Reply #95: You sure seem [View All]

[one-eyed fat man]

to want to have it both ways.

First, you whine concealed carry holders don't have enough training. Then you complain they have too much training and are too ready to shoot.

You can't even correctly frame the dilemma.

First, the 'easy part' is learning to shoot. It is a motor skill, like playing the piano. Good technique and practice and most folks can get passable. Some no better than to play Happy Birthday at a kid's party while an exceptional few are good enough for Carnegie Hall.

The tougher part is the decision to shoot or not. The rules of engagement. You absolutely have to know the law. For the most part, in a self defense situation, the situation is not rife with ambiguity. I suspect if you were accosted by some guy with a knife and he demanded your wallet you would not assume you were in a credit card commercial. Even you might assume a crime is being committed, and not only that you could figure out which one of you was the assailant and which one was the victim. Even you would be unlikely to shoot the wrong person.

Now what are your options, aside from shitting your pants?

You could acquiesce and hope he leaves. You can run and hope he can't catch you. You can resist. Is your decision to resist based on whether or not you have a weapon at hand? Or is your decision based on your judgment that regardless of what you do your assailant intends to cause you life-threatening bodily harm?

If you figure he is going to stab you anyway, what do you have to lose by going for your weapon? If and when you make the decision to shoot, the rest is reflexive.

The will to fight. You make much of the old lady who grabbed Loughner's gun. The old retired colonel who pinned him. Remember it was the 86 year old Holocaust survivor who, at the cost of his life, took ACTION to stop Cho at Va Tech. Many of the victims, in their 20's, young and fit meekly waited their turn to be shot. There's a good question. Why did they not resist when faced with certainty of getting shot?

As for your assessment of ground combat operations, it is apparent your first-hand experience has been limited to watching too many A-team reruns. Maybe you know, do draft dodgers hold reunions in Canada? Or, are you of post-draft age and simply believe military service is for the untermenschen?

The urban fight, in particular, is up-close, in physical contact with the enemy, amidst a population of non-combatants. You want to have a nice nerve-wracking exercise run a building clearing drill force on force with simunitions. Figuring out who is who and engaging all the insurgents while managing to avoid hitting the innocents or each other. Then know that are soldiers who have been doing that, on an almost daily basis, for REAL over three or four combat tours for the past 10 years.

That's the last part of the problem is dealing with the aftermath. Even if there is no question that it was clearly justifiable self-defense the repercussions will be life changing. Any blather from anyone who has not been in a life or death fight and survived is just that.