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In reply to the discussion: Man shopping for coffee creamer at Walmart attacked by vigilante for carrying gun he was legally per [View all]AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)I'd like to better address your question. But there was no point during that attack, or the moments leading up to it, in which his behavior wouldn't have warranted extreme alarm.
If he'd walked in calmly, with a concealed holstered firearm, no one would have known to tackle him anyway, and many people killed in the attack would have had opportunity to escape, because the doors wouldn't have been barricaded.
However, I see your point. I would perhaps use the attack on Gabrielle Giffords as a substitute scenario, had someone perceived him being armed, and target-fixated on the Congresswoman. Still risky though. Unless one could successfully suss out the nature of the individual, one could be tackling a plainclothes officer/security.
I require an overt threat before intervening in any situation, and even then, it's subject to misconstrual. We had a lawyer coaching my group on the legalities and hazards of using deadly force in self defense. He painted a scenario for us, a woman, running, screaming down the street. Heel broken, possessions flying, etc. Two big burly men chasing her. Long story short, the scenario he painted was actually a prostitute fleeing two undercover cops, and all the scenario participants that jumped in to be a hero, went to jail, lives irrevocably altered by interfering with or assaulting police officers.
I'm afraid there's no easy answer here, beyond what I am doing, all day, every day, when I encounter anyone. I make eye contact, I read their disposition/body language, etc. Knowing that the person might have a firearm on their person doesn't change that analysis for me.