain from the mental gymnastics you asked me to do there.
I have NRA Carry Guard, but that’s not what I’m going to post about.
The incident which I hold is the most important legal case for concealed carriers in recent history is the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin shooting. It terrifies me,and it should terrify anyone who carries a firearm.
George Zimmerman was on his way to Target, lived in a gated community which was experiencing a crime wave at the hands of young black men who didn’t live there. He saw a young black man with his hood up possibly casing condos. He did what we are supposed to do, which is call 911. He also did what a responsible citizen SHOULD do, which is attempt to get as much information as possible about a fleeing suspicious person for the responding officer. He didn’t “stalk” Martin. He stopped following as soon as the 911 dispatcher(NOT A COP) advised him to–and immediately began making arrangements to meet the RO at a neutral location.
He was assaulted by a younger, taller, violent young man who straddled him and was in the process of bashing him in the face when Zimmerman managed to fire one life-saving shot at contact distance into the heart of Trayvon Martin. There has rarely been a more cut-and-dried self defense case.
And if his name had been Javier Gonzalez(to more accurately reflect his ethnic identity) or Martin’s had been Skylar Bennington, this case would never have reached the ridiculous heights it did. But it happened during a slow news cycle and the media jumped on it. GEORGE ZIMMERMAN brings to mind an image of white guy, not the chubby Hispanic GZ actually is. But then the president got involved, and the sell-out governor of Florida appointed a special prosecutor simply to stave off potential riots being ginned up by the organized Left(and Eric Holder’s DOJ, for cryin’ out loud).
The State of Florida spent millions—the town of Sanford spent untold sums paying police to deploy to handle the protests—and Zimmerman incurred huge personal and financial consequences—while the end result was exactly the same as the State’s Attorney determined the day after the shooting.
But Zimmerman’s life is ruined. His family lives in fear of some brainwashed zealot attacking them. Their lives are ruined. WHY? Because the media was irresponsible and the government was evil.
If you are white and end up shooting and killing a black teenager who is unarmed, you can very likely be screwed. This happened in FLORIDA, the original “shall-issue” CCW permit state. FLORIDA, the “Stand Your Ground” state. And neither of those facts mattered once the media and Obama decided to focus their attention on one chubby Hispanic who had a rock solid self-defense case.
It’s just about enough to make one consider carrying a revolver and just leaving if the person against whom you defend yourself fits a certain demographic.
Why wouldn’t you always “just leave” if you could?
Who should have “just left”? Zimmernan? Yes, that’s the response we should have as citizens. We should not take a stand to defend our neighborhoods and our neigjhbors, right?
Zimmerman absolutely did the right thing. He called the police. He attempted to determine which direction a fleeing suspicious person went and was trying to get as much information for the responding officer as possible. For all he knew, Martin had already committed a burglary and was fleeing. Martin, before he ran off, circled GZ’s vehicle. That’s a threatening move.
Why didn’t Trayvon Martin just go back to his dad’s GF’s condo? It was 100 yards from where Zimmerman first saw him?
This case is scary because it was evident from day 1 that Zimmerman was justified. Witnesses saw him being assaulted, forensics verified had been assaulted, the gunshot wound trajectory proved Martin was astride him when he was shot—AND NONE OF IT MATTERED TO THE MEDIA. Their attitude was that a beating wasn’t a reason to shoot someone. They, and the Black Grievance Industry acted like Zimmerman somehow deserved it and should have allowed Martin to beat him until he got tired of doing so. Never mind that people die from being punched all the time. Never mind that Martin was bashing Zimmerman’s head on the concrete sidewalk. Never mind that there was absolutely no evidence disproving the self-defense determination made by the State’s Attorney initially.
The media and the government basically ruined George Zimmerman’s life. Why? Because the names of the two involved were stereotypical white/black names, and Martin’s family had connections to the local NAACP who knew a lawyer who knew a PR person who got a picture of a Hollister T-shirt wearing smiling 12 year old out to a complicit media.
It was a travesty. Look at what it’s done to Zimmerman. It’s almost as if being rendered unemployable, saddled with massive debt, and being labeled a racist baby killer can drive somebody crazy.
Oh wait—you meant “why wouldn’t you always just leave AFTER a defensive shooting if you could”.
In theory, a good idea. But leaving shell casings with your fingerprints on them at the scene of the shooting is a bad idea. Not calling the police looks bad if they tie you to it.
