Page 54 - Florida Concealed Carry Law

D. When a situation is rapidly escalating, we need to remove ourselves as quickly as possible. This skill is really easy to talk about, but hard to do. As long as you have the driver’s license plate, the police can file a report, and your insurance company can go after him for the damages. Our mission is to avoid conflict as much as possible. Recently, a man spat out of his window at a stop light and it landed on a car pulling up to the light. The other driver got out and stabbed the victim in the heart. What a stupid reason to die. People are crazy, and they may be willing to kill you over the smallest thing. Avoid conflict and live to fight another day.
Scenario Two - Getting Robbed
As you’re leaving work after a long, hard day, a homeless woman approaches you and asks if you have any spare change. You reply, “No, I don’t.”
“Well, why don’t you give me everything you do have then, or I'll stab you,” the woman says as she flips open a knife.
Should you:
A. Draw your weapon and shoot.
B. Pull out your weapon and tell her to leave.
C. Runaway.
D. Comply with her demands and hand over your belongings.
A. When the attacker threatens to stab you, is it reasonable to believe that you are in fear of death, great bodily harm or a forcible felony? I think the answer is yes to all three. However, I want you to think about the cost of pulling the trigger. You’re looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, months, maybe years, of stress and the emotional burden of killing someone. On the other hand, what is the cost if you handed over everything you have? A couple hundred dollars, maybe $1,000, if you had a laptop. The loss of your personal belongings is going to hurt, but I think it will hurt less than pulling the trigger.
B. In the explanation of option A, I discussed that the use of deadly force would be reasonable in this situation. This means we are also allowed to draw our firearm and threaten deadly force. With this option, you’re able to defend yourself, keep your belongings and avoid the massive burden of taking a life.
D. As I mentioned in option A, compliance is definitely a viable option. However, just because you comply doesn’t mean you’re going to survive. I recently saw a video of a man who was robbed at gunpoint.