CCW question: Have you ever had to shoot someone?

[andywhite]

Just curious.

[chris in va]

Hi, I see you're new. There are tons of defense stories on here, just do a search. This is also a very touchy subject and not many people like to post such events on a public forum, but there are some you can browse through.

[Tom2]

American Rifleman has real self defense stories printed in the front of each issue, mostly derived from newspaper accounts. Some people may have to draw their guns but not shoot anyone as the criminal surrenders or runs off just like with police, I suppose. And does selling cartoons online instead of having a deal with some syndicate to print them make you a starving artist

[andywhite]

Thanks for the replies. I'll do the search.

Not starving, not rich.

[Tokamak]

Had to pull it once - clown backed down - police said I was justified to pull the gun, never shot it.

If he had not complied - woulda been a dead clown.

[NCHornet]

I came very close to ending a mans life, it wasn't a pleasant experience. I could only think how bad it would feel if I had to follow through with the trigger pull. These tuff guy types that post things like "I'll send him to hell and won't loose a moments sleep over it" are simply fools talking. If you can take another humans like that easily and it doesn't bother you at all , you need mental help and don't belong carrying a firearm. CC is a very serious responsibility, not to be taken lightly. If we ever had somebody bragging about shooting somebody I hope the moderators would remove it immediatley. Would I take another humans life, YES, if it meant protecting myself, my family, or other innocent people, would I feel good about it and post it on a internet forum, NEVER!!!

[Abstract]

Society's parasites aren't REALLY human beings.

[JR47]

Relax, NC, there's no real need to insult anyone. It's much like combat, the people who most want it rarely react well to it. However, until you actually experience it, nobody knows how they'll react. Some people bluster about it to develop a mind-set that they hope will allow them to perform adequately.

Killing isn't an existential experience. Most of the time, fight or flight is in full effect, and the actual moment can blur. Others have found that the moment holds crystal clarity for them. Research has shown that the mind "fills in" what is missed, and that is why you are cautioned to obtain an attorney PRIOR to making any statements requiring details after a shooting, lethal or not.

What someone feels about taking a life is a personal experience. There is no "common reaction" beyond relief that you are still alive after a defensive situation forces you to act.

Some people literally feel nothing beyond that relief, as far as the deceased is concerned. Their life experience may allow for that, and they aren't latent killers. Others will suffer long and hard over the fact that they took a life. It has nothing, for them, to do with the circumstances, only that they were required to kill.

Because of the stigma that some attach to the act, right or wrong, and the juvenile "real men don't cry" approach that mandates stoic silence on the subject, most people maintain silence. For the most part, the experience gets filed along with every other unpleasant topic, and life goes on.

[andywhite]

Thanks for the responses. I like where the discussion is heading.

I'm reading "The Concealed Handgun Manual" by Chris Bird. It has accounts of those who were forced to defend themselves, including what happens in the procedural aftermath.

[AngusPodgorney]

CCW question: Have you ever had to shoot someone?

Yeah but she needed shootin!

[wolverine350]

I'm with Abstract

[Dennis2]

I concur with NCHORNET. CCW is a serious responsibility reserved for no other options than to protect precious life, not property or wealth, they can be replaced. Always remember, right or wrong, once you pull that trigger you can never take it back or appoligise enough for it in a court of law and to the families, or in your own mind... When the gun goes "BANG", you are responsible for where that bullet ends up... Did that bullet hit a by-stander, go through a wall, kill a child??? Just some food for thought before a Charles Bronson mentality takes over the CCW????

[Dennis2]

I respectfully disagree with JR47's psycobabble, because Iv'e been their and done that in war, up close and personal. It's been over 35 years since I took human life in the name of war and serving my country. Am I sorry I did it? No, I was a soldier serving my beloved country and fighting an unpoplar war for my country. Do I remember everything I did? It haunts me to this day 35 years later, killing another human being. Unless you are evil, have no heart or soul and compassion, it stays with you your whole life even though it is justified... In my humble opinion, right or wrong, justified or not, you just don't end the life of a BG if there is any other option available. Remember, choices in action have ????

[revjen45]

On the couple of times I pulled a gun and thought I might have to shoot I was relieved beyond belief that I didn't have to. I agree that society's parasites have voluntarily chosen to remove themselves from the Human Community, but it has been recognized from the beginning of Civilization that killing another person, even a sub-human predator, wounds the soul of the person who does it.

[JR47]

I respectfully disagree with JR47's psycobabble, because Iv'e been their and done that in war, up close and personal. It's been over 35 years since I took human life in the name of war and serving my country. Am I sorry I did it? No, I was a soldier serving my beloved country and fighting an unpoplar war for my country. Do I remember everything I did? It haunts me to this day 35 years later, killing another human being. Unless you are evil, have no heart or soul and compassion, it stays with you your whole life even though it is justified... In my humble opinion, right or wrong, justified or not, you just don't end the life of a BG if there is any other option available. Remember, choices in action have ????
Dennis2 is offline Report Post

My psychobabble comes from my Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, taught by the Md. EMS system, and the Baltimore Shock Trauma Center. Do you have anything better to offer?

I'm ALSO a combat veteran, with multiple successful engagements in the war. I have no trouble sleeping soundly, nor ever have. I am not without compassion or feelings, as my 35 years of EMS service might seem to prove.

Try this:

Others will suffer long and hard over the fact that they took a life. It has nothing, for them, to do with the circumstances, only that they were required to kill.

That seems to be you. Respectfully disagreeing is one thing, but calling what one posts psychobabble because you don't have the knowledge to understand where it comes from is certainly not respectful. The fact that you're in the less than 10% of people who carry this sort of disability after combat is your business. I would think that professional care would help more than trying to justify your feelings at the expense of others.

[Yankee Doodle]

Yeah. Army. Nam.
Only regret is that I couldn't kill him twice.
That answer you?

[FM12]

Not yet, but its early in the day......

[Socrates]

The situations I've been in have been close quarter combat, with armed, and, very large, bad guys. I did NOT have a choice in the matter. If the guns they had had been pointed at me, then I was resigned to doing the best I could to take them with me, or make them hurt as much as possible, before I died. I was lucky. My training took the fun out of their 'game(s), and, I lived to die another day...

S

[gvf]

Whatever you feelings or opinions about the subject, they are both going out on a public site (or one very easily accesible) as well as being recorded on your computer. If ever in an incident, your words could be used by authorities. Not trying to stifle anyone, just seems good to keep in mind...

[kristop64089]

No, but Came close. The desicision to possibly end someones life is not an easy one.

I have been in a very close call in which I had to draw. For me, to make this desicision , it was a last resort, as should be for anyone carrying CCW.

You don't have to be cold hearted to pull the trigger, especially if you are in defense of yours or, a loved ones life. I have been in combat situations, There is no amount of training that can stop your mind from feeling remorse, or guilt. That is an unfortunate effect of trauma.

If you are truly justified in our actions, and you have to take life, then you should be at peace with yourself. If there is anydoubt in what youare doing, stop!

[coffeekev]

Well, Andy, I've never had to shoot anyone. But now that I know you're on this forum, I'll have to stop stealing your cartoon gags!

Kevin
http://www.coffeespill.com
http://www.cafepress.com/kcconcepts

[andywhite]

Hey, Kevin!

We have to stop meeting like this!