Totally! Like when you see people who may look different than you too - who knows what they may be up to. Calling 911 sounds great! Or maybe people who are protesting, they may not have a permit - calling 911 there seems like prudent judgment. If you pass by a construction sight there could be dangerous OSHA violations going on - maybe their power tools aren’t properly grounded. 911 for the win! Someone have a broken tail light? 911 - that shit is dangerous. See someone leave a bar and head toward a vehicle, 911. Maybe have that number on speed dial - that could save you like, 2 button pushes hastening your journey to protect us all.
The point at which I shoot another person is when I have a reasonable belief that I am in danger of death or serious harm. This will vary by the situation. It is not possible to make a blanket statement regarding the pointing of guns.
I applaud your first comment. An untrained person with a weapon is only dangerous to herself and innocents.
As for the second, I agree in part. I would kill someone to protect my life or my wife’s. The order of action in my house is (assuming there is time):
*Close and lock the bedroom door.
*Wife starts calling 911 and I announce said fact loudly.
*While she’s doing that, I get my handgun from the closet and load the mag.
*We both hunker down on the side of the bed furthest from the door and wait to see how the situation will resolve. If someone tries the bedroom door, I announce that I have a weapon and that cops are on the way.
If someone forces the door, I have a better-than-even chance of taking him down from my covered position.
Barging into an unknown situation is a recipe for disaster, in one form or another. I feel that the above is a reasonable plan to safeguard our lives, if not our possessions.
The other day I saw a woman give a toddler a french fry at McDonalds. That was 911 for sure. Child neglect or abuse? Not my call. Let the cops sort it out. I 911ed the hell out of a guy the other day 'cause he smelled funny. Maybe it was that marijahooney I hear the young people talking about, maybe it wasn’t. I’m sure the cops sorted it out.
At one point I almost joined the Air Force. At two other points in my life I seriously considered joining the Navy to be an underwater nuclear wrangler.
Even then, I made peace that I might have to drop bombs on poor innocent enemy soldiers just doing their jobs. Or innocent civilians. Or God forbid press the big red button and kill hundred of thousands to maybe even a few million civilians.
Now whose to say I might have become a mental wreck after the fact. But without having to have actually face that choice, I think I am about a certain as one could be about being able to do so without having to actually do so.
And I have shot at somebody worth shooting at.
So, yeah, if I can do those two things, I’m pretty sure I can shot to kill somebody seriously threatening me or some other innocent party.
I, too, am confident that I can avoid particularly stupid “check this out y’all!” and “hold my beer” accidents.
I am less confident about avoiding suicide risks, for myself, my family, and friends. IIRC a sizable fraction of suicides are not necessarily caused by long-term severe mental disorders, and is often an impulsive decision. Having a convenient means of suicide substantially increases the risk of following through with suicidal thoughts. I have had some issues with depression, though no suicidal thoughts ever, but there is a history of more severe mental illness in my family.
I do think the suicide risk is very small, however I also think the risk of being the victim of a crime that could be prevented by having a gun at home is also very small.
Thus, in a crude estimate of coldly statistical terms, I don’t think owning a gun reduces my overall risk.
I too have a similar scenario in my head, but there are so many variables to consider that in the end any course of action may be executed very differently. One thing I know for sure - I am aiming for the center of mass. When one is under stress, unless HIGHLY TRAINED, missing is likely.
Also, the likelihood that I will ever have to defend myself against someone and use a gun is very small. I hope to only use it for target shooting. I’m going next weekend with my son again.
Absolutely. Most plans only work if everything goes accordingly. Our house is very small, with all rooms on one floor. The chances of an intruder getting to us before we can even lock the door are fairly good. The only advantage we have is that an intruder doesn’t know the layout of the house. If we can get the bedroom door locked, the odds go up in my favor. Push come to shove, we could bail out of the bedroom window.
Parts of your plan deleted by me. Though in general it seems to me like a perfectly reasonable and well thought out plan.
But to me one part looks a bit off.
To me, you probably shouldn’t announce loudly you are calling 911 until AFTER you have the gun ready.
Though I admit there could well be a piece of logic I am not seeing (or more likely, weighed calculation of risk of X vs Y where X and Y may not be well defined/knowable).
This. A firearm is like a fire extinguisher. Chances of ever needing it are very slim, but if you need it and don’t have one you’re screwed. I’m with you, I have one (several actually) and I truly hope I’ll never need to use it against another human. However, I’m prepared to do so and I won’t hesitate if I find myself or my family in mortal danger.
It’s just a general plan of action. I’m assuming that while she’s closing and locking the door, I’ll have fumbled the weapon out of its case and loaded it. When she gets a dispatcher on the line, I announce they’ve been called, so the intruder knows a man is in the house. In a fluid situation, who knows what’s going to happen?
See, here’s the thing with your plan: the bad guy with a gun already knows he is going to threaten you with a gun or even shoot you, before he draws his gun. That’s a luxury you don’t have, you have to wait until he presents a threat, and if he is armed, you are dead if you try to outdraw him.
Nah, those things don’t ping my radar like they do yours; just strangers carrying guns in public. Besides, police probably won’t even respond for OSHA violations and the like; but they will for a man with a gun. Too many bad outcomes to risk blowing it off. Sorry if that fries your bacon, but that is the downside of living in a society awash in guns where you can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys until it is too late. Better to be safe than sorry, see something say something and let John Law sort it out.
Get that speed dial ready! Then there’s this from Houston where open carry is now legal:
The city of Dayton expands on this answer, their version is:
Seguin, TXis a slightly different variant of the same response:
Notice a theme? They don’t encourage people to simply call the police every time they see a firearm. Instead, they ask for people to observe and base the judgment whether or not to call on what they see and what is reasonable. Of course, that doesn’t fit with your idea of* “you can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys”.* Several police departments who would be responding to your type of calls disagree with you.
Then again, maybe this question is more in line with your thought process (first link):
If the police can’t tell the difference between a good guy and a bad guy, I certainly can’t. Better let the professionals handle it. See something, say something.