Safety

cmcdar wrote:
Many folks here have cited that they are armed in case of a situation like Orlando, or San Diego.

Well there is a REAL LIFE incident that happened in July 2016 in Dallas, Texas.

A Peaceful protest was taking place and there were 100 armed Police officers there to make sure it stayed peaceful.

Also in attendence were 20 to 30 marchers who were promoting Open Carry they all had AR-15 assult rifles.

So, by my count 100 armed police and 30 AR-15s equals 130 (at least) armed "Good Guys".

One gunman opened fire and NONE of the "Good Guys" could stop the guy. NONE.

The police finally had to send in a bomb to blow the sucker up.

Good Guy with a gun RARELY turns out well.

It is most likely much safer to remove yourself from situations that you perceive to be dangerous.

OP - Why on earth would you want to take yourself and family into a situation that you percieved to be so dangerous that you needed to arm yourself?

Wow... I'm trying to stay out of this, but you are taking one EXTREME situation way out of context. Nobody has ever said that a good guy with a gun WILL stop a shooter, just that a good guy with a gun CAN stop a shooter.

This circumstance was a crazed lunatic, intent on murdering police officers and dying in the process. It is impossible to stop a homicidal person who is also suicidal.

I will never criticize someone who chooses not to carry a handgun. A lot of you bring up very legitimate points. Taking a human's life is a devastating decision for the majority of the population. I'm not sure how many people on this forum can relate to that, but anyone who ENJOYS taking a human life has some issues. It requires a lot of training and knowledge of the law to adequately and appropriately respond with deadly force. It requires a lot of courage to stay in, or run too, a firefight. The normal human reaction is to flee from such things, appropriately so.

However, it is PROVEN that "gun free zones" and strict gun control laws do nothing to stem gun violence. All those laws do is stymie law abiding citizens from being able to protect themselves or others. A murdered doesn't really care about an additional 5 years in jail for gun law violations... they are MURDERING for goodness sake! Washington DC and Chicago IL have some of the strictest gun laws in the United States... hard to argue that the citizens there are safer for it. It is virtually impossible to get a concealed carry license in Maryland or California, yet in 2015 Maryland had 708 gun deaths and California had 3,095 gun deaths.

Look at the mass shootings in our recent history. Elementary school... gun free zone. Movie theater... gun free zone. Military bases... gun free zones. High school... gun free zone. Dance clubs/bars... gun free zones.

It is pretty obvious that lunatics hellbent on destruction and devastation are generally picking soft targets with lots of potential victims. Its much easier to engage in a mass shooting if you are the only person with a gun. All of those incidents that I listed above were ended when good guys with guns (police) showed up and responded with force. Without the police, who knows how the events would have ended and how many more people would be injured and killed.

The benefit of a nationwide system of concealed carry is widespread. Concealed carry wouldn't show a potential shooter who is armed, but he would have to worry about the potential for running into armed resistance. It won't stop ALL shootings, but it would certainly tip the scales back in the favor of a law abiding populace.