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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>I am being serious now…<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>This question has no doubt been addressed by various experts, but I just thought up a situation that poses a question in my mind about ethics and legal practicalities:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Let’s say, for the sake of this thought experiment, that I own a handgun that I carry, concealed, for my personal self defense. I find myself alone on a dark city street and I am surprise attacked by a lone individual (whom I perceive a mugger), who ignores my shouts and warnings. My shouts are not noticed by anyone in the neighborhood. I shoot and kill the person, who I feel is threatening my life. There are no witnesses or recorded phone calls (unlike the Trayvon Martin shooting). I have not suffered any visible injuries. How do I prove that I shot in self-defense? <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Offhand I don’t see how I can ‘prove’ self-defense. I can only claim self defense. Why couldn’t the county prosecutor say ‘BS’ and have me put me away for life? Is my thought experiment a situation in which I really can’t, or should not, use the gun? Or, from another line of thinking, if I can simply declare self-defense in a case like this, I could ‘legally’ go out and shoot an innocent pedestrian on a whim, and I could get away with murder. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Thoughts?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Bob Dickow, troublemaker<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>