I've been thinking of EDC for some time now. Reasoning?? Just general safety. Safety for my wife. Protect our lives and materials. Do I live in a dangerous neighborhood, bad part of town or live in a city known for sh*t like that... no. But I guess it never hurts to have it because anything can happen

I haven't taken any personal defense classes YET. I would love to. I do however have some questions and they are just based on what I've seen and what I can see happening in the future.

Quick scenario I see happening. Taking nightly walk with wife and dog, guy comes up demands money or just out to kill whatever it may be, with gun pointed at us. Says he'll shoot, I draw on him, shoot and either kill or hurt him. Kick gun away, call cops. Get lawyer before I speak to anyone. **This is where I see things taking a shit and changing my life forever, other then pulling the trigger.**  I go to court as self defense and the judge/jury thinks that my life wasn't in danger enough and I get charged with murder or whatever and I go to jail for X amount or life.

I was told by my father that it takes some serious balls to pull that trigger and 1. change your life forever 2. change that guys life forever and 3 the families of both parties forever.

So I guess what I'm asking is where is that line where my life was really in danger and what I did was correct and no my life wasn't in danger and I acted to viciously.

I kind of think about Zimmerman's case, or just about anyone's case where... who are you to say if I felt my life was in danger. What am I suppose to do, wait until I get shot, my wife gets shot or I get beaten within an inch of my life before I pull my gun and shoot? One persons thoughts and feelings of life are completely different that someone elses..

Can anyone just give me some advice about carrying everyday and that final situation that no one really wants to be involved in. Sorry for the long story.

I carry almost all the time other than when I'm at work (mil= no carry at work).

Realistically, I dont WANT to shoot someone but anytime I have the potential to do so- I am prepared and willing to pull the trigger if necessary. SA is important, imho it's better to see a bad situation and try to get away from it. Assholes gonna asshole sometimes, I avoid situations like that when unarmed but even more so when armed.  Trouble is something I never look for- but how do you think a 'simple' fight would go being armed vs. unarmed?  Unarmed you might catch a beating. If you're armed, and risk being incapacitated it changes the dynamic.  Options range from having your weapon taken, or used on you, or you escalate the situation to a place it never needed to go.  That situation scares me 1000x worse than the criminal wishing to do me harm at some random time.

For a situation you'd actually NEED to have a firearm are the reasons we carry. Someone with a knife, a gun, threatening you harm or robbery. I'm of the mindset that if someone is willing to rob me, they've already made thw decision that they're willing to harm me as well.   Goes right back to being willing... I'd never draw on someone who didn't warrant shooting, so legal issues may be a PITA but as long as you aren't trying to be a ghetto gunfighter it's hard for me to imagine a reason you'd find yourself in hot water for a bad shoot.

Tl;dr= be responsible, be polite, be aware, but be willing to ise the tools you have.

Nothing says "please don't rob or kill me"  like a handgun/rifle in the hands of a citizen.

Post-incident, be able to ARTICULATE, in a few brief, clear sentences, what led to your decision. For example: "That man tried to kill me. He rushed me with a knife. I was unable to escape without increased hazard. You will have my full cooperation as soon as my attorney can join us."

In before "better to be judged by 12..."



If you chose to carry every day, you have the responsibility to go get trained.  Just like when you started driving, you had to do your driver's ed/ written test/ road test.  Why?  Because you need to know the proper way to use your machine.

Your concerns are valid.  Any morally "good" person should feel the weight of responsibility, possibly having to take a life.  But I think once you get some good self defense training it'll lay those fears to rest.  Cowboys who pull their guns over arguments or whatever are the ones who get raked over the coals- if you honestly reached that line in the sand where you thought, "This is it, I'm gonna die here," you'd be absolutely right to pull the trigger.

Don't go looking for trouble and you'll avoid that retard's fate.
Had he simply called the cops and gone home you would never have heard of him.

Get some training at a quality school. Then think on it.

Being tried,or sued civilly for a self defense action is a shit show.
But better than the alternative.

As has been said already, get quality training, and then keep up the training and practice, regularly.
I would also look into insurance, there is a thread in gd regarding best insurance companies.

Read his drama about almost having to shoot a guy today.
NavyDoc1..So I almost shot a guy in the face today

Zimmerman shot an unarmed black man, so that's an entirely different case than what you're talking about. There's race at play in that one.

You're talking about a guy running up on you and pointing a gun at you. That's cut-and-dry self-defense, even the dumbest jury would understand it.

I'm likely in your AO or west of you. If you come out this way, we should talk.

It doesnt much effort to shoot someone who presents a genuine threat to your existence , under 10 lbs in most cases. No balls or machismo required, just a will to live that's greater than your reluctance to kill someone.

Ive never shot anyone, but I stabbed a piece of shit who was assaulting me several times. He nearly bleed to death, but unfortunately he survived the encounter . Zero qualms at the time about stopping the guy from trying to kill me. No Ragrets about leaving him laying on the floor bleeding to death.