The Seven Secrets Of Concealed Carry - Secret Number Seven

Only Draw Your Gun When Not Drawing It Would Be Worse.

There's a healthy and robust debate in the firearms community right now over the role of the armed citizen in society, specifically when it comes to intervening in events where we are not the target of the bad guy. Do you get involved in a store robbery if you're not the one being robbed? Do you draw in response to an active shooter? What happens when your home is being robbed, but the robbers aren't threatening you with lethal force? To be honest, I don't have a "one size fits all" answer for each those questions, because the actual circumstances we may be facing can vary widely, and since a violent encounter is by its very nature a chaos situation, where things are changing by the second (if not microsecond), having a set response to an unsure situation is a recipe for disaster. I look to the reasons why I decided to carry for guidance here. I'm not a "sheepdog", a phrase that has become popular to describe the role of armed civilians in today's world, because a) a sheepdog is not part of the flock and b) a sheepdog has the shepherd's best interests in mind, not the flock's. To stretch the metaphor to the breaking point, I am, at best, a ram that has horns and knows when and how to use them. My reasons for carrying aren't to protect "society" as a whole, they're to protect my loved ones and myself, period, full stop. That means that my priorities in a bad situation are going to be the safety of my family and myself first, and then, if they are safe, the safety of others. Maybe. Depending on the situation. As always, I'm not a lawyer, and neither are my coworkers, so please, don't take what I'm saying as legal advice. Why We Carry We don't carry a gun to make others feel intimidated or to save the world, we carry a gun for that horrible day when using your gun would be worse than NOT using it. What will the circumstances be when that day comes? No one can tell, but having awareness of your surroundings and a defensive firearm with you gives you many more opportunities to NOT be a victim and come out on-top than if you are unaware and unarmed. That's what carrying a CCW gun will give you: A way to survive the worst day of your life. Secret #6: Concealed Means Concealed. Unless it's not. Secret #5: Learn To Defend Yourself Without A Gun Secret #4: Become A Peacemaker Without Ego Secret #3: Know How to Operate Your Defensive Firearm and Train With It Regularly Secret #2: Don't Make A Lifetime Commitment To The First Gun You Carry Secret #1: Make the Commitment to Carry Whenever and Wherever You Can