I have some family members that recently got their first gun and taken a concealed carry class. They do go to the range often and seem to be making good progress. The problem? An invincible Rambo type attitude. Constant talk of “blowing a bad guy away” or “If I’d have been there…” I try to temper the attitude and explain what it would be like in real life. I never went through that, so I’m concerned. Is this normal for a newbie? Does it go away? I’ve had some gunfight experience close up in the military. I know there’s no glory. I see trouble with the attitude if they act on a bad impulse. Trying to get them to consider aftermath and last resort concepts and lose the vigilante mindset.
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They really need to watch and read the pros-- Kevin McClousky, Massad Ayoub, Jon Correia, and a host of others. They need the realization that their attitudes could/will be used against them should a defense situation occur. Just keep coaching them and sharing articles/videos. Perhaps they should start with USCCA’s “Should I Shoot” book… it will really make them think— JMHO. It also plays into the lefts caricature of Pro-gun folk.
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I tried searching for the USCCA article, maybe someone can help me find it. It was the article that asked where are you on a scale of 1-100 and wanting to be around a 50 with a 1 person just thinking having a gun will be enough to frighten off an intruder, or a 99 or 100 cause that is the Rambo attitude? Would be a good article to print off and have them read, or copy and paste it into an email for them.
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Thanks. I’ll order that today.
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Just keep coaching and doing what your doing. With hopes that they hear you and listen before it’s to late and they get in a oh ■■■■ moment.
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That would be great. Trying to get them on here too. I don’t know how they would really act. Do any of us? It’s probably all talk and bluster. Still, I would hope for some more maturity from one that carries. Also, bullets travel both directions. The talk just bothers me.
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I believe that once they start training and looking at some videos their attitudes will change. It’s just the excitement of it all, carrying a gun. The day I graduated the academy I strapped my Ruger police service six on a shoulder holster and went looking for bad guys. But then again I was 24 years old fresh out of the projects. I learned fast though not to be a hero.
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Awhile back I did Krav Maga training. In level 1 you start to feel invincible, kind of like Rambo. So many new attacks, chokes, etc… In level 2 you learn that for every attack their is a defense, and some of those attacks I love so much are easily redirected and/or blocked and leave you vulnerable to a counter attack. Move onto level 3 and watch enough videos and I had the epiphany that you want to avoid violence at all costs (if possible). My point is that the more people learn the more the probably are going to try to de-escalate, and walk away from an encounter. It just takes time. Good luck.
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Welcome to the family and you are blessed to be here.
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Thanks. Welcome and thanks for your input.
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I think your idea of having them join the forum is a great idea. The messages reinforced here would be helpful to new CC owners. Almost everyone participating in the forum considers their EDC as the last resort only to be used if confrontation is not avoidable and a clear and imminent threat is present.
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I do that a lot when I read or watch the news, but it’s usually followed with “… how could I have avoided it?”
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Here is the post. You can go into the article from the post. It is titled, where does your needle rest?
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@Michael554, I’ve never had to shoot my weapon in combat action but I have had to draw my weapon in the last attempt to prevent myself from getting carjacked. I say last attempt because it was the only thing that I had left. That’s important to keep in mind, I looked for every possible out up until the point I had to draw.
It was not a good feeling having to draw on somebody but after they seen the gun, they ran. Keep talking to them, let them get there hypothetical words out and explain to them life is not hypothetical. We can all watch the news and say we would have done things different. The truth is we have no idea how we will react.
All you can do is just keep talking to him and point them in the right direction. Good luck to you.
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Thank God that perp was smart and ran off. Now I know why my grandma used to say, carry an extra pair of underwear just in case.
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My wife was on the phone with me when it happened. She was freaking out “what’s going on.” Of course I’m a guy that’s always calm. When it was all said and done, I told my wife okay it’s over. She says to me “how could you stay so calm when a person is coming at you with the gun to car jack you?” I said "what’s good is it going to do freak out? "I said "you’ll have plenty of time to freak out after it’s over "
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I think a bit of it maybe the training. In Texas, the STATE course for a resident to get their LTC is very minimal. The bar is set really low.
On the otherhand the USCCA Concealed Carry & Home Defense course can’t over emphasize enough the mechanics behind self defense but more importantly the mind set.
I’ve had students come to class saying the same sort of foolish things during the first class break. By the end of the day that can’t believe where they were and where they are now.
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I agree completely with what Danny28 said. I live in crazy california and prosecutors HAVE used social media posts, texts, journal entries, and conversations as evidence that shootings were premeditated and not self defense. You need to (if necessary) beat it into their skulls that their attitude and what they say where ever they say it can land them in jail if they’re not careful. They should definintely read the book he mentioned (it’s pretty good) but if they’re not into reading then make it clear what will happen if they’re in a situation where they have to defend themselves.
They will likely be arrested and their gun confiscated for testing. They will go to jail and may have to post bond to get out. They will need to either hire an attorney or hopefully have USCCA help them. They will have to take lots of time off work so they can fight and defend themselves and the costs involved will be staggering from loss of pay to normal bills piling up to legal costs that USCCA doesn’t cover, etc. Their every action will be scrutinized and in many cases everyone they know or love will be contacted by investigators. Family and friends might also be drug into court and the impact their shooting has on others is staggering too. There’s a lot they probably haven’t thought about beyond, “blowing a bad guy away”.
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This^^^^^^
I had a talk with my youngest and oldest when they got their carry permits. I started off with “This isn’t just some DAD BS, this is reality, if you shoot someone in self defense you will probably get arrested or at least detained and there will be lawyers involved which you can’t afford. That is just for the criminal side and IF you survive that, there will be a civil suit requiring more lawyers and even if it was technically a “good shoot” you could owe THOUSANDS or MILLIONS if the jury decides against you. A gun is a tool of last resort and if you decide to use it you better be willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING you own and love on that decision.”
I wonder if @MikeBKY might tell us what a self defense law suit would cost in both criminal and civil court in round numbers.
Cheers,
Craig6
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We have some very very expensive attorneys we use at work and personally. We have found that if the potential defendant of a civil suite has no or little money, land, home, assets, they won’t be sued or at least not for much. Our attorney’s argument was always, “What are we going to do, take his bluejeans?”.
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