The Armed Attorneys channel has plethora of videos on a variety of topics and are also a solid source for current cases making their way through various legal systems.
The topic currently… Trauma Kits
Now, I am an enthusiastic supporter of the trauma kit. Especially the vehicle/range bag variety. If you need to control bleeding or another immediate life saving act it is far more likely to come from an accident than a gunshot but your kit can cover down on all of that. A good first aid class that covers critical injuries and medical conditions is also tops.
But I am not an attorney.
The Problem
The problem is intent. An attorney isn’t going to go after you for using a trauma kit on an accident victim or yourself, but an attorney defending the person you shot in court can certainly spin the theory that you intended to shoot their client. By carrying a means to patch them the theory could be that you felt guilty about shooting their client and that is evidence that the shooting wasn’t necessary under the circumstances.
Probably won’t hold an ounce of water in a criminal court because helping someone or being remorseful are not illegal, but a civil one? A court where they’re trying to get assess your liability for costs of an injury may see things differently.
My conclusion
I am going to continue to carry my trauma kits in the way I do, vehicle and range bag borne and on my gun belt too. Those circumstances are highly unlikely to place you or I in any sort of ‘intent’ civil hot water. I know plenty of people who have on person kits also, I generally keep ‘locale’ kits instead of carriable ones. The locale kits can be much better stocked because I don’t have to deal with the weight either.
But even if I just put a tourniquet in my pocket and end up using it, in my opinion that will be my lawyers job to defend. They may not thank me for carrying aid gear on me, but that’s their problem and I pay them to work on that problem.
The niche circumstance of an opposition attorney using the fact I carry aid gear as some sort of ‘gotcha’ for guilt when I consistently carry aid gear for any emergency injury nearby isn’t going to get me to nix the trauma kits. I don’t think it should concern you too much either.
The only way I can see this getting serious legs as a legal challenge to your shooting’s legitimacy is if you just so happened to bring the aid gear with you that day and do not normally and you had some manner of prior hostile interaction with the person who you shot.
But again, I am not an attorney.
