In study this week of details in the Ferguson grand jury transcripts, it was noted that Officer Darren Wilson carried a 40 caliber Sig Sauer P229. He explained to the grand jury that it held 12 rounds in the magazine plus 1 in the chamber, for a total of 13. During the course of many pages of testimony, it appears that, in the midst of 2 failures to fire (most likely due to Micheal Brown's having had his hand on the slide) the first 2 rounds were fired inside the vehicle and 10 more fired outside the vehicle.

Officer Wilson also stated that when back at the police station making the gun safe before placing it in an evidence bag, there was just 1 round left in his pistol. That tells me a couple of things: (1). He stopped shooting immediately when the lethal threat was stopped and (2) Had he been restricted to carrying a handgun with a 10-round magazine capacity, Officer Wilson would most likely have been mangled or killed.

An incident late last week prompted this post after a few nights of "sleeping on it". On one news channel or another, some of you probably saw where a 71-year old CHL holder shot and killed a man who had just assaulted and robbed his wife of a necklace just outside a north Dallas grocery store. In the following link, the reporter uses verbiage "overwhelming support on social media". http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/dallas-county/2014/10/29/man-concealed-handgun-shoots-kills-robber-police-crime/18115091/

As most of us recognize, the news media is usually not the best source of "the totality of the circumstances", but the reporters in the link above did a decent job of explaining some basics of Texas Penal Code Section 9.41. Those who have taken one of my CHL classes may recall that I don't typically spend much time on 9.41, other than cautions of possible "land mines" and "thin ice". And trying to get everyone to think about in advance: What "stuff" do you own that would be worth the emotional and financial grief that typically follows shooting someone?"

And more food for thought: I am certainly not blaming the victim or apologizing for the deceased, but ..... Ladies, please think long and hard about the jewelry you wear in some public places. 

Edited to add: Similar, even more violent robbery, in Whole Foods parking lot a few years back. The short version if not using the link: Thief ripped off necklace, then cut off finger for $90,000 ring. http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/crime/2014/08/06/13487160/