my thinking on this topic of less than lethal bs is it is bs. if you have someone coming after you and you choose to use potentially lethal force (mace pepper spray stun gun rubber bullets) you obviously werent in danger enough to use a weapon in the first place. any weapon should, in my estimation, only be used when there is threat of imminent serious bodily harm or death.
police have a need for less lethal options, civilians should only be using weapons as a last resort. police have a long list of levels of force to use in a given situation from simply detaining a person by verbal request which is force to using machine guns and everything in between.
civilians only have two states. am i in danger and can escape safely?? or do i need to shoot this guy to be safe. we arent stopping drunks or seperating bickering couples or telling people to stop the loud music its not our job. we have no need for less lethal weapons that are still lethal.
for civilians raising a fist against another person is often considered use of deadly force. i just think that if you arm yourself with something other than real guns and real bullets you open yourself to lawsuits after the fact. why didnt you use the rubber bullet on mustapha?? he was just turning his life around