I know many folks who carry a gun. Unfortunately, I feel the majority of them don't have the proper mindset to use the gun they carry effectively.
I've been asked for advice by older women who even though they'd hunted or otherwise had firearms experience, had never fired a handgun. Nearly 100 percent of them wanted the tiniest, lowest recoil pistol on the shelf. When I tried to explain how difficult it was to shoot such a small handgun effectively, the usual answer was "Oh, I won't need to shoot it, I just want to have it with me".
When I asked how they intended to carry the piece, the universal answer was "Oh, I'll just put it in my purse". Another totally unacceptable plan. Sure, there are 'carry purses' but a small handgun just drifting around amongst the nail files and lip gloss isn't one of the good choices.
It's not just the females. Lots of 'macho guys' don't have a clue nor do they have the mindset to aim and pull the trigger on another human even though they fear for their life. I know a guy whole spent several thousand dollars to attend a big name 'self defense training course'. When he returned home, he told me without reservation that he wasn't at all sure he could use the training he'd just received. Turns out, he's just not of a mindset that allows him to shoot even to save his life.
Very well said. The mindset necessary to fire a weapon defensively, eye to eye, is complicated and has to be
worked out before a firefight.
First, does a person have the resolve to fire a weapon directly into the center of mass of a human fully intending to kill or totally disable the attacker?
Second, the attacker may not be fully identified the split second prior to critical decision time, i.e.
the kill or be killed one tenth of a second. A natural inclination is to
hesitate and make sure you're
not about to shoot your sleep walking relative. Hesitation is deadly.
"Reaction" firing is only achieved through extensive training, forced exposure (combat), or being a "natural".
The mindset needs to be achieved or why bother carrying a weapon, in fact, a hesitant weapon will most certainly get the person holding that weapon killed.
On a dark but positive note the
bad guy will surly pick up a very fine weapon and won't even need to clean it.