So far, there has been much talk here about how "I would have no reservations about shooting someone who was endangering me or mine". This is probably true; it certainly would be in my case. What hasn't been discussed is the actual physical and mental state of a person involved in a social shooting. Nor, has there been much mention of the likely aftermath.

When an untrained person is in an extreme "fight-or-flight" situation there are predictable mental and physical changes that occur as a consequence of adrenaline released into the bloodstream. The same changes occur with trained people but they know how to work around them. One change is "tunnel vision"; you only look at the threat. The bad guy could have an accomplice standing next to you with a raised machete and you won't see them. Another is that your hearing disappears; another is that your motor skills drop to near zero and your IQ drops about 50 points. And, you shake like a dog sh!tting a peach seed. In a situation like this, the only thing that will save you is thorough, repetitious, almost Pavlovian training. Your reactions can't involve conscious thought; they need to be instinctive. That is why most progressive law enforcement agencies and special operations organizations spend so much money and effort training their people on target identification, determining what is behind the target, shooting under stress and all of the other elements important in use of deadly force. Even then, trained officers make mistakes. And, if I recall, nationwide, in officer involved shootings, about eight shots are fired on average for each hit. The average untrained individual is much less competent in such circumstances. Range shooting does not even come close to preparing one for use of deadly force.

Assuming you are the victor in a shooting, your ordeal has most likely just begun. First, the police will treat you as a criminal. To them, until investigation shows otherwise, you are just someone who has shot someone else; you won't get any "attaboys" for blowing away the person who was threating your life. You will most likely be interrogated at length regarding your knowledge of the person you shot, the circumstances of the shooting and anything else that they are curious about. You will likely be suspected of being involved in drugs or drug trafficking. If all elements of the investigation point to a justifiable shooting, then they will probably not charge you with any of the possible degrees of homicide. But, if the evidence is inconclusive, you may be charged with homicide.

However, if you are not charged as a criminal, you are still open to civil action for "wrongful death" or similar charges. Here, the criteria for guilt or innocence is "the preponderance of evidence", not "beyond a reasonable doubt". For civil action, you are not entitled to the help of a public defender, you have to hire your own attorney. There may be private investigators you need to hire as well as expert witnesses. It gets expensive in a hurry.

As an example, my son lives in Tucson and has an acquaintance who was involved in a home-invasion shooting. He is a computer jock of some sort and not a particularly intimidating guy. He was at home one evening; his wife and kids were, fortunately, visiting relatives in Prescott. About 9:00 pm three males arrived at his front door initially pounding on the door and finally starting to kick the door in. The guy grabbed his 12-gage autoloader when the ruction started and stuffed three quail loads into it finishing just about the time the door flew open and the three guys came after him with pistols in their hands. He emptied the shotgun into the three, killing two and ending the sex life of the third. He then called 911, went out on the front porch and waited for the police to arrive.

When the police arrived, the situation I described above could have been used as a script. He was "on-the-ground, hands-out-in-front"ed, handcuffed and placed in a squad car while the police searched his house. They found a small amount of weed in the dresser but nothing more. He was taken to jail, interrogated for hours, accused of being involved in drug and illegal immigrant trafficking and probably mopery and dopery as well. He spent three days in custody before he was released and was on tenterhooks until the shooting was ruled justifiable a month later. About two months after that, he was sued in civil court for wrongful death by the survivors of those he had shot and injured. The case was eventually dismissed but not until he had spent about $50,000 in legal fees.

He is still traumatized by the experience. He is a gentle person and the knowledge he has killed people really troubles him; enough that he is in counseling. Also, his experiences with the legal system have made him into a truly negative person; his wife has left him taking the kids and he agrees with her decision. He is not fit to be around.

All of this because three lowlife punks got the wrong address.