Quote:Given your experience and training, does it not worry you that not everyone carrying a gun will be able to recognize a valid threat and shoot safely without killing innocents?

 

No, the overwhelming majority of us want you to be armed. Despite what you see on TV, most gun owners take the time to learn about justifiable use-of-force situations. If anything, I've found that they don't use it as often even when law would permit the lawful use of the weapon. Anything can happen so your concern isn't completely unfounded, but I can't remember the last time a gun owner created a more dangerous situation. At least not personally. I can, however, recall many times when a robbery or dangerous situation was resolved or ended by a lawful gun owner simply presenting his weapon to the offender.

 

Also, almost all gun-related crimes are committed by those that are in unlawful possession of the gun. It isn't the gun owners we should worry about. 

 

I'd go as far as saying that the court system doesn't punish criminals enough, and you'd see a drastic decrease in murders and robberies if they'd just punish criminals accordingly. Most murderers start with petty crimes like stealing from cars and gradually increase into burglars until they become comfortable enough with killing someone. Stopping them early would influence these statistics. 

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