[Larry P.]

I just so enjoyed reading this topic I had to join up just to stick my two cents worth in. First off, at least in Texas, you certainly CAN shoot the guy who stole your wallet at knifepoint and is now walking away. Or snatched your purse. In the back. I realize most locales are not in that status, but let's not assume that our rules apply in others' situations.

I find Texas unique in many ways regarding armed citizens; a previous post here recalled the deer hunter who took out a man who was in the process of murdering a police officer. That post did not mention that 1) the police refused (under a good deal of pressure from a press which adored him) to even identify that man, since he did not want them to, wished to remain anonymous, 2)at a private ceremony a while later, the police presented him with an engraved plaque expressing their gratitude for his actions, along with a presentation cased custom Colt .45 Gold Cup with gold engraving, while still not releasing his name, and 3)the next time a DPS trooper was murdered in the line of duty was more than 5 YEARS later (actually, seems like it was 15 years, but I don't have the precise figures). If the police departments in your states force CHL holders to ignore crime which does not immediately threaten their own lives (regardless of what the law says), I betcha they're suffering much higher rates of murdered police officers than that, not to mention other crimes!

Possibly even more instructive of why I am a "transplant" to this lovely state, some years after that hunter popped that BG, but still prior to passage of our CC law, here in Austin a citizen in his car came upon a gunfight between a police officer and a perp, completely ignorant of the causes therefore, just as the officer went down. When he observed the shooter proceed TOWARD the wounded officer rather than running away, he decided (as has been advocated here) the devil with the law, he was NOT going to watch this happen, and pulled his weapon, stepped out of his car and dispatched the perp forthwith, my recollection says it was with several shots in the back. The officer survived.

Now, the interesting part; turns out, according to the police report, this gent was in possession of that concealed, loaded firearm in a state without a CHL law because he just coincidentally happened to be on his way to a gun store to purchase ammunition for it, which under the TX Constitution gave him the right to legally carry that pistola as he was doing (our Constitution has a bunch of little hidden stuff like that). I read that article in the paper and laughed until I cried. See, I knew about that provision, but I really wondered whether that citizen knew about it or whether the police had to explain it to him in great detail before he decided he was on his way to purchase ammunition! At any rate, he was applauded, not charged with a crime, and that is how it should be. If it is not in your area, perhaps you should get active and address why not.

I have carried whenever I thought I had a need to for over 30 years, sometimes legally and sometimes not, and so has my wife, and we are just now considering CHLs for the first time. On several occasions LEOs have discovered that fact, one way or another (I've never much hidden it if asked), and none has been interested in pursuing it beyond checking my ID, wants and warrants, etc. I have never had cause to even consider using the firearm I've carried, nor have I ever regretted NOT having it along. But the two cases I've cited here have one thing in common-the two citizens involved had absolutely zero problem deciding "what to do". See, I got to the topic, finally.

I submit, while agreeing totally with the concept of pretending you are carrying illegally to help make your decisions, that if any of us ever really need to actually USE that firearm, there aren't going to be any questions in our minds. If I had illegally carried my weapon into that Luby's in Killeen, not unheard of for me, the second shot fired that day would have been mine. If I was unsuccessful and went down, I have no doubt at all that if she was along, my wife would then have taken up my weapon and continued. If she went down, I have no doubt at all that Suzanna Gratia (now -Hupp) and/or her father would have come for that weapon very quickly. Her father charged the lunatic bare-handed, for goodness sake! Every person in the place knew within seconds that it was time to draw and fire, the entire problem was that the BG had the ONLY firearms present.

So my answer to the question at hand is that if you have to think about it, don't even think about it. Should the need arise, you will know.

In passing, btw, anybody who "displays" a weapon to a perp with a firearm drawn and pointed at him is a suicidal idiot, IMHO. And anyone who gets physical with ANYBODY while himself packin' heat should be locked away for his own protection as well as the protection of society. Your level of courtesy should jump by a huge leap whenever you strap on a deadly weapon. "Excuse me, kind sir, if you would please wait until I go to my car and deposit my firearm in the trunk, I will then gladly return and kick your ass till your hat flies off." If you conclude that this response will get you killed, then SHOOT him! Don't fight him. If it seems he would be inclined to agree, say it, then get in your car and leave. That is my own (untrained) version of "conflict avoidance".

Too long, I know, but I had a lot of catching up to do!