For many young Americans, their first job is not neces-sarily the one they intend to choose for a life-long career. As a young man in 1968, I had a summer job that consisted of walking a lot and carrying heavy, angerous objects. I’m sure had my mother known what I was doing she would not have appreciated it. Mothers are like that.

One very hot day while out walking, one of the fellows I was with flopped awkwardly to the ground and the sound of wet thumps filled my ears. Immediately the air around us filled with a buzzing and ticking din. Even though we weren’t the brightest light bulbs in the box, we were smart enough to get under our helmets in short order.

To this day, I can vividly remember — as I sat behind a too-small tree — the question passing through my mind like a con-tinuous-loop video: “Why are these guys shooting at me?”

Webster’s defines “why” as: reason, cause or baffling problem.

I’ve seen a video of a Midwestern police officer in court con-fronting the felon who shot her in the neck, causing the officer to be confined to a wheelchair for life. During their day in court the officer’s question to the shooter was a simple one — why?
The officer said that at the time of being confronted by the gunman she had chosen to put her sidearm down. Then she raised her hands in a position to show compliance with the gunman’s wishes. All done in an attempt to de-escalate the situa-tion. Assuming this non-threatening position, the officer was shot in the neck by the gunman.

This is what detectives call a clue.

Why Do You Carry A Gun?

A decision to carry a firearm in the public forum requires a commitment of enormous proportions. After making this decision, a person is often buried under an onslaught of information. Carry this ammo. Don’t modify the gun or you’ll get sued. Buy this hol-ster. Buy this gun. Get this training and do this and do that and don’t do anything but do everything.

When you decide to carry a handgun, you had better con-sider it’s now a tool of your trade. And, just like a plumber, you must be qualified with the tools of your trade. But, unlike a plumber, you must be willing to use those tools to defend your-self and your family.

If you’re not willing to work to be qualified and not willing to use this tool — you should consider leaving the gun at home. And you need to consider whether you should own one at all. It’s not halfway. It’s all the way or nothing. You can’t shoot them “a little bit” to scare them away.

And let’s just say it out loud. If you shoot you’ll get sued. I’m not saying this is bad or this is good, it just is. If you shot Attila the Hun caught in the act of doing what he did best, you would still probably get sued. For many of the students here at the school, their biggest problem is between their ears. They’re so worried about get-ting sued they forget why they carry a firearm in the first place.

Avoid the fight if you can, but if there is a fight then be in it to win. No rules, no quarter, and cheating is the order of the day. Yes, you’ll be sued. So what. You’ll be alive to be sued. Oh, and so you know, if you’re dead you won’t be sued. Or you won’t care.

It’s Not About Glamour or Coolness

It’s about this. If you carry, are you ready and willing to use this handgun to defend yourself?Just as importantly, are you ready to be held responsible for your actions? Always remember— regardless of everything else firearms were and are used for — the one you have on your hip is intended for one thing: Saving a life, and possibly taking the life of another in the process.

Everything other than this, from sporting clays, IDPA, IPSC, bowling pins, bullseye, everything— and I mean everything — is just a game.

Yeah, But Why Me?

While walking through a rice paddy one of the Marines I was with was shot. The Midwestern cop was shot while being submissive, doing what she thought was the right thing at the time. You must ask yourself when, or if, someone confronts you on the street, what will be your response? Will you brain-lock on this fleeting question of “why me?” Or, will you respond with rapid, deadly force to save a life, without wasting time philosophizing?

And, why you? Because you, like me, and maybe to our collective surprise, are simply not exempt from life, and bad things can happen to good people. We may simply be in the way of an idea some miscreant has at a particular moment. But we’re in the way.

Most of all, it’s because the bad guys will do what they do best, and most don’t care who falls in the process. We mean nothing to them, they are predators and set on winning. But, of course, that’s only if we allow them to win.

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