I'm pulling the trigger

[Pheidippides]

on getting my concealed carry permit.

I slept a lot of the day yesterday to try to recover from the race. In the afternoon, I figured I should get out and about just for a bit. I head out to get an ice pack and a couple additional sports medicine items and a hamburger (since I haven't had one in a long time). Also, I am going to stop at Gamestop to see if they have any used games I want.

Because I'm so sore, it takes me a good 10 minutes just to get dressed. I take another 10 to find my wallet, which I misplaced after the race.

I get to Gamestop at about 3:00, give or take. Door is locked. That's weird. I can hazily see some guy in there (not wearing my glasses or contacts), and figure the employees are just being lazy. No biggie - I don't need a new game anyway.

As I'm backing my car out of the parking lot, I see two guys leave the store, each carrying a stack of xbox boxes. They head to the back of the building and to a car.

Things have now clicked and I swing around to try to get a license plate. They have left too quickly - I see them leave. Do I follow and try to grab the plate number? No - if it's a robbery like I think it is, somebody may be hurt and need medical attention.

I go to the store - yup, it's been robbed. When I tell them I saw the car and bandits, they let me in, lock the door, and fill me in on the details (cops have been called and we're all waiting for them to arrive). Bandits held them at gunpoint. Had a couple of them down on their knees with gun against the temple. Miracle nobody got killed. One guy is bleeding. Everybody is pretty shaken up.

I am also shaken up. But for sore legs and a misplaced wallet, I'm a victim and not just a witness.

I couldn't sleep very well last night. I did a lot of thinking. I have been around guns all my life and they do not scare me - unless they are pointed at me. I have many views on guns as a public policy matter. As a personal policy matter, I am now going to go armed where legally permitted.

DDD can try to talk me out of this now if he wishes. I will smile in his directly and pat his head, for he is my friend.

It is an entirely fair question to ask what I would have done if armed in that store 15 minutes prior to my actual arrival. I thought through that last night, but the answer involves so many hypotheticals, qualifications and disclaimers that I don't care to answer in detail other than to say "it depends." Maybe nothing. Maybe something.

[RobinFinderson]

One person with a gun would be a fool to pull it on two people with guns. Even in the situations where a CC weapon holder might be useful, it is still often not the best choice to pull the weapon. And don't forget, to be a CC permit holder means that you are prepared to live with the possibility that you will have to blow someone's brains out. Take the most graphic bit of violence you have ever seen, put it in front of your outstretched hand with a wisp of smoke rising up from the end of your gun, and that is the image that will haunt your nightmares for the rest of your life.

[wuapinmon]

I think using or "brandishing" a firearm in the commission of a crime should bring life in prison, no parole.

[Pheidippides]

One person with a gun would be a fool to pull it on two people with guns. Even in the situations where a CC weapon holder might be useful, it is still often not the best choice to pull the weapon. And don't forget, to be a CC permit holder means that you are prepared to live with the possibility that you will have to blow someone's brains out. Take the most graphic bit of violence you have ever seen, put it in front of your outstretched hand with a wisp of smoke rising up from the end of your gun, and that is the image that will haunt your nightmares for the rest of your life.

I agree 100% with everything you just said, and all of these thoughts have been present in my mind for the last 24 hours. The bolded sentence is exactly what I am talking about when I say my answer is "it depends." (FTR, there was only one gun in the robbery).

The fact that you and I are seeing the same issues and problems and (likely) coming to exact opposite results shows, in my view, how difficult and thorny this entire issue is.

The question I had to ask myself is, given the your last sentence, would I choose to pull the trigger (in certain circumstances)? The answer is unequivocally yes.

[WashingtonCoug]

Wow! Great to hear your safe.
I just don't see what having your own gun would do for you. Unless your trained for this type of situation, it could just make things worse. The only instance that I see in which having a gun would be good, is if you can swiftly kill the robber. If there are two robbers, you most likely turn it into a shootout. In which case multiple people will likely be shot.

[FN Phat]

I will be getting my CCW within the next month or two. I just have to sign up for the class.

[FN Phat]

I agree 100% with everything you just said, and all of these thoughts have been present in my mind for the last 24 hours. The bolded sentence is exactly what I am talking about when I say my answer is "it depends." (FTR, there was only one gun in the robbery).

The fact that you and I are seeing the same issues and problems and (likely) coming to exact opposite results shows, in my view, how difficult and thorny this entire issue is.

The question I had to ask myself is, given the your last sentence, would I choose to pull the trigger (in certain circumstances)? The answer is unequivocally yes.

If the safety of my wife and/or kids are at stake, I agree.

[Pheidippides]

Wow! Great to hear your safe.
I just don't see what having your own gun would do for you. Unless your trained for this type of situation, it could just make things worse. The only instance that I see in which having a gun would be good, is if you can swiftly kill the robber. If there are two robbers, you most likely turn it into a shootout. In which case multiple people will likely be shot.

