markj said:
...you can try to avoid confrontations...
Of course you can, and any intelligent person would. But if one could be assured of being 100% effective at avoiding confrontations, no one would have any use for a gun. People have guns for those very rare emergencies they couldn't otherwise avoid. And I guess that since studies show that private citizens successfully use guns defensively several million times a year, such emergencies do occur.
markj said:
...I stated the training I have had, I would not expect anyone else to need this in any normal SD situation....
What's a "normal self defense situation"? How can anyone know that the emergency that will happen to him, if it does, will be a "normal self defense situation"?
markj said:
...Best bet is know the areas and stay out of bad places....
Don't bad things ever happen in good places? Seems to me we've read about violent attacks at churches, local stores, gas stations, restaurants (Luby's Cafeteria, for example).
markj said:
...plenty of places to do my business without having to worry over who is going to try to take my stuff...
Criminals often go to take stuff from places there is lots of good stuff to take. Such places tend to be nice neighborhoods where folks have money and expensive things, nice store that have nice things to take and that have customers who have money and nice things to take.
KLRANGL said:
...If you do get all this training, and still manage to hurt an innocent for some reason, will that training help or hurt in your defense?...
On balance, I think it should help. By getting training you've demonstrated that you're a conscientious citizen who recognizes and appreciates the significant responsibility that comes with having a gun.
Sure, you may have to deal with the claim that with your training you should be held to higher standard and have been able to avoid the bad result. But one possible response would be along the lines of, "But even with training what happened was the best that could have been accomplished under the circumstances."
And as a lawyer, I'd rather deal with attacks on my client because of his training than attacks on him because of his lack of training.