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theotherside · March 19, 2006, 11:21 AM

After reading all of the previous posts, I feel bad for the original poster. He was simply asking a question and everyone jumped down his throat. I thought TFL was made in order to facilitate open discussion. Maybe I'm wrong.

Anyway,

As I was reading I couldn't help but notice how many people talk about carrying in church and have Bible quotes in their posts. Has anyone heard the phrase "He who lives by the sword dies by the sword?" It makes me wonder whether carrying is inviting more violence.

Think about the following example:

You're walking home from the movies with your wife and some punk pulls a knife on you. Your first instinct is to draw your weapon (and probably have your wife call the police). Problem solved right?

Well anyone who knows anything about crime knows at least these two things: 1.) Criminals often don't work alone. 2.) Anything law-abiding citizens can/will do, a criminal can/will do for the wrong reasons and without regard to safety.

If we apply those facts to the example above, the scenario might play out more like this:
You draw your weapon and point it at the knife-wielding punk, thinking he'll surrender his knife or maybe even charge you at which point you'll have no choice but to shoot him. Perfectly legal so far, too. Either way, you weren't aware of his 3 buddies in the car across the street. When they see you draw your weapon, they draw they're illegal sawed-off shotgun and fire at you to protect their friend. Only, instead of killing you, your wife goes down instead. But hey, you didn't get mugged right?

Don't get me wrong, I have a concealed carry permit and carry occasionally. But I feel like a lot of the posters in TFL forums are really over-simplifying real life situations. Everyone talks about pumping some bad guy full of lead should the need arise, but no one ever takes multiple gun-wielding attackers into account or the possibility that carrying may get not you, but someone you love, killed. Giving up a wallet seems a bit more sensible to me than "exercising the right and responsibility to protect my family" and getting someone killed.

When I was younger I was in a fight or two, but managed to talk my way out of many more. When I got my permit, my girlfriend was concerned that carrying a weapon would make me less likely to try to talk my way out of bad situations and I definitely see her point.

As they say, "When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail."

Food for thought.

March 19, 2006, 11:21 AM	#55
theotherside Member Join Date: January 7, 2006 Posts: 20	After reading all of the previous posts, I feel bad for the original poster. He was simply asking a question and everyone jumped down his throat. I thought TFL was made in order to facilitate open discussion. Maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, As I was reading I couldn't help but notice how many people talk about carrying in church and have Bible quotes in their posts. Has anyone heard the phrase "He who lives by the sword dies by the sword?" It makes me wonder whether carrying is inviting more violence. Think about the following example: You're walking home from the movies with your wife and some punk pulls a knife on you. Your first instinct is to draw your weapon (and probably have your wife call the police). Problem solved right? Well anyone who knows anything about crime knows at least these two things: 1.) Criminals often don't work alone. 2.) Anything law-abiding citizens can/will do, a criminal can/will do for the wrong reasons and without regard to safety. If we apply those facts to the example above, the scenario might play out more like this: You draw your weapon and point it at the knife-wielding punk, thinking he'll surrender his knife or maybe even charge you at which point you'll have no choice but to shoot him. Perfectly legal so far, too. Either way, you weren't aware of his 3 buddies in the car across the street. When they see you draw your weapon, they draw they're illegal sawed-off shotgun and fire at you to protect their friend. Only, instead of killing you, your wife goes down instead. But hey, you didn't get mugged right? Don't get me wrong, I have a concealed carry permit and carry occasionally. But I feel like a lot of the posters in TFL forums are really over-simplifying real life situations. Everyone talks about pumping some bad guy full of lead should the need arise, but no one ever takes multiple gun-wielding attackers into account or the possibility that carrying may get not you, but someone you love, killed. Giving up a wallet seems a bit more sensible to me than "exercising the right and responsibility to protect my family" and getting someone killed. When I was younger I was in a fight or two, but managed to talk my way out of many more. When I got my permit, my girlfriend was concerned that carrying a weapon would make me less likely to try to talk my way out of bad situations and I definitely see her point. As they say, "When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail." Food for thought.