Carry a gun for self defense? You have a moral and ethical obligation to train

(Public Domain image by:Franz Golhen)

A little after 9AM on a typical New York summer morning, gunfire rang out near the Empire State Building. 2 people lay dead, 9 others were injured, 3 of those 9 were seriously injured. Sound familiar? This story played out in 2012 when a gunman who had been recently laid off from his job, shot a former coworker in the head and then fired 4 more rounds into the dying mans body as he lay on the ground, killing him. A witness to the crime alerted police who drew their weapons on the gunman. The gunman responded by raising his weapon towards the police officers who responded by firing enough rounds to kill the gunman and hit 9 other bystanders in the process. Of the 9 bystanders shot by police, 3 were hit directly while the remaining 6 were hit with ricochets and bullet fragments. Though no bystanders were killed and the police officers were not held liable, lives were permanently altered that day. 

You as a concealed carry license holder will not have the immunity and protection that the negligent NYPD officers enjoyed in the above story. If you are ever in the unfortunate situation to have to use your firearm in self defense there are several things you can go ahead and assume to be true:

1. You will already be behind the 8-ball in that the assailant will have the initiative and element of surprise on their side.
2. You will be behind in the OODA (Observe Orient, Decide, Act) Loop when compared to your assailant. In other words, his mind will already be in the fight, you will have to catch up. Note: If you do not know what the OODA Loop is...time to get some training but until then, feel free to check out Wikipedia.
3. It's very possible you will be outgunned. Think about it, you likely made comfort a big consideration when picking your concealed carry weapon; however, if you knew you were going to have to use your gun (as your assailant will) you would probably have chosen something different.
4. You will not pick the location of the fight.
5. The assailant will not care about hitting bystanders with his/her rounds, you had better.
6. If you hit a bystander, you can expect to be criminally charged and/or at the very least held civilly liable. Most likely both.

You will react, not think, and may be suffering from auditory exclusion, tunnel vision, time slowing down or speeding up, diminished fine motor skills, diminished cognitive thought process (reasoning, and problem solving skills), body shakes, feel light headed, and all kinds of other wonderful physical reactions that occurs when the body experiences a massive adrenaline dump. In other words, you may be at a significant physical and psychological disadvantage.

As a result of all of the above you will default towards your training. Wait...you have trained right?

So this brings me to the point of this blog post, you have a moral and ethical obligation to train. Simply put, you owe it to those around you of course, but you also owe it to yourself and your family.  

Before we go further, let's define “moral.” According to Merriam-Webster, moral is something “considered right and good by most people...agreeing with a standard of right behavior.” We need to pay attention to something special about this definition and that is the words “most people.” In criminal justice most cases viewed from a “reasonableness” standard, meaning that the key stakeholders involved (judge, jury, investigator, prosecutor) feel that a defendant's actions were “reasonable” under the circumstances in which those actions occurred. Even if you feel no “moral” obligation, it is not your opinion that really matters, it is the opinion of what is reasonable to “most people,” who weren't there, who didn't face what you faced, and who otherwise have no interest in your well being or opinion.

Second there is the definition of “ethical” which Merriam-Webster define as “conforming to accepted standards of conduct.” Again, you may disagree with the accepted standard assuming you can even find a standard written down or otherwise articulated (it may not be), but when the “moral” comes into play, specifically the “most people” portion of the definition, then the reality of the situation is it will what those people consider “reasonable” may very likely determine your fate and between you and me, I think that's an uncomfortable place to be. Everyone knows how easy it is to Monday morning quarterback a given situation when it's not our butt on the line, so don't expect a lot of understanding and empathy from uninterested 3rd parties who are given the task of determining the “reasonableness” of your actions.

Finally Merriam-Webster has two fitting definitions for “obligation” and they are “something that you must do because of a law, rule, promise...” and “something that you must do because it is morally right.” In this case both definitions fit. The rule of “law” will bite you in the butt if you accidentally shoot an innocent bystander in a use of force situation. Again that may be civil and/or criminal in nature, but rest assured it will happen. The second part fits because when you shoot someone, assuming they even live, you can expect one or more incredibly invasive medical procedures (such as surgery), heartache and worry from their family, medical bills galore, pain, possible loss of a limb or bodily function, rehabilitation time, and in all probability serious psychological damage from living through an extremely traumatic experience. God forbid they actually die either from the gunshot or complications resulting from the gunshot later down the road. In other words, the bullet that leaves your gun has the potential to ruin a life, even if the person who is hit survives.

We've all heard the cliché' “you own every bullet that comes out of your gun.” The fact is, you do. Even though the NYPD officers in the above scenario did not have to face any kind of civil or criminal penalties, they will still carry the pain and suffering of every one of their victims with them for the rest of their lives. They will still be viewed as the guys who “sprayed and prayed” rounds all over downtown New York City in the eyes of their management and peers. In other words, they didn't get off without injury to themselves and neither will you, no matter how things turn out.

So do the right thing, if you carry a gun that may be potentially used in a deadly force scenario, seek professional training and practice, practice, practice. When someone is pointing a gun at you and possibly shooting in your direction, that is not the time to try and figure out what to do and/or discover that you lack the skills necessary for the situation. Assuming you even live through the experience, you may potentially alter forever the lives of those around you, the lives of those in your family who depend upon you, and of course your own life.

Update 3/31/15: The author is not a lawyer, nor does he play one in the bar to pick up chicks.  The above post is not, nor is it intended to be interpreted as "legal advice."  If you wish to get legal advice, hire a lawyer and stop browsing the web.  ;)