Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
In Lesson 6 of CCW Safe’s 36 Lessons for Armed Defenders series, the conversation shifts to one of the hardest judgment calls a concealed carrier will ever face: when is the moment to shoot, and when is it too soon?
The concept at the heart of this lesson is what retired Oklahoma City homicide detective Gary Eastridge calls the “window of justification.” It is the narrow span of time when all three legal elements of a self-defense shooting align at once: ability, opportunity, and intent. Criminal defense attorney Don West and firearms instructor Steve Moses join host Shawn Vincent to explain how that window opens, how quickly it can close, and why firing before it fully opens can turn a justified defender into a criminal defendant.
Fire too soon, and the threat may not yet be imminent. Fire too late, and the threat may have already passed. As Don West puts it, borrowing a line popularized by attorney Andrew Branca, the window of justification is like Goldilocks. It cannot be too early or too late. It has to be just right.
VISIT CCW SAFE’S ARMED DEFENDER’S DILEMMA LESSON 6
The episode explores:
- Why a genuine fear of harm is not the same as a reasonable belief of imminent death or great bodily injury
- How prosecutors and juries evaluate the totality of the circumstances before, during, and after a shooting
- Why lack of training often causes defenders to present a firearm too early in a confrontation
- How duty-to-retreat laws add another decision point before the window of justification opens
- Why articulating what you saw, thought, and feared is just as critical as the decision to fire
To illustrate the concept, Lesson 6 contrasts a defender who got it right with two who did not. The anonymous Pennsylvania concealed carrier in the Alan Womack shooting was publicly exonerated by the Montgomery County District Attorney after Womack chased him through a parking lot, drew a Taurus pistol, and racked the slide. In that moment, ability, opportunity, and intent all converged, and the defender’s single shot ended the threat. The window opened, and he recognized it.
Alexander Weiss in Rochester, Minnesota, and Michael Dunn in Jacksonville, Florida, did not. Weiss fired on an unarmed man who had taunted him to shoot. Dunn fired through a car door at a seventeen-year-old he claimed was armed, though no weapon was ever found. Both cases ended in mistrials, and Dunn was ultimately convicted of first-degree murder on retrial. In both situations, the defenders had opportunities to break contact, drive away, or de-escalate. They chose to stay and engage instead.
The lesson for responsibly armed citizens is clear. The Second Amendment protects a fundamental civil right to defend yourself, your family, and your life. That protection is at its strongest when your actions are measured, deliberate, and grounded in a real, articulable threat. Training, mindset, and the willingness to walk away from a confrontation are what keep a lawful defender on the right side of that window.
As Steve Moses puts it, the goal of any armed encounter is to break contact. The firearm is the last resort, not the first.
The full video, podcast, and expert review are available on the CCW Safe website.
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