After a deadly force incident, investigators will be assessing everything. They will be looking at your actions during the incident, your training leading up to the incident and even what you said and did well before anything happened. In short, if you are involved in a shooting, police will be checking your social media accounts.
What will they find there? Will you, through your online statements, be giving investigators and prosecutors the chance to say that you are an angry and irresponsible gun owner who was just looking for a fight? Or will your social media accounts show that you are a responsibly armed American who values training, knows the importance of situational awareness and conflict avoidance, and understands that deadly force is only to be used as a last resort?
Which of those two previous statements would you rather have read into the record while people are investigating your pre-shooting actions? The legal system is relentless and often confusing. You should never give anti-gunners the chance to use your own words against you following a self-defense incident. Remember, we are on the right side of the law. We are only responding to aggression that poses an imminent deadly threat. Our attitude will have almost as much influence in the case as our actions.
Nothing Is Secret
Keep that in mind when you post online. And don’t think that you can get away with crazy posts in so-called “secret” groups. Nothing on the internet is secret. Someone somewhere is looking at that stuff.
