You carry...Are you scared to pull the trigger?

[hogdogs]

DNS, All proper words, yet none fit me...
Quick to decide, resolute, determined to live on another day...
Them are me...
If double naughts words ring a bell to you, it may be wise to think further on cc. I admit my wife is far from ready to carry any weapon. She just doesn't have situational awareness locked in yet. If you touch her purse or grab her arm you are gonna find out how tough she is but she wouldn't be able to draw by that point.
Brent

[Keltyke]

Funny choice of words, "scared to pull the trigger." There is a huge difference between "scared" and other such considerations as "hesitant," "unwilling," "uncertain about," etc.

Good post. Different words mean different things to each person.

Am I "afraid" to pull the trigger? Absolutely not. I'll drop the hammer in a heartbeat to save my life or a loved one's.

Would I be "scared"? YES! I'm intelligent enough to know the physical/psychological/legal ramifications of shooting. That does scare me.

Would those thoughts slow me down? No.

[cold dead hands]

Good post. Different words mean different things to each person.

Am I "afraid" to pull the trigger? Absolutely not. I'll drop the hammer in a heartbeat to save my life or a loved one's.

Would I be "scared"? YES! I'm intelligent enough to know the physical/psychological/legal ramifications of shooting. That does scare me.

Good point about vocabulary.

I am not "afraid" to defend my life....I am scared of the end results of the shooting....

[Brian Pfleuger]

Claiming to not be scared when engaged in a SD shooting seems a little...







Courage is not the lack of fear. Courage is doing what has to be done in spite of fear.

[Don P]

This is probably going to ruffel some feathers here and my opinion is, STUPID question, SORRY If anyone is scared to pull the trigger THAT person should NOT be carring a firearm. Period. With that mind set having to think about pulling the trigger ( SCARED ) may/will greatly increase your chance of lose of your life. Just my .02 worth

[Brian Pfleuger]

If anyone is scared to pull the trigger THAT person should NOT be carring a firearm.

The opposite argument could easily be made...

[csmsss]

Lots and lots of internet warriors in this thread. I would posit that it is impossible to know whether you could actually take another person's life until you've actually been in the situation.

[OldMarksman]

Lots and lots of internet warriors in this thread. I would posit that it is impossible to know whether you could actually take another person's life until you've actually been in the situation.

Yep!

I think I would "fear" the following things:

• Wrong decision (bad shoot, or no shoot when threat is imminent)

• Hitting a bystander
• Five shots proving inadequate
• Draw too late
• Draw too soon

And last but not least, having the need arise when I am not carrying.

[mav88]

Depends...pulling the trigger can have many different outcomes. Even though you are scared, hesitant etc..you know that By pulling the trigger you are willing to shoot/kill the other person on the receiving end of the barrel, which can lead to either a very big financial case in court, 1st/2nd degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, doing jail time with a buddy that has many tattoo's and scars, and even possibility of your own death especially if the other person is aiming a gun at you..waiting for me to squeeze first...


best solution..is to think of the consequences youll face if you pull the trigger..and to not act on fear/anger/etc


protecting my life if i feel in imminent danger...or my family is in danger is the only exception..for which i WILL pull the trigger to defend their lives if they are threatened by an attacker with a deadly weapon..

[alloy]

i dont think ive ever thought about it. and thinking about it now i dont feel scared. i assume that whatever could make me draw a weapon in the first place is promising me some kind of immediate, unacceptable alternative thats more scary than pulling a trigger like a screwdriver in the cranium, shotgun to the face, whatever it is that makes that kind of person tick.

that....is more like what im scared of.

[Bama46]

Anticipation of an event as yet unexperienced will cause jitters or butterflies.. that is not the same as fear. The way to overcome that is to train so that automatic responses to certain stimuli take over and your muscles respond in predictable ways.

I have never had to make the decision of shoot no shoot, but I have trained for it. I have rehersed in my mind what responses I would take, and on 2 occasions in my life, I needed a weapon and had none. There will not be a third. I know I am damned lucky to be here. In the first instance, I was 12 years old and a man lured me into a blind alley as I was collecting my paper route. He stuck a knife up to my stomach, scratched me with it, and relieved me of my money. How I escaped that, I don't know. I still remember it even tho it was 50 years ago and I have vowed it would never happen again to me or mine.

Ed

[hogdogs]

Pre-thinking can be very advantageous. I am a firm believer that if you can really think thru before doing you will have better results. Just like I was taught to picture the perfect throw with a rock or shot with bow or gun and you will get it... shooting pheasent and rabbits with a rubber tipped "dum-dum" arrow while in flight or running wasn't easy for me at 12 with a cheap bow but it seemed like a natural thing.
Brent

[asp]

It would seem that should such circumstances arise, one would not have time to be afraid. Flight or fight response would have kicked in before much conscious thought could be applied. As many have stated, training should take over when 'fight' is your only option. If pushed quickly to the limit, one simply reacts. Fear is more likely an emotion (among others) triggered by the aftermath.

[Hard Ball]

No, of course not.

[Mannlicher]

Not scared at all, but certainly aware that there WILL be consequences.

[GPossenti]

Not scared. Just make sure there's nobody on the other side of the BG that might be hit by your bullets.

[Don P]

Not scared. Just make sure there's nobody on the other side of the BG that might be hit by your bullets.

