Last September, Ríhanna Kelver was standing outside the Crowbar & Grill in Laramie, Wyoming, preparing to start her bartending shift, when she noticed a group of men across the street. One of them was shouting in her direction, and Kelver heard several homophobic and transphobic slurs as he began approaching her. Moments later, according to court testimony and surveillance footage, the man shoved Kelver to the ground hard enough to injure her tailbone.

Kelver responded by drawing a pistol from her bag, chambering a round, and pointing the weapon at the man who had pushed her. She kept the safety on and never fired. The man and his companions retreated.

Today, Kelver, a 28-year-old trans woman, faces two felony charges—aggravated assault and possession of a deadly weapon with unlawful intent—which could carry up to 15 years in prison. The man who shoved Kelver and who allegedly initiated the confrontation, known only as “S. Durham,” has not been charged.

  • Sicurio@slrpnk.netEnglish
    76·
    5 hours ago

    I’ve taken a concealed carry course and the way it was explained to me was that if you do draw your gun you have to fire. Not firing is taken as indication that you don’t actually find the threat serious enough to have drawn it. At least that’s how it can be argued in court. Basically it’s illegal to draw your gun if you don’t feel you have to fire.

    • Kairos@lemmy.today
      141·
      3 hours ago

      I’ve taken a nuclear weapons course and the way it was explained to me was that if you build nuclear weapons and place them in silos you have to fire. Not firing is taken as indication that you don’t actually find the threat serious enough to have built them. At least that’s how it can be argued in court. Basically it’s illegal to build nuclear weapons if you don’t feel you have to fire.

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
      123·
      3 hours ago

      I’ve heard that a million times and it’s wrong.

      Yes, you are only supposed to draw when you’ve already made the determination that you have to use lethal force to protect yourself, but things can change.

      I drew my gun one time. I was hiking in New Mexico by myself when I was attacked by a homeless Native American. I shoved him away and drew my pistol, and as soon as the gun came out he started running away.

      I had drawn intending to fire, but when he instantly retreated, I decided not to shoot.

    • wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz
      16·
      4 hours ago

      That’s bullshit, it completely ignores escalation of force. If drawing the weapon causes your attackers to back down and run away, it worked as intended and no further escalation is needed.

      Any laws intended to compel one to fire is stupid beyond measure.

    • Blumpkinhead@lemmy.world
      10·
      4 hours ago

      If there ceases to be a threat, no. Yes, you should only draw your weapon if you intend to use it. But if the attacker runs away once you draw, you don’t shoot them in the back. That would just be murder.

      Just because you initially felt threatened enough to draw your weapon doesn’t mean you have to shoot.

    • pomegranatefern@sh.itjust.works
      5·
      4 hours ago

      I was once told in a self-defense class that when using force to defend yourself, you were on legally better ground if you killed the other person than just injured them, because if they survived they could try to sue you for medical bills. I do not know if this is advice that an actual lawyer would back up, but either way, everything about it saddens me greatly.