Dangers Concealed Carriers Face
Why does a person choose to carry a gun? The second amendment, comfort, confidence, respect, and security. All of these are some of the reasons I have found all over the internet and from talking with people. There are a lot of dangers that gun owners face. Especially if they are ever involved in a shooting. Carrying a gun will not make you safe if you haven’t trained to use it nor will it make someone respect you.
It may give you added confidence and comfort knowing that you have it. The reason you carry will be short-lived if you are involved in a shooting. Carrying a gun can provide you with a great deal of protection if you are ever attacked. Too many times people end up thinking they can use a gun to end a situation by intimidation.
Only to later realize they broke the law simply by showing someone that they had a gun. The dangers gun owners face start to get even worse if they are involved in a shooting. In order to use a gun legally. You can only take out that gun if your life is in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm.
Anything short of that is a crime in almost every state. Carrying a gun does not make you a cop or fixer. If you pull out your gun during an argument, it is likely you will be facing a jury rather than solving a problem. Training quickly teaches gun owners that they need to recognize and avoid, rather than confront and solve a problem. Here is one of the dangers gun owners face when involved in a gun incident, even when no shots were fired.
What can happen if you are not careful
Recently a woman was leaving a restaurant and accidentally bumped into a 15yr old girl on her way out. After placing her takeout order into her vehicle. The woman was confronted by a mom and two daughters who started to record the event.
They immediately blocked her from getting into her car and started yelling at her. The woman tried to calm the situation but that was never going to happen. Her husband got out of the car, walked around, and opened his wife’s door. This allowed her to get into the car.
He then proceeded to argue with the mom and daughters about their behavior. This only made the situation worse and he inadvertently escalated the situation. The woman rolled down her car window and tried to calm the situation once again. Her husband was then able to make his way back to the car. They decided to just drive away at this point.
Trying to leave
The mom then went to the back of their vehicle as it was backing up. Where she screamed they were about to hit her and she hit the vehicle a couple of times. This caused the couples car sensors to lock up the breaks. They were no longer able to pull forward or backward and leave. Their next actions changed their lives for the foreseeable future.
Feeling threatened they exited the vehicle with their guns drawn. The woman immediately racked her slide, pointed the gun at the mom, and started yelling at her. The husband had his weapon out but never pointed it at anyone at the scene. The couple was later arrested for Felonious assault and both face a 4-year felony.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the mom and daughters posted the video of the incident which led to both parties getting death threats and having to go into hiding. The guns came out to end an argument. They either didn’t know the dangers gun owners face by pulling their weapons or they didn’t know the laws. Had they stayed in the car until the police arrived, that video would have probably never been posted. They would have never have been arrested and they all would have been safe in their homes.
The problem with pulling out your gun
There are many legal dangers gun owners face as well. Most states have what they call brandishing laws that prevent gun owners from even drawing their weapon unless it is a life-threatening situation. The minute you decide you are going to be carrying a gun. There will be a lot of quality training that follows, which will instruct you on when not to pull out your gun.
Notice I didn’t say when to pull out your gun. Carrying a gun will never give you the right to stop an argument, prevent an action short of great bodily harm, or theft. You cannot defend possessions, only people, even then it has to be life-threatening. Every quality trainer will teach you how to avoid situations rather than confront them.
Training is crucial
They explain situational awareness and why you need to use it. They will also explain the legal aspects and dangers if they are involved in a shooting. Gun owners are held to a much higher standard than any other citizens. Short of great bodily harm or imminent death, you can not pull out a weapon to defend yourself.
Your rights can and will be taken away if you don’t know your local laws and how they are being applied. When you look them up, also look up local cases. Check out cases that failed when trying to use specific laws for defense and ones that succeeded. Just because you are in the right, doesn’t mean you will be cleared. Self-defense cases take months before they are declared justified.
Even when you are justified
A preacher in Texas was walking outside his church when he saw a man and women dragging a fridge to the church dumpster. He asked them to stop, so they left. The couple then returned with 3 other people and proceeded to attack and beat the preacher. The preacher pulled his gun and they backed away.
He was then able to call 911. The police arrived and heard the story given by the attackers. The preacher was arrested, taken to jail, and charged with brandishing a weapon. He was later released, and an arrest warrant was issued against the attackers. In the end, he was justified in his actions but not before occurring legal fees for his actions.
