CWP, 24 October 2013 A.D.
Greetings Concealed Weapons Permittees,
     Never fire a warning shot!
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/22/va-mom-charged-after-firing-gun-into-air-to-scare-/
     If you had time to fire a warning shot, you had time to
do something else, which means you were not in immediate
danger of death or serious bodily injury.  So, you are not
justified in firing the gun.
     The mother should have pulled her daughter away from the
boys and attempted to get away.  If the boys pursued,
she would be justified in shooting them, not in firing a warning
shot.  Ten boys against one girl is a disparity of force.
The boy assaulting the girl (Any non-consensual touching is
by legal definition, assault.) establishes malicious intent.
The boys in the vicinity of the girl establishes opportunity.
     The warning shot tells everyone that you have a gun.
So, you lose the element of surprise; a grave tactical mistake.
The first indication that you have a gun should be the
bullet impacting the assailant.
     A shot fired into the air will
come down with near equal speed as when it went up,
sufficient to kill anyone it hits.  A shot fired into the ground
will ricochet of the asphalt road, the concrete sidewalk, or
a stone in the ground and strike an innocent.
     Never fire a warning shot!
     This is why training is so vitally important.

"... the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
I believe that every right implies a responsibility;
every opportunity, an obligation;
every possession, a duty.
-- John D. Rockefeller (1839 - 1937), Personal credo

"The Concealed Weapons Permit does not obligate you to action."
Action springs not from thought,
but from a readiness for responsibility.
-- G. M. Trevelyan (1876 - 1962)

"Am I paranoid for carrying a gun?"
Better be despised for too anxious apprehensions,
than ruined by too confident security.
-- Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)

"I will never let my child play with guns."
We cannot but pity the boy who has never fired a gun;
he is no more humane,
while his education has been sadly neglected.
-- Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)

Nearly all men can stand adversity,
but if you want to test a man's character,
give him power.
-- Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)
     Possession of a gun gives you power.
Training with a gun gives you great power.
Do you have the character to wield such power
responsibly? humbly? righteously?

Cheers,
Jon