Quote:
"And the first thing he said was 'You're history,' and I pulled my gun out and pointed it at him and I thought that would deescalate the situation, but it didn't. He just kept coming," said Gumm.
Gumm says Turney backed him around his car two or perhaps three times. He says Turney accused him of tailgating and said “You don't mess with me.” He says Turney caught up to him and shoved him, and he says that's when he shot Turney in the chest.
"People have asked me was there anything else I could have done, I don't think there is,” Gumm said. “My car was locked, he was right on me all the time, there's no way I could have gotten in my car. With my health issues, it was the best I could do just to keep away from him as long as I did."
Gumm hasn't changed his mind about carrying a gun, or what could have happened if he didn't have it.
"I think I could have been hurt very badly. He's 20 years younger than me, he was pretty big, I don't think he was especially tall, but he looked like he was pretty heavy, pretty stocky to me," said Gumm.
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The gun was presented at the first words coming out of the dead mans mouth. It sounds to me like there was no effort made to really de-escalate any part of the situation.
No part of any of those articles shows where Gumm apologized for whatever infraction, real, or imaginary, he might have done to Turney. Often a situation like this resolves itself when one party says "hey you are right, i am wrong, you have the giant genitalia, i have miniatures, you are the god of the universe, i am the scum of the earth".
Some people think that they shouldn't have to let their ego take a bruising, that they can use deadly force to save face or escape embarrassment. That is NOT what the 'stand your ground' laws allow for.