This is the precise point. I am trained in the use of a gun, and part of my training to get a CCW would to be take tactical combat classes to prepare for the situation (that's above and beyond the CCW class, btw).

And as Robin says, sometimes just staying put and doing nothing is the right choice, even if you have the option to shoot. But I want to have that choice, and the law says that I can have that choice in certain circumstances.

[WashingtonCoug]

This is the precise point. I am trained in the use of a gun, and part of my training to get a CCW would to be take tactical combat classes to prepare for the situation (that's above and beyond the CCW class, btw). [/U][/B]

If you're trained, I say more power to you. I do worry about people out there that think they will be able to stop this kind of thing and then make the situation worse. By the way MW2 doesn't count as combat training.

[RobinFinderson]

Guns are totally fun. I love to shoot them and blow shit up. I think that bringing an old sofa, or kitchen appliance out to a redneck shooting range is a legitimate form of recycling. I just can't figure out why anyone would want to spoil all of the fun by killing someone.

[FN Phat]

If you're trained, I say more power to you. I do worry about people out there that think they will be able to stop this kind of thing and then make the situation worse. By the way MW2 doesn't count as combat training.

Count me out!

[Pheidippides]

If you're trained, I say more power to you. I do worry about people out there that think they will be able to stop this kind of thing and then make the situation worse. By the way MW2 doesn't count as combat training.

Lol, don't I know it. Although my limited real-world tactics knowledge works wonders in MW2!

Seriously, though, I have the same exact worry you do. Judgment is just as important of training. To be sure, though I am a big advocate of training. And (to the shock of many here, no doubt) registration of weapons AND strict liability for damages caused by weapons registered to you (some exceptions). The general idea is if you own a gun, and a kid (your own or not) finds it and kills himself or others, you get the book thrown at you. That sort of thing Greater accountability makes for greater safety.

[Hallelujah]

If you're trained, I say more power to you. I do worry about people out there that think they will be able to stop this kind of thing and then make the situation worse. By the way MW2 doesn't count as combat training.

Worse than having the barrel of the gun stuck to your temple and awaiting (in the majority of the cases) the bullet?

[Hallelujah]

Lol, don't I know it. Although my limited real-world tactics knowledge works wonders in MW2!

Seriously, though, I have the same exact worry you do. Judgment is just as important of training. To be sure, though I am a big advocate of training. And (to the shock of many here, no doubt) registration of weapons AND strict liability for damages caused by weapons registered to you (some exceptions). The general idea is if you own a gun, and a kid (your own or not) finds it and kills himself or others, you get the book thrown at you. That sort of thing Greater accountability makes for greater safety.

Proper use of a concealed weapon = if you fear for your life or the life of your family.

Improper use of a concealed weapon = you're pissed.

That is the one thing I remember from my CWP class. Pretty good guideline.

[Hallelujah]

on getting my concealed carry permit.

I slept a lot of the day yesterday to try to recover from the race. In the afternoon, I figured I should get out and about just for a bit. I head out to get an ice pack and a couple additional sports medicine items and a hamburger (since I haven't had one in a long time). Also, I am going to stop at Gamestop to see if they have any used games I want.

Because I'm so sore, it takes me a good 10 minutes just to get dressed. I take another 10 to find my wallet, which I misplaced after the race.

I get to Gamestop at about 3:00, give or take. Door is locked. That's weird. I can hazily see some guy in there (not wearing my glasses or contacts), and figure the employees are just being lazy. No biggie - I don't need a new game anyway.

As I'm backing my car out of the parking lot, I see two guys leave the store, each carrying a stack of xbox boxes. They head to the back of the building and to a car.

Things have now clicked and I swing around to try to get a license plate. They have left too quickly - I see them leave. Do I follow and try to grab the plate number? No - if it's a robbery like I think it is, somebody may be hurt and need medical attention.

I go to the store - yup, it's been robbed. When I tell them I saw the car and bandits, they let me in, lock the door, and fill me in on the details (cops have been called and we're all waiting for them to arrive). Bandits held them at gunpoint. Had a couple of them down on their knees with gun against the temple. Miracle nobody got killed. One guy is bleeding. Everybody is pretty shaken up.

I am also shaken up. But for sore legs and a misplaced wallet, I'm a victim and not just a witness.

I couldn't sleep very well last night. I did a lot of thinking. I have been around guns all my life and they do not scare me - unless they are pointed at me. I have many views on guns as a public policy matter. As a personal policy matter, I am now going to go armed where legally permitted.

DDD can try to talk me out of this now if he wishes. I will smile in his directly and pat his head, for he is my friend.

It is an entirely fair question to ask what I would have done if armed in that store 15 minutes prior to my actual arrival. I thought through that last night, but the answer involves so many hypotheticals, qualifications and disclaimers that I don't care to answer in detail other than to say "it depends." Maybe nothing. Maybe something.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB38P6rzFzU"]YouTube- This is gonna be good with Ted Nugent[/ame]

He makes some good points in the latter half of this video.