imported post
None of this is meant to discourage any form of carry, but I think that these are important issues to address. Some of this has been covered in other posts, but I have never seen this issue address directly in its own post, so here goes. I would like to know if you have really though through what carrying a weapon entails.
1) Are you going to protect just yourself from a deadly threat, or are you going to step in and protect others.
2) What in your mind rises to the level of a deadly threat?
3) Have you considered that when you are carrying a gun only, that the only means you have to react to any threat is deadly force, meaning you have no pepper spray, no baton, no TASER; if you decide to engage, its all or nothing.
4) Are you going to attempt to perform an arrest of any sort if you see a crime occurring, but no lives are in danger?
5) Having decided that you are going to perform a citizen’s arrest, have you considered that you probably do not have any means to restrain this person (handcuffs, flex cuffs, ect.)?
6) Have you considered the fact that if you are carrying a gun and you get into a physical altercation that does not rise to the level of deadly force (some sort of stupid argument about a parking space or something), that you have brought a gun into that situation? Do you practice weapon retention; is your holster adequate, does it have at least one, hopefully two levels of retention that you have practiced with?
7) Do you conduct yourself in a way (polite, avoiding confrontation) that reduces the possibility that you will become involved in such a situation?
8) Do you dress well? If you do have to hold someone at gun point, first impressions are important. We all make judgments based on appearance and the arriving officers are more likely going react better to a well dressed individual that someone dressed like a slob or in “gang chic’ even if it is the latest trend in hip clothing.
9) What are you going to do if your spouse / kids are with you? Are you going to react differently? Do they know what to do if you do have to react? Do you have a “duck and cover” safe word pre arranged? Do they know to get on the phone if it is safe and tell the police exactly what is happening and know to DESCRIBE YOU IN DETAIL?
10) What is your plan when the police do arrive?
11) Most important, are you REALLY, REALLY, REALLY willing to shot someone. Be honest with yourself because no one else knows but you, and you may not even REALLY know until the time comes.
I am not offering answers to any of these questions and in the interest of brevity (I know, too late) I have left out about twenty other questions that I think should be considered.
These questions are meant to provoke thought. Please don’t focus on only one and slam me for asking that one question. I am willing to take a hit on the whole, but I think we lose something when we focus on one tree in the forest.
None of this is meant to discourage any form of carry, but I think that these are important issues to address. Some of this has been covered in other posts, but I have never seen this issue address directly in its own post, so here goes. I would like to know if you have really though through what carrying a weapon entails.
1) Are you going to protect just yourself from a deadly threat, or are you going to step in and protect others.
2) What in your mind rises to the level of a deadly threat?
3) Have you considered that when you are carrying a gun only, that the only means you have to react to any threat is deadly force, meaning you have no pepper spray, no baton, no TASER; if you decide to engage, its all or nothing.
4) Are you going to attempt to perform an arrest of any sort if you see a crime occurring, but no lives are in danger?
5) Having decided that you are going to perform a citizen’s arrest, have you considered that you probably do not have any means to restrain this person (handcuffs, flex cuffs, ect.)?
6) Have you considered the fact that if you are carrying a gun and you get into a physical altercation that does not rise to the level of deadly force (some sort of stupid argument about a parking space or something), that you have brought a gun into that situation? Do you practice weapon retention; is your holster adequate, does it have at least one, hopefully two levels of retention that you have practiced with?
7) Do you conduct yourself in a way (polite, avoiding confrontation) that reduces the possibility that you will become involved in such a situation?
8) Do you dress well? If you do have to hold someone at gun point, first impressions are important. We all make judgments based on appearance and the arriving officers are more likely going react better to a well dressed individual that someone dressed like a slob or in “gang chic’ even if it is the latest trend in hip clothing.
9) What are you going to do if your spouse / kids are with you? Are you going to react differently? Do they know what to do if you do have to react? Do you have a “duck and cover” safe word pre arranged? Do they know to get on the phone if it is safe and tell the police exactly what is happening and know to DESCRIBE YOU IN DETAIL?
10) What is your plan when the police do arrive?
11) Most important, are you REALLY, REALLY, REALLY willing to shot someone. Be honest with yourself because no one else knows but you, and you may not even REALLY know until the time comes.
I am not offering answers to any of these questions and in the interest of brevity (I know, too late) I have left out about twenty other questions that I think should be considered.
These questions are meant to provoke thought. Please don’t focus on only one and slam me for asking that one question. I am willing to take a hit on the whole, but I think we lose something when we focus on one tree in the forest.