Your point was not clear Mike,,,
Else I would not have asked for clarification.
However I do see your point now that it has been explained.
Where did you get the idea that I
intend to get into a gun fight in a crowded environment
I'm not the friggin Lone Ranger or Tonto,,,
I carry to protect me and mine,,,
Not other people.
Let them get a gun and protect themselves.
I got into a discussion last week with a gentleman,,,
We were on this exact topic you are referring to.
It was about a man who shot in self defense,,,
He put bullets in a house across the street.
I took the stance that it was a bad thing to do,,,
Putting innocents in harms way for my benefit or safety.
If a guy is in his house/apartment and empties a 30 round magazine at a bad guy,,,
And 28 of those rounds end up in my or my kids bedroom,,,
I am going to take very strong issue with his decision,,,
His life is not inherently more valuable than my kid.
Prudent use of a firearm for defense is a right I will grant anyone,,,
Haphazard use of that firearm is something I can't abide by,,,
Collateral damage is something that must be considered.
I'm not talking about legal consequences of the act,,,
I'm talking about the morality of the act.
If I successfully defend my life but later found out I took someone else's life with a stray bullet, I'm not sure what I would do,,,
Yes my life has extreme value to me and anyone who tries to take it will be met with extreme violence,,,
But I do not believe I (or anyone else) has the right to blindly wreak havoc with impunity,,,
I would place the blame on the bad guy for starting the thing in the first place,,,
But the fact would remain that I traded an innocent's life for mine.
I do not have the wisdom to dissect this argument down to it's core,,,
But I must state that we as humans must be responsible for every bullet that leaves our gun.
We can not abrogate (arrogate?) ourselves from the responsibility of collateral damage.
"Hey man, I'm so very sorry your wife/kid/parent was killed in the gunfight,,,
I was defending my life!"
Would you accept that apology from someone?
Can you imagine standing in front of a parent and delivering that apology over the grave of their child?
To heck with the legality of your actions,,,
Could you live with yourself after that?
There were a lot of people in that semi-heated thread and most were dancing around the issue,,,
I was amazed at how many others simply talked about who was to blame,,,
They all (for the most part) kept stating it was the bad guy's fault.
They had lost the point that innocent people were endangered by bullets from the good guy's gun.
So I do see your point that it would be wonderful if everyone received combat training with their weapons,,,
It would be a wonderful thing to know that every gun toting citizen had discussed these scenarios,,,
But you and I both know that this should not be a state/nation mandated requirement,,,
It is an opportunity for ~
backdoor gun control~ at it's most blatant.
On a personal level:
I never used the
critical incident sheepdog line
you accused me of doing,,,
I have never denigrated you or any post you have ever made here,,,
I would appreciate that same courtesy from you.
.