Are you prepared to discharge your weapon?

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I am asking this question not in the hope of getting an answer or an argument but to trigger a thought process.

Are you prepared to discharge your weapon in your defense?

Are you prepared for the emotional, mental stress that will follow? Please don't tell me there is no after effect from the taking of a life or being involved in a firefight.

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Keldar wrote:

I am asking this question not in the hope of getting an answer or an argument but to trigger a thought process.

Are you prepared to discharge your weapon in your defense?

Are you prepared for the emotional, mental stress that will follow? Please don't tell me there is no after effect from the taking of a life or being involved in a firefight.

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Absolutely prepared. I thought about it before I ever started carrying and the decision wasn't that difficult for me. I'm retired military and we have many prior service personnel here and for us we've been trainined to worry abut doing the right thing, right here and right now and handle the consequences afterwards.

I can't fathom how people can standidly by and watch others come to harm and all they do is call the police. Or how they could live with the consequences of having watched a loved one killed while they stood defenseless. Not me, brother. I'd ratherlive a long happy life knowing I destroyed the evil that would harm an innocent life.

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Well, with me the fight or flight instinct is very heavily weighted toward fight.

I feel that I would fire without a second thought in the right situation.

Meaning if I was justified.

Oh, and on a side note, I have fired, and the incident was resolved with the other party running away, leaving me with a gash just above my right knee.

Bullets burn.

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I have two daughters -- in mid-July, one will be two and the other will be five. I carry to protect them, and I have absolutely no compunction about putting someone down who is about to harm either of them.

Whatever emotional, physical or financial stress that comes afterwards, it is certainly more bearable than the loss of one of my babies.

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Agreed here, My wife and daughter are way more important than time and money.

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There are times when I could legally fire and wouldn't but if it comes down to it I wouldn't hesitate to stop a threat, +10000000 if it was to defend my family.

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I would like to think so. I think military experience helps to push me to do so.

But as for a by-stander, I would have to think quick to whats going on and how I would really want to react.

As for my family, if their life was threatened I wouldn't think twice.

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usSiR wrote:

But as for a by-stander, I would have to think quick to whats going on and how I would really want to react.

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I carry a gun to protect me and the people I care about. I don't have to time or money to defend people I don't know :?

It would take a pretty serious event for me to play hero

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If I wasn't I'm in the wrong line of work (Private Security Officer) and studying the wrong field (Criminal Justice) with the wrong end goal (making it into the FBI).

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I have, unfortunately, had to fire on human beings in the course of my duty in Baghdad.....and I will tell you this, it will affect you for the rest of your life.

There is a very large "psycological hump" you have to cross overwhen faced with the prospect ofpotentially causing the death of another Human being.

If you have not considered the impact your actions will have not only on whomever you have been forced to defend yourself against; but on yourself, your family, and even those you associate with.....you need to put your firearms away.

Carrying a personal defense weapon is deadly serious, I do not say this to be obvious....or to be condescending, but all to often we think about the "what would I do if I had to pull the trigger" scenario, and not the "I just now took a life in self defense" scenario.

I cant offer any suggestions.....each has to deal with that possible situation in their own way.

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Aegis wrote:

I have, unfortunately, had to fire on human beings in the course of my duty in Baghdad.....and I will tell you this, it will affect you for the rest of your life.

There is a very large "psycological hump" you have to cross overwhen faced with the prospect ofpotentially causing the death of another Human being.

If you have not considered the impact your actions will have not only on whomever you have been forced to defend yourself against; but on yourself, your family, and even those you associate with.....you need to put your firearms away.

Carrying a personal defense weapon is deadly serious, I do not say this to be obvious....or to be condescending, but all to often we think about the "what would I do if I had to pull the trigger" scenario, and the "I just now took a life in self defense" scenario.

I cant offer any suggestions.....each has to deal with that possible situation in their own way.

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I don't have any personal experience in firing a weapon in a defensive manner but I have thought about it a lot. Carrying a gun for defense is an awesome responsibility that that I don't take lightly. Your third paragraph above sums it up very nicely.