If he would have picked up a baseball bat, or even a knife, it is unlikely his attackers would have backed away. It would be even less likely that he would have been arrested if they did. The dangers gun owners face, do not only apply to the person being shot. In this case, this man had followed the laws his whole life. He was not forced to shoot to save his life.
Never assume that is what is going to happen with you. In the first case, the mother continued her yelling even after the gun was pointed in her face. The gun did not stop her actions. Carrying a gun is never going to solve arguments or intimidate a killer.
WHAT TO DO
I am not trying to discourage people from carrying a gun by any means. I am simply pointing out the dangers of what could happen. If you think a gun is going to stop a bully or that it is cool to show off. You may quickly find yourself under arrest. There is a real need to carry a weapon, however, you need to realize it is only one tool that you may need.
Before I even purchased a gun I had already became a member of USCCA. They cover your legal and civil expenses in case you are ever in a situation and find yourself arrested. They also provide you with lawyers in your area if you don’t already have one, and they offer lots of training. A split-second decision could cause you to lose everything. If you are involved in a shootings there some things you need to always remember afterward.
- Be the first to call 911, once you are safe. Inform the operator you were in a life-threatening situation and forced to defend yourself. You need the police and ambulance at this location.
- When Police arrive on the scene, make sure your weapon is holstered and follow all their instructions. There will be plenty of time to plead your case, do not waste this time trying to do it at the scene. It takes months and sometimes years for these cases to go to trial.
- Point out all the witnesses and evidence at the scene. If anyone recorded the incident make sure you point them out to the police. If the attacker got away, let them know what direction, what they were wearing, any distinct features, and how they left(on foot, car, truck, etc)
- Request medical attention if needed
- Let the police know you plan to cooperate fully but that you need to speak with your attorney first.
The confusion
The purpose of all this is because you will likely not be thinking clearly after your involved in a shooting. You will need time to get everything straight in your head. If you start giving out too many details, you may remember things differently later.
This will be used against you. You may also hear people saying things that didn’t happen or you just don’t remember happening. Again this is why you want to go over everything with an attorney first. Don’t correct them just listen, and let your attorney know.
Your mind when involved in a shooting
When you are in a high-stress situation, your mind cuts off the unimportant parts. You go into a fight of flight response. Your thinking is extremely limited and focused on whats going on around you. Many people have experience tunnel vision, hearing loss, seeing things that didn’t happen, slowed time, memory loss, and more.
Just because you feel fine at the moment, your brain will need time to return to normal. This can take anywhere from hours to days, to weeks. Depending on how your mind perceived the stress. Remember you were involved in a shooting. You are not in your normal state of mind. Being involved in a shooting is a very high-stress situation and you will have side-effects.
Know your local laws
It is crucial that you know the laws in your state before starting to carry a weapon. If you took a training class and they did not cover the laws that could get you in trouble. You will need to seek them out on your own. Not all states require good training before you start to carry, just like not all trainers cover the legal aspects.
Many of the laws on the books use the term rebuttable in them. Gun laws like “stand your ground” and the “castle doctrine” are there to protect you. Check to see if your state has these laws and how they have been applied. I was originally instructed that it was okay to shoot if someone was in my home illegally.
It wasn’t until later that I was reading a statement put out by one of the prosecutors in our state. The prosecutor stated that just because someone is in your home does not give you the right to shoot them. He stated that they have to be there to do great bodily harm, or to cause death.
No criminal in the world is going to admit they broke in your house to kill you if they failed. Concealed Carry Magazine put it best when thinking of the two laws above.
1. You must be someplace that you should be.
2. You weren’t doing anything wrong
3. You didn’t start it.
4. You did not escalate it.
5. You had no way to reasonably get out of the situation.
6. There was no other way for you to prevent death or great bodily harm.
Conclusion
Many people who are carrying guns have found themselves starting out with great intentions and later lost everything trying to defend themselves in court. A split-second decision can take you from living a good life with your family to a bad life in an orange jumpsuit with a brand new number stamped on it. Many of the dangers gun owners face can be avoided.
Carrying a gun comes with a lot of responsibility. There are many dangers gun owners face. Being involved in a shooting in only one danger we face. Knowing how to avoid other situations is our responsibility.
If you can’t avoid them, you will likely end up in court. We have all the responsibility and none of the leniency. Even if someone bumped you and you accidentally shot someone, you are liable. No excuse works when a gun is involved.
Thank you for reading, and I hoped I shared something valuable with you. Remember to always check back at RGD Reviews for new information, it is updated weekly.
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