Cause I Can

This post brought to you be the following Idiocy.

I'm not one for causes. I don't jump on the petitioning bandwagon, and if the Democratic National Committee would stop sending me e-mail I wouldn't mind. Yet there are several organizations I do think have a point, and an aim that I can agree with. First, is Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, their website is located here. It's circa 1995 GeoCities but it works.

Simply put they believe that students should have the right to keep and bear arms on college campuses, specifically concealed handguns. Those allowed to carry would have had to have a concealed carry permit already, and be in a state that already allows concealed carry. Their thought process is simple. Students on campuses without the ability to protect themselves are sheep. Gunmen know this, and advertising a weapons free campus is at least not deterring violence, if at worst, encouraging it. History shows us that schools are not safe from the threat of violence, so why would we not allow our students and teachers the tools to defend themselves?

Second is the Pink Pistols. A group dedicated to fostering gun ownership and firearm self defense for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered population. They seek to inform, and teach a high risk population. A population all too often targeted for acts of violence.

I just figured I would give them both a nod. Take a look if you like, if not, that's fine too.

My Uncle May Go to Jail....

My uncle Glen may end up in jail for possession of marijuana. Now I usually am against laws that criminalize victimless crimes. Drug possession, without the intent to sell, is as far as I'm concerned a victimless crime. So why do my views differ for this instance?

Because, Glen refuses to stay under the radar. I've spent most of my life trying to stay off the radar, I don't break the law, play loud music, harass cops, and have never been in court with the exception of a college criminal justice course. In fact one of the only things that makes me pause when considering applying for a pistol and/or concealed carry permit is that I would be on file. Just bothers me I could be tracked. As far as I know it's not so much paranoia as a healthy dose of suspicion.

How does this all relate to Glen? If you refuse to play the game the system will find a way to bring you black in line. He has flaunted the system for years, he has upset practically everyone in the family at one point or another, he is a very visible persona. Now, on their own none of this is a bad thing but when you give a very visible persona the ability to concealed carry, and a marijuana card that's just asking for trouble. Legally he can have marijuana, it's for pain control from a bad fracture sustained from a down hill skiing accident. But if your going to have a privilege like that why would you make a point of it? Keep it under wraps, grow your plants, but make sure your shit is air tight. No slip ups, no screw ups, no half measures. He screwed up and the cops knew him by first name and were more then willing to make a point of making his life miserable.

I wish him the best, he is still family, but at the end of the day I hope he cools his heels for a few years and calms down. Oh well, I guess we can all hope.

Tough Question....

I have been thinking about applying for a concealed carry permit for months now. I've more or less decided to go ahead with it and am currently waiting for the funds. However I was talking to a friend of mine this past weekend and she asked me a tough, yet interesting, question.

Could I kill another human being?

If I decide to begin carrying, and I have a need for the weapon could I in fact kill someone. I knew my default reaction was to say "of course" yet I bit my tongue and actually thought about it.

I think I could. I understand that what I train in does enable me to do serious harm to another human being however I know that with my bare hands I can regulate the amount of force applied, do I want to pin, submit, choke? How long do I want to hold a choke? I can make these decisions and regulate the effects better in an unarmed situation.

I also know despite my training I'm not comfortable carrying a knife. I know I would be unable to stab someone if the need arose. So is a gun all that different?

I took a moment and reconsidered my desires for wanting to carry concealed. I want to be able to defend myself should the need arise, I distrust the police and do not wish to be wholly reliant on them for my protection. Lastly, I fear loosing the right without ever exercising it.

I feel I would be able to shoot if the need arose, yet the thought worries me. I plan on training, and hopefully competing to make sure I am as wholly comfortable with my chosen firearm. I plan on seeking out the advice of professionals in both what firearm I carry and how I carry, the holster, the position etc.

I hope all these measures will make me as comfortable and sure of myself as possible.

However, Until I have reached that level of comfort I think I would hesitate to carry concealed 24/7. Yet only time will tell.

So to answer the tough question, I think I could kill in self defense though I hope to never have to find out.