Thanks, Jaymo. Sometimes there's no substitute for the direct approach.
I've been watching the resurgence of 2A popularity over the past several years. When I started the police thing, there weren't too many folks carrying guns legally. Most, at least here in the Rocky Mountain area's bigger cities, were either businessmen, cops, or friends of the chief and/or mayor. You all know the whys behind all that already, I'm sure. In those days, it was pretty cut-and-dried when you found someone carrying a gun: 99.999% of the time, they were the bad guy, a very dangerous bad guy. So it was off to jail, if they didn't need a trip to the hospital first. And a lot of them needed that ER visit, believe me.
As the 2A movement gained strength and brought back the values of days past, a lot of us were reluctant to embrace the movement. All those years of dealing with the scum of the earth, the cops who went before that were cut down by gunfire much too young (including an academy classmate who was killed December 12, 1986 by an armed robber,) made the idea that an armed public could be an asset rather than a hindrance pretty hard to swallow. But I like to think I travel my own path, that I research these topics and make up my own mind. So, when Colorado made the move to expand concealed carry, I was at least able to understand the reasoning and even encourage people to take control of protecting themselves. I haven't been anything but more encouraged as time has passed. And I'm pleased to say that I don't know a single cop in my general vicinity that doesn't completely embrace RTKBA by a legal, responsible citizenry (that's cop-speak for "citizens, not criminals.")
BUT.
Having seen, up close and very personal, the devastation that happens after the trigger is pulled - the incredibly messy damage that can be done to a body; the trauma suffered by the family and friends of the dead; the devastating psychological trauma suffered by the person who pulls the trigger in a righteous shoot, and the addition of fear and regret in those who killed accidentally; and the coldness, the "dead" look in the eyes of real murderers - I cannot ever wish these things on the worst of enemies, and can NOT ever think of them as anything but the most serious and overwhelming circumstances a person can endure. And yet, if you decide to carry a firearm, you have to understand that all those things are a simple trigger-pull away.
So that's it. If you hear anything from this, I hope it's that all I wish for anyone that chooses to carry a gun is: stay serious about it, and that you never need to use it for anything but making holes in paper. Thanks for reading.
