That's great, for You! As you stated clearly, you are an ex-cop, I'm sure you have a Tremendous amount of training and real-world experience.
Thank you. It has also been my pleasure to work with a lot of people who were simply citizens, with no military or police background, who had carry permits and wished to upgrade their skills.
More on that below...
In my state, a concealed pistol license, is paperwork. There is no training, or class. It is just a form with an application fee.
In my state, you have to take a class which covers legal and liability aspects, and you have to go to the range and demonstrate that you can shoot with reasonable accuracy and handle your weapon safely.
Sheesh, its hard to take anyone in this thread seriously, I'm not advocating that guns should be restricted at all, merely, that all options should be considered, and that carrying concealed (for me) is a last resort, generally done when I feel there is a direct threat against me, and find it necessary to carry. Just because "something" could happen, doesn't strike me as good enough to walk around crowded streets (imho, in a large city, makes a gun next to useless, compared to other alternative options), armed.
Let's look at that "something" that could happen.
Do you wear a seatbelt? Are you expecting to crash? No? Then why wear one, other than the law... because
if you are in an unexpected crash and don't have one on,
the consequences could be disasterous, no matter how unlikely a crash might seem as you're driving along listening to the radio.
Sometimes the severity of the consequences makes certain precautions worthwhile. Heathcare insurance, for example...you're 22 years old, you said elsewhere. You probably don't need heathcare insurance...but if you get seriously hurt and are hospitalized, you could be in debt for $100,000 if you're uninsured. See my point?
I'm also tired of countless citizens, who feel empowered by guns. When they pull it on a hardened criminal, they're just as likely to get it snatched from there hand. What I'm really getting on about, is the people I've seen with permits, didn't take it as serious as they should have, and with enough thought, might have reconsidered.
As I've said, I've worked with lots of Ordinary Citizens (tm) who were CCW permit holders. Many of them took it all quite seriously and were seeking to upgrade their skills. Some were already first-rate shooters and were looking to get even better.
Frankly,
I think a lot of armed citizens compare favorably with most police officers. A lot of cops I knew were poor gunhandlers; I saw several do some very unsafe things with their sidearms. Most cops I knew were not nearly as keen on shelling out their own money and time for professional training to upgrade their skills, as many of the armed citizens I've associated with. Many cops just seemed to think "well, I've been to the academy, that's good enough." (Um, it's okay but not that great.)
By the way, if just snatching a gun away from someone is so easy, then just snatch it back. :mrgreen: Hint: it
isn't that easy in most cases.
In short, my experience with permit-holding citizens has been
very positive, and at forty-something years old I'm drawing on a pretty large pool of experiences. (one of the few positives about getting older, lol.)
As for referencing getting a gun pulled on me, its happened, my gun, was out of easy reach at the time and concealed. Had I made a move for it, I could have been shot, or someone next to me. In the end, 10 bucks out of my wallet, and the guy walks. Police caught him 15 blocks over. Guns, escalate any situation to life threatening, sometimes its just not worth it.
Again, I refer to awareness and making the right moves to stay ahead of the curve, something I teach in all my SD classes. While not all situations are best solved by gunplay, again, when you need a gun you probably need it bad. There are far worse things than robbers out there, and someone runs afoul of them every day. "Someone" could be "you" some day.
Sure its a right, and your free to exercise it. I just question, whether the average person who chooses to carry concealed, actually needs to. Heh, am I the only person raising the question of the liability (both criminal and civil) that you put yourself in when you carry.
It isn't my business, or your business, to decide for someone whether carrying is a good idea for them and their circumstances. Each person makes that choice. Most of those I know, who went to the bother of the classes and etc getting a CCW, had what they considered adequate reasons. If you pay attention in class when they're covering legal issues and cautions, and apply common sense and act morally, you're not likely to end up in trouble.
Concealed-carry permit holders are, as a subclass of people, far more law-abiding than the general population. There are plenty of stats to prove it, in example:
Concealed carry in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
North Carolina reports only 0.2% of their 263,102 holders had their license revoked in the 10 years since they have adopted the law.[61]
Permit holders are a remarkably law-abiding subclass of the population. Florida, which has issued over 1,408,907 permits in twenty one years, has revoked only 166 for a "crime after licensure involving a firearm," and fewer than 4,500 permits for any reason.[62]
Your concerns about CCW's do not appear to be supported by available data.
Last but not least, this is a free country: you make your choices and you live with the consequences. If you don't feel the need to carry, or don't think it is a good choice for you, then don't carry. I think, though, that you might realize now that you ought to show just a smidge more respect for those who
do choose to exercise that right, since the evidence says that they rarely ever get themselves into the kinds of trouble you're attributing to them.