We had a post recently that shell casings do not retain usable fingerprints after being fired. Has anyone confirmed that? I make sure my cartridges are shiny clean as I load each one into a mag. But not even considering that, I cannot imagine a circumstance (other than at my home) where immediately following a defensive shooting I would not immediately depart the area, since I would have no way to be sure the perforated perp was alone, business associates might be maneuvering to attack me further, I am in armed retreat, fearing for my life. Once successfully clear of danger, I would no longer need the police, why call them?
US Law Shield is the way to go. Check them out. My wife and I both carry it.
The key to your defense is to get your lawyer going on your defense as soon as possible…..controlling the flow of information is critical to any defense and ACLDN will get your lawyer or they can pick one for you if you are out of town and they will get there right away no matter what time of day or night at least that is what they tell me…. in my home town the closest ACLDN attorney(s) is/are about 2 hours away as there are no experienced self-defense attorneys close by being in a somewhat rural area…..that can be a lot of time being interrogated by cops….in that scenario after telling the cops your name , showing them your CCW permit, showing them the “perp” (who may be lying in a pool of blood) and the weapon he/she used and pointing out any witnesses ….after that…shut the F**K up….because if you keep running your mouth you will incriminate yourself…..the police and the media are NOT YOUR FRIENDS.
Recently purchases NRA Carry Guard. It looks like it is insurance backed by a big name insurance company. I had problems figuring out if some of the others were insurance or some sort of fund where the gun owner is not the direct insured party. Now I have a year to research to figure it out in case I want to switch.
The idea of having some type of “insurance” to cover costs of defending yourself is an excellent idea. The issue at present is in finding that “insurance”. There are a lot more
offerings for this type of coverage now than there used to be. The problem is one of
reliability. I suspect many of these companies are in it solely for the money. You will
buy coverage and find out that the company either cannot or will not carry out it’s obligation. It may be because of incompetence or it may be because of corruption but
when you need that help and it isn’t forthcoming you will be in trouble.
The issue is there are relatively few cases to judge the performance of these companies on. They haven’t been around long enough or been called upon often
enough to have a reliable track record to judge them by. So at this point it’s a bit
of caveat emptor and trust to blind luck if you select one. You won’t know how things
will turn out till your ass is in a jam and your future is on the line. Not a pleasant thought.
As an aside as was mentioned, many LEO have ‘bodycams’ to provide actual evidence
that their conduct had a basis in reality. They are not the ONLY people who can and should take advantage of this technology. People who embrace firearms often spend large amounts of money on the gun, the holster etc. Spend a little more and equip yourself with the technology that might record the facts and prevent you from ever having to set foot in a court….or at least go to court knowing the facts are on YOUR side.
On February 4, 2018, Dan said: …”Spend a little more and equip yourself with the technology”…
Since it’s 3AM as I write this, I haven’t checked this out yet, but don’t we all carry rather sophisticated cell phones that now do dishes and walk the dog? Is there not an app that makes your cell phone into a video camera? Oh wait – it already is a video camera… so if your spidy-senses are tingling, that pit in your stomach starts sinking, and doo-doo starts flying around, just hit the record button and put it in your shirt pocket. No video, but you should get usable audio, which in this scenario would be next-best… Self-protection starts with a gun, but does NOT end there.
*** I know this is a little late, but I’m just catching up on some late reading.
Powerful article. I strongly encourage all those who have a firearm to research this type of insurance. No policy is perfect – each company has its pros and cons. After a lot of comparing, my wife and I went with USCCA about a year ago. They pay upfront. You can choose your own lawyer or pick one of their recommended 2A lawyers. Policy covers any weapon used in self-defense. You can pay monthly or pay for a year, at a discount. Your spouse can get the same coverage for a once a year additional charge of $47. Group discounts are offered. A group from our Church (I am a Pastor) joined and the savings are great – covered the fee for my wive’s coverage! You can check out all their coverage levels and information at their website. USCCA’s support system of training materials – including videos recreating self defense scenes, latest news, weekly articles, a fantastic magazine, a library of all things firearm related, is AWESOME. I have learned so much from their resources – real life changing instructions. I cannot over state how useful these materials are! As a responsible firearm owner and a legal every-day concealed gun carrier, I sincerely ask you to research for the company that is best for you. Please give USCCA a look. Thanks. Be safe. Take care. God Bless.
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