Doing the above may just cost you your life with delaying to shoot before you look for by-standers. This is just my opinion now. I'm not an expert nor have I ever had to unholster and point and shoot. With the juice's flowing in a self defence situation the last thing you might be thinking about is who is around or behind the BG. I guess none of us will ever know what we will do unless we are involved in a self-defence shooting. Hopefuly I'll never be there.

[GoldenRoyBoy]

Hello Folks,
I'm relatively new here; hope you don't mind me jumping in.

Last week, I made my routine trip to Valdez to fill up the old water tank. Here, in S. Colorado we mountaineers must haul our own water if we do not have the luxury of a water well on our property. Anyway, as I pulled in to the water station, I observed two individuals; one filling his own water tank. It's a common occurence, and one must wait his/her turn. However, as I waited the older gentleman, who happened to be the one on back the truck got down. Instead of continueing around to the driver's side and moving his truck forward, he proceeded around the other side, standing with his back to me. In other words, totalling ignoring my presense. The younger man had parked his car on the other side of the lot. The two men stood there talking, keeping me waiting for no less than 3 minutes. Yes, I know not very long; except when one has an appointment and a 30 minute drive to get there. Anyway, I probably did the wrong thing, tapping my horn. The old man turned around, glaring. He then commenced to walking toward me, stopping, standing by my DD window. I asked him politely to move his truck so I could get what I came for. He told me he wasn't moving nothing; telling me "You aren't from around here, are you! Long story short, I got out thinking by doing so we could get this whatever over with, and I'd soon be on my way. Wrong. The younger man approached me, getting in my face. I did not want to fight; keeping both hands in my pocket, one gripped on Mr. Righteous. However,I did not back down; or let him know I was scared. The young man caught on something was not right, smartly backing away. Luckily, the old man had parked his truck in such a way, I was able to swing around and back in to get to the water line. From that point on, they left me alone.

The big question; would I have used my Colt 38 Spec? Dambetterbelieveit; I think. I'm glad I'm still wondering.

**After reading the two posts trailing right after mine, I thought I'd better clarify something. I'm not one to pull, or branish any weapon as a show of "might will". And, deadly force does mean just that. So, I'm unsure if someone/ones was/were intent on beating the hell out of me, or someone I cared about, or, a total stranger for that matter just what I would do, even if the instigators were without weapons. All I can think to write is; it's better to have the option, than not. Certainly, there are consequences for any act involving violence. Lets just hope none of us have to find out which side the law will take in such an instance.

Stay safe; tote!
GRB

[spacemanspiff]

Part of the whole decision process that a responsible mature adult completes when choosing to carry, is that at some point you may need to do some brutal acts in order to survive, or to defend someone else. A key aspect is realizing that once you put that gun on, you are no longer afforded any kind of ego-boosting actions to defend your honor, which is why the responsible mature adult who carries swallows their pride, and doesn't engage the irresponsible immature individuals who cross their paths.

I have had the opportunity to swallow my pride and let some jerk feel like a big man, ignoring his attempts to goad me into a physical fight. If I wasn't carrying, I might have run my mouth off at him. But having the means to go to deadly force makes me be the one to concede, let someone else think they are the alpha.

I have also been in a situation where I came close to drawing my weapon, the only thing that prevented me was that the person who was engaging me did not present a weapon, if he did, I was ready, not afraid, but prepared to do whatever it took to survive. Many others on here, (or may have been posted on thehighroad, i forget) in response to my report, indicated they would have drawn down on the person even though there was no real threat. Would they have been right? Would they have been experiencing fear?
Who knows? Does it matter? If you have made the conscious decision to arm yourself, then you should already have accepted the consequences.

[JohnH1963]

If a person faces you in a threatening manner, obviously they truly dont really care about yourself or your family. Why would you then care about pulling the trigger?

You should always think of the legal ramifications and make every effort to not brandish and/or fire your weapons. However, if it comes down to it, a man charging at you with a knife or pointing a pistol at you simply doesnt care about you. You should show him the same regard in kind.

[FM12]

Double tap. repeat as needed.

[Phonetic Diabetic]

I wouldn't give it second thought if I felt the need to pull the trigger. If you are a responsible gun owner, you should already know when and when not to draw your weapon. If you've drawn it, you've obviously felt the need to use force. Whether or not the trigger is pulled, as stated previously, is up to the bad guy.

[Don P]

+++1 for spacemanspiff. Right on the money. Again IN MY OPINION.

[Nnobby45]

I have carried for 4 years and I am scared about having to pull the trigger.....but, I am ready and willing in order to protect my life and the lives of my beloved children....better them than me is my mindset...

Robert Boatman (Living With Glocks) points out that if your mind were a car engine, it'd be blowing heads, throwing rods, etc.

Being afraid to pull the trigger might be more of a "before" way of looking at it, rather than "during".

A distinction should also be made between failing to pull the trigger because you're afraid of the court system, and failure because of the "freeze" response during immediate danger, instead of "fight" or "flight".

If I had time to "be afraid to pull the trigger", maybe the "flight" response would be more prudent.

Some of the biggest talkers, and most eager to prove themselves, come away forever diminished in the eyes of their peers after battle.

Some of the easiest going, who never want a fight, perform rather well and are forever admired.

We probably all wonder how we'll do.

[Maui19]

It's the gray areas that worry me. Is someone truly threatening the life of someone, or is he simply menacing? Will a somewhat ambiguous situation escalate or de-escalate. There are a million possible situations where the choices aren't clear.