- Joined
- Jun 27, 2013
- Messages
- 166
- Reaction score
- 12
- Location
- Eastern USA
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Moderate
In this hypothetical, everyone will carry a gun and everyone will know that the other guy carries a gun. It will have been that way for a long enough time that people in society have adjusted to it, accepted it and take it for granted. Par for the course, status quo etc etