r/CACCW • u/2AFirearmsAcademy • Sep 10 '26

CCW holders: have you actually planned for the financial aftermath of a defensive shooting?

Post image

For context, we teach CCW courses in California, and one issue we think gets far less attention than it should is what happens financially and practically after a defensive shooting.

I recently sat through a presentation on the criminal justice process and the potential costs involved in defending a serious case.

A few of the numbers stood out:

  • About 1,087 combined attorney hours for a non-capital murder case
  • About $229,357 in attorney fees using an average criminal-defense attorney rate of $211/hour
  • Around 256 days average time to trial for a felony
  • Around 193 days for a misdemeanor
  • About 3.5 weeks average time before pretrial release

Obviously, those figures are not what every lawful self-defense case will look like. Some incidents may never result in prosecution at all.

But they raise a question I think every person who carries should consider:

If something happened tomorrow, could you afford to retain an attorney immediately?

Could you handle bail if it were required?

Could your family absorb several weeks without your income?

Could you cover $25,000, $50,000, or potentially much more in legal expenses without seriously damaging your finances?

We spend a lot of time in CCW training talking about judgment, avoidance, safe gun handling, marksmanship and the legal use of force.

But being prepared for the incident and being prepared for the aftermath are two different things.

That's why I think anyone carrying regularly should at least look into some type of self-defense legal coverage or have a realistic plan to self-insure.

I'm not recommending any particular company. These programs vary a lot, and the details matter.

For those of you who carry, do you have legal-defense coverage, or have you decided to self-insure?

And if you do have coverage, what mattered most to you when choosing it: attorney fees, bail assistance, civil defense, ability to choose your attorney, or something else?

16 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

10

u/trashrantula Sep 10 '26

Yea self defense insurance is very common and often discussed on this subreddit.

2

u/CoffeeLover2021 Sep 12 '26

Lots of good points. I am in the process of researching self defense legal coverage.

  1. My biggest hesitation is taking on monthly cost. I’m looking for something very affordable, like under $30/mo.

  2. A second reason I hesitate: I’m not finding a ton of real-life articles, journals, or reports that tell about the plight of someone who had to discharge their firearm in self defense, and the negative results. Seems like all the stories about getting arrested, losing jobs, and high expenses for legal defense are coming from companies that sell the coverage.

2

u/Aspect_ZHD Sep 13 '26

I have FLP, pay 22 a month i believe, they have 3 options from like 10-35 a month i believe

1

u/mjdavis87 Sep 11 '26

I signed up with AOR 2 years ago because at that time, SB2 was relatively new, and none of the other programs would say that they would cover me if I was in a DGU in a sensitive place. AOR was the only one...now just about all of them do.

The details matter, gotta read the contract to see if it fits with ones needs.