>>what I am saying is that one shouldn’t be fooled into thinking that there is any deterrent in these situations by a lot of people carrying (concealed).
I’m not talking about any deterrent factor. I’m talking about being the one on the scene with a gun instead of just begging for ones’s life. The whole “Wild West” lie is good for the anti-gun left, but the truth is that many of us actually practice with those guns. Many have been in dangerous sitations before and know they can keep their head. The rest might not be serious gunfighters, but any gun at close range is more accurate than you think. No one is talking about engaging at 25 meters! I’m talking about knife range. (BTW, I carry an automatic knife too.)
I’m not saying that those with permits are the ones with a Wild West mentality ... I’m saying that those who are committing crimes, from that off-duty policeman, to the jealous boyfriend, to the shooter at Best Buy who was mad at someone he knew and then a customer across the store got killed, to the guy who shot out the door at Sonic ... and so on ... are bringing the Wild West mentality to the public sphere, even when they ABSOLUTELY KNOW there is a huge number of concealed carry people all around them.
The other day, I saw an “open carry” guy in the next aisle from me, in Walmart. Now, from the way he was standing and where I was at ... if I was a criminal, and inclined to kill this guy, I could have easily done so, without him being able to do a thing. That would be the element of surprise and if I had a Wild West mentality. The fact of the matter is that while you can increase your chances of surviving a bad situation, you simply cannot avoid all situations where you can be killed, no matter whether you are carrying a weapon concealed or not.
So, I would point out that it’s getting WAY MORE DANGEROUS these days, even when people are prepared and they can still easily be killed. Just don’t think you are protected in all situations, because you’re not.
But, as I said earlier, it’s not meant to be something to prevent a person from protecting themselves ... but rather ... be aware that one may be killed anyway, even when they are prepared, and especially in light of many of the criminals carrying their Wild West mentality out in the public.