Non-gun folks who think that others who carry guns for self defense are looking for an excuse to shoot someone have not examined themselves in the same we we who carry do. This is why I choose to avoid conflicts that could lead to a shooting. I am not a coward, but I will run away if I have that as an option. I will shoot ONLY as a last-ditch effort to stop a lethal attack.

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Keldar wrote:

I am asking this question not in the hope of getting an answer or an argument but to trigger a thought process.

Are you prepared to discharge your weapon in your defense?

Are you prepared for the emotional, mental stress that will follow? Please don't tell me there is no after effect from the taking of a life or being involved in a firefight.

Click to expand...

Yes, I am. That is what I train for. Part of training to defend your life is training to deal with the after effects.

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YEP I think I am ready!!!

I have no remorse for anyone that preys on innocent people to do them harm. NONE!!!
If I take another man's lifeI am sure I will feel bad aboutit at times, because I am a good hearted person.

But who-so-ever attempts to harmmy family should realize that in the process they could be jeopardizing their own life, and if they are willing to gamble with their own life for their potential reward, and I win....They should have found God before they found me.

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Good questions and they are what everyone that is going to carry should ask themselves before they have to think about it.

I got my CFP about 8 years ago and carried on and off for the first 5, about 3 years ago I went to Front Sight for their defensive hand gun training. During the classes I went back and forth whether I would carry or not because of the consequenses of taking another human's life. I had to make that decision and have carried almost all the time since I took the class.

The one thing I did get from the class is that I was dumb to carry before I had that training. The possibilities of a proper outcome of an encounter have increased a thousand times since I have had the training. It is hard to put into words but I can see after having proper training and continual practice I may have been too slow to react or hesitated or took the time to think about all the senarios before reacting if I had a situation where I had to use deadly force before I had the training.

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Bravo - I guess I have to ask the question basd on your reply:

Yes, I am. That is what I train for. Part of training to defend your life is training to deal with the after effects.


What training are you doing?

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Dry fire drills, malfunction drills, draw while moving, etc.

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yes.

however before i fire, if the situation permits... i will draw, point, and tell him to get on the ground... do NOT tell him that your intentions are to fire, and ESPECIALLY dont say the "K" word... just tell him to get on the ground and that hes under arrest (citizens arrest, just keep out the citizens part ) he will either submit... run... or fight, depending on the situation. if its a "hes got a knife and running around in an agressive manner" kinda thing, then do that... just draw and force him to drop it... but if he has a gun in his hands,(agressive)i dont suggest trying to talk to him lol

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b1ack5mith wrote:

yes.

however before i fire, if the situation permits... i will draw, point, and tell him to get on the ground... do NOT tell him that your intentions are to fire, and ESPECIALLY dont say the "K" word

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Why not? If you're threatening him with a deadly weapon (pointing a gun at him), you're already risking felony aggravated assault. At that point, what does it matter whether or not you add verbal threats as well? If you have legitimate reason to point your gun at him, you have legitimate reason to scream "Get on the ground or I'm going to KILL you!" -- probably with some obscenities mixed in to convince him you mean business.

Personally, if I'm in that sort of situation, I'm going to be making all sorts of threats, screaming profanities, whatever I can do to convince him that I'm crazy and a hair trigger from blowing him away. Why? Because it's the best way I can think of to reduce the probability that I'll have to shoot. Especially since if he looks really closely, my finger won't be on the trigger. Gotta keep him from noticing that.

If I do have to shoot, and end up in a trial, I have plenty of character witnesses to attest to the fact that my apparent freaking out was planned, and for the specific purpose of being intimidating/scary enough that I didn't have to hurt the guy.

Come to think of it, posts like this one help to support that argument.

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I know that if pushed, I will react with appropriate force. And I will yell profanities, and people who know me will be very surprised, as I am normally not that way.

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Keldar wrote:

...Are you prepared to discharge your weapon in your defense?...

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Yup: