The Decision to Be an Armed Citizen – Part 3

The Mental Side of Being an Armed Citizen:

And NO – I am not referring to anything even hinting of those of us who carry having mental illness, being a mental defective, or any such nonsense. In fact, all of the gun owners and CCW permit holders I know are at the top of the list of the most mentally and emotionally stable people I know. Having acute awareness and mental abilities is a key factor in the persona who carries a concealed weapon. Mindset is an important ingredient in self defense, and being mentally prepared for the worst is a part of my strategy. Thinking about the various scenarios and knowing what actions I will take is one of my most valuable weapons.

In this segment, I would like to focus one of the most valuable self defense weapons available – the human mind. And while I am by no means a psychologist or expert of emotional well being in any way (I am a computer geek, after all), I do know that being aware, mentally prepared, and decisive in action is a key ingredient to survival.


Situational and Environmental Awareness:

In all honesty, I feel that a significant part of our society is made up of unaware, self consumed individuals. For example, I ride a motorcycle – and I can’t begin to tell you the number of times I have been cutoff and almost hit by people on their cell phones or engaging in other activities while driving which distracts them to the point that they can’t even pay attention to what is going on around them. These people can’t stop for simple stop-signs, and even by one woman I observed was eating a bowl of cereal (I’m not kidding) while driving her minivan. Some people seem to always be on their phones, and the funny thing is, they don’t really seem to be talking about anything earth shattering.

Then there are just those who seem to be looking at their shoes all the time, or are obviously in another place while they are out and about. I have a name for these people: they are simply the “unaware” of our society. Unfortunately, the criminal element is aware of these people as well, and they have their own name for them: “Victim!”

In my refusal to be a victim or to allow myself to be caught unaware by some piece of street scum who is looking for his next victim, I am chosen instead to be aware of what’s going on around me. I wish I could offer some advice on how to train yourself to do this, because for me it just comes naturally. I was in the Navy, and spent a great deal of my time on the flight deck, and working around aircraft. Our saying was: “Keep your head on a swivel.” To this day, I find myself being aware of everything around me. I was fortunate; this is part of the incidental training that I received due to my profession. For those of you who need some training in this arena, I suggest you read “How to Win a Gunfight: Gaining the Half-Second Advantage” by Tony Walker (ISBN 0-7414-4341-4. This wonderful book is full of insights on how to become more aware, and how to practice some of the other elements of self defense.


Stress Relief and Physical Fitness:

I read somewhere that anger has no place in the life of someone who carries a concealed weapon. That really struck me as profound. One of the wildest stereotypes that the anti-gun people have of us is that we will get angry and go on a wild shooting rampage. Well for one thing, multitudes of studies have shown that the “wild west” and “road rage” aspects of regular citizens carrying concealed weapons has never come to pass. In fact, the more articles I read, the more I am convinced of something I already believed; law abiding citizens who carry weapons tend to be more polite and avoiding of situations that would illicit an armed response. If someone is unhappy with me, I simply nod and walk away. They may call me names, and they may insult me. But that is just something that I have learned to live with over the years. Getting into any type of altercation, armed or not, has just never been worth the outcomes.

So what does one do to get rid of the stress and anger? We all get angry, we all get stressed. And in the case of having to walk away from a situation, it is likely that pride and dignity will suffer to some extent. For me, physical fitness plays an important part of that stress relief. I’m not a spring chicken any more, so going to the gym regularly helps to relieve stress, but it also helps to add longevity and quality to life. In fact, one of the other aspects of self defense is agility, stamina, and the ability to gain (as Tony Walker puts it) that “half-second advantage.” An hour in the gym and I feel totally different and recharged.

But since I’m mentioning stress relief, there is another technique that my wife and I use for stress relief: going to the range! And no, I’m not talking about taking along effigies of our most hated co-worker or anything like that. We participate in a weekly shooting league at our favorite indoor pistol range. Each week, the targets are varied, the distances of the targets are varied, and the scoring is varied. For about an hour a week, we go to the range, the shooting scenario unknown to us until we arrive, and we spend that time concentrating on those targets and getting the best score that we can. During that time, we are thinking of nothing else! All thoughts of our hectic work day have literally vanished, and we are all consumed in having fun at the range. We share ideas on shooting techniques, we meet new people, and we enjoy talking with the proprietors on the gun shop. This relates to physical fitness also because we are practicing new and varied ways to shoot, different types of targets, and shooting at different ranges. In other words, we are getting a frequently changing look at the dynamic of shooting and practicing with our weapons. We go home and talk about the evening at the range and just enjoy the fact that we have yet another activity that we enjoy doing together. Having that aspect of my life in solidly good shape allows me personally to put everything else into place as well.


Thoughts While Out and About:

So what am I thinking about while out there running my daily errands? Mostly on my minds is how to be as completely invisible as possible. I want to be the person that no one notices. So to that end, I don’t go out of my way to attract attention, and I certainly don’t go out of my way to give any clue that I am carrying a weapon. What this means is that I am careful about how I get out of my car, lest my firearm be exposed, and I am aware of what other types of people are in the area. For example, if a mother and her young children are in the area, I especially don’t want the youngsters seeing my gun. I know that some people are afraid of guns, no matter how much we have proven that there is nothing to be afraid of, and I don’t want anyone needlessly feeling afraid or uneasy around me. So for those reasons alone, I am very cognizant of making sure that my concealed weapon is just that: concealed!

A very important part of my thought process is in knowing where I can or cannot go if I am carrying a firearm. I know that some establishments don’t care either way, while still others adamantly refuse entrance to holders of valid CCW permits if they have weapons. So essentially, I do the best I can to know who has what policy, and to respect their wishes. But I will say this about the establishments who refuse to allow law abiding citizens to carry their concealed weapons into their businesses: I won’t give them my business period. But it’s not because I think they possess some liberal, anti-gun mind-set. It is specifically because they have made the statement that I am not welcome to use my chosen method of self defense while on their premises. If I or my family were to be in one of these types of places, and an armed gunman appears, they are disallowing me the means to defend myself. They have no intention of providing for my protection while I am there, however, as seen by the lack of armed guards in any of these places. Additionally, my state law makers have made it clear to me that I cannot hold them legally liable for damages, death, or injury if I or my family is harmed in their “gun free” zone.

Constantly on my mind when I am out and about is an awareness of other people, particularly who are the “good guys” and who are the “bad guys.” I try not to be judgmental, but let’s face it: you can just tell sometimes, who are the average citizens walking around, and who the lower forms of human existence are. Going to the mall, for example, it is painfully obvious who the vultures are because you can see them sizing up everyone, following people around, and in general looking like they have no purpose in life other than to find their next victim. This is the same behavior seen on nature channels when the jackals are sizing up their next meal. The baggy pants, the hat cocked sideways, the less than understandable grammar. It is obvious they aren’t there to do their shopping and leave – they just seem to be there perpetually as if that is their place of employment. Well, perhaps it is. I’m suspicious of everyone, and I spend a lot of time observing people. Unless you are completely unaware of your surroundings, you kind of have an idea who you can (mostly) ignore, and who you need to keep your eye on. Being aware is to be prepared, and being prepared means you are watching them more closely than the rest. The best thing I try to do is just avoid the places where these maggots seem to congregate the most, but sometimes what you need is at the place where the vultures hang out: The shopping mall and Wal-Mart seem to be the two most likely places where the dregs of society can be found here in my small town.


Wrapping it all up:

As you can see throughout this article series, I have tried to illustrate that I do indeed consider being an armed citizen to be a serious and awesome responsibility. These aren’t the ravings of some “gun nut” who just wants to be able to carry his “toys” everywhere. This is the mindset of a free man who values his and his family’s safety above all else. Self defense is a basic human right. I owe it to my family to live a long life and provide for their well being and safety. This is my responsibility, not that of the government. I don’t want to rely on anyone else to carry out those responsibilities which are mine alone, but at the same time I don’t want anyone thinking that they have the right to take my abilities to perform my responsibilities away from me. The founders of our country made it clear that we were endowed these rights by our Creator, and that idea is still valid today. Technologies have changed, and the population of criminals has increased from their day, but what was spoken then is still valid now. My right to defend myself and my family is absolutely and unequivocally non-negotiable!

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