By William Kirk
Hello again everyone. Welcome to Washington Gun Law tv. I'm Washington Gun Law President William Kirk. Thanks for joining us. We love to take real life examples that we find out there in the internet and just kind of use them as teachable moments to teach you about self-defense laws. Now, even though we enjoy doing it often Google doesn't really enjoy it because they so frequently end up very violent and with terrible endings. This is a case we're going to talk about today. It's been burning up the Twittersphere Exosphere, whatever we're calling it this week, the last 24 hours or so. It has to do with yet another road rage incident this time down in Florida. I think there's a lot to be learned here. I think there's a lot to be learned here about patience and restraint too. So today, let's spend a few minutes and let's talk about, he showed serious restraint.
But would you, okay, before we get going too far down the road, we're going down proud to announce that this video is being brought to you by Right to Bear. That's right. Legal protection for self-protection. Listen, good lawyers aren't cheap. Cheap lawyers aren't good. You're not truly prepared unless you have right to bear back. You, you will always get an attorney answered hotline, so you will always have a confidential phone call. There are no cap limits for either civil or criminal defense. This covers all forms of self-defense. So from a fist to a firearm, from a fat lip to a dead body, you are covered and you will have some of the nation's most passionate to a attorneys in your corner fighting for you. And right now, if you visit my friends@protectwithbear.com and you use the promo code Wgl L, you'll receive 10% off. Listen, you need to protect yourself so that you can protect them.
Visit my Good friends@protectwithbear.com. Okay, America, we're going to talk about yet another road rage incident gone bad and there really is no such thing as a road rage incident that ever goes good. And for those of you who do not have concealed carry licenses and your state requires you to have one in order to carry loaded in your automobile, this is the exact reason why, because in my experience as a criminal defense attorney now for almost 30 years, I will tell you that the one place that people most frequently come into conflict and most frequently come into armed conflict is actually on the roadway. Okay, now, the incident we're going to talk about took place in Port Lucy, Florida. And the details I'm getting come from WQCS, a local news outlet down there, but 63-year-old Paul Slain. This is Paul right here. Yeah. He had a bad day.
He is now in custody being held on bail for two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of attempted armed robbery, and two counts of simple battery. Per the reports I read. And again, take this for whatever it's worth, Mr. Slain was involved previously in a road rage incident with the individuals who are going to be filming what you're about to see here in a moment. Apparently he passed the car in a rather aggressive fashion and waved his firearm out the window at the other driver. He then stopped this car in the middle of the roadway, thus blocking the path of travel. And well, this is what ensued.
Okay? Now, the first thing I was thinking right away is I can't believe the driver of the car who was filming here did not shoot this individual, and I just assumed that he was not armed. But if you take a much closer look and you slow it down, yeah, you'll see that our victim was in fact armed. And actually the moral of the story is going to be is that he probably could have used that firearm and much earlier than this gentleman getting all the way to the window. Okay? Now we're going to get into the rules of engagement, but this is the one thing I want everyone to understand. If some idiot cuts you off on the roadway, that probably in the eyes of many people is not going to be the act of first aggression. It's going to be an act that's based on negligence or reckless behavior, but it's not done with malice or intent to harm you personally and individually.
So even though you may have an idiot that cuts you off, maybe even is dangerous in cutting you off on the roadway, when you pull up alongside next to 'em and you do the whole, Hey, let's go. Let's pull over, throw on the bird, doing whatever you're doing there, many courts are going to justify that as the act of first aggression here. So even assuming that our victim driver here, the one who's going to be filming this had been a complete moron on the roadway, absent some evidence that he was intentionally trying to run into Mr. Slain, Mr. Slains actions are absolutely positively going to be deemed the act of first aggression, which is important because that means he cannot avail himself of self-defense. You can't pick the fight and then later claim you are acting in self-defense. Okay? Now with that in mind, let's also go through the rules of engagement.
We know any force that we're going to use in lawful self-defense has to be one necessary, has to be two, reasonable, both objectively and subjectively. And three, it has to be proportional. Okay? And then if we're going to use lethal force, we have four options usually in most states where we can use lethal force. The first is that you yourself are an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury. Number two, somebody else in your presence is an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury. Number three, a felony is being committed upon your person. Or number four, a felony is being committed inside your home. It is the opinion of Washington gun law when Mr. Slain gets out of his car after blocking this driver off carrying a firearm. It's much akin to this incident right here, which we already did a video on, which was called How Road Rage Can Get You Killed Quickly.
And in that situation, the driver of this car right here did in fact use lethal force rather effectively, I should point out, terminating the threat, terminating the individual, and was not charged with a crime. So if we have the right to use lethal force, if we are an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury or somebody else's, an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury in our presence, when Mr. Slain gets out of the car armed with a firearm, when he walks up to the driver's window when he's there actually in the driver's window with a firearm in his hand, at that point, would it be safe to assume that the driver is an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury? Yeah, he is. And let us not forget that it is the passenger who's actually video recording here, which means there is another person in this gentleman's presence who is also an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury.
Furthermore, evidence also suggests that Mr. Slain was trying to force the camera to be turned off and turned over to him, which is why he's got the counts of robbery. That means you have a felony being committed upon your person. So of the four reasons in which this driver could have used lethal force, three of them existed at that time. So Mr. Slain, I do not know what is going to become of you once the criminal justice system is finished dealing out whatever. They're going to deal out with you. But you probably should thank this gentleman who showed amazing restraint. I believe that there was a right to use lethal force perhaps as early as right here and there absolutely was the right to use lethal force on multiple basis when Mr. Slain was right here. You may end up with some jail time, sir, but you are very lucky that you are not pushing up daisies.
Listen, we'll go ahead and link up the whole video down below so that you guys can geek out on for yourself. Maybe you got some questions about this or anything else related to self-defense laws or what's left of our Second Amendment rights. You guys should know how to get ahold of Washington gun law by now, but if you don't, that's okay. That information, it's down there in the description box. Maybe you got an idea for a video. If you do, go ahead and click on that link right there. Some of the best ideas we ever had weren't our ideas at all. Maybe you just want to subscribe to our monthly newsletter. The ability to do that is all down there in the description box. And then finally, and most importantly, let's everyone remember that part of the lawful and responsible gun owner, like we talk about all the time here, is to know what the law is in every situation and how it applies to you in any instance that you may find yourself. Until next time, thanks for watching and stay safe.
YouTube Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G8wck79ohE
Credit: William Kirk Washington Gun Law