While there are many reasons one might get a concealed carry license, most people put self-defense and protecting their loved ones as number one on the list. That is well and good, but there are some people who extend the circle of people they are willing to protect to include just about anyone in their proximity. This may not be in your best interests. It can cause you legal trouble, as well as potentially endanger you and your loved ones.
It is critical that we, as gun owners, keep a cool head if we are ever put into a position where we are tempted to pull out our weapon. We must calmly assess the situation before we decide to act, rather than reacting out of impulse or a misguided sense of our role in the situation.
You have your weapon, but what if you left your wallet at the house, or in the car? Drawing your weapon without having your concealed carry license on you can land you in legal hot water. You have to decide if the circumstances warrant the risk. Similarly, if you are traveling through an area that is anti-gun, even though you have a valid concealed carry license, it is possible that you are arrested and charged with a crime. Hopefully your permit will ultimately keep you out of jail, but do you need that headache?
Having your concealed carry license safely in your wallet, which is in your pocket, do you draw your gun and challenge someone who just robbed the convenience store and is fleeing with a bundle of cash? Would your decision be different if your child, your spouse, or your elderly parent were with you? In the interests of protecting your family and serving the community, perhaps the best course would be to remain calm and get an accurate description of the bad guys and their getaway vehicle rather than risking getting shot, or losing a loved one.
Another consideration of course is what weapons are involved. Will using your weapon diminish the violence, or escalate it? If you are witnessing an attack, what are you carrying and what sort of weapon does the attacker have? Keep in mind that just because you are only seeing someone use their fists doesn’t mean they don’t have a gun under their waistband. After all, you do, along with your concealed carry license in your wallet, of course.
Do you have all the information necessary to make a wise decision about how to act? The person who appears to be a victim may not be entirely innocent. In some cases it may be obvious who the bad apple in the bunch is. At other times, the person who appears to be a victim may really be a criminal getting his comeuppance from a rival or even from an angry family member of one of his victims. How would you feel if you later learned that you shot the father or brother of a rape victim as he was pounding on the perpetrator? Your concealed carry license might protect you in court, and it might not, but it will not heal your heart.
Does that mean you should never be a Good Samaritan and use your weapon to help a person outside of your family or friends? Not necessarily. It is a personal decision, but every time you draw your weapon you expose yourself and anyone with you to a violent reaction from someone else. Exposing loved ones to additional danger never makes it on a list of reasons for getting a concealed carry license.
Getting a concealed carry license can empower you. It is great to have the skills and tools necessary to protect yourself and your family, but don’t let that sense of power overwhelm your mind. Always keep in your head what the primary reason is that you got your concealed carry license in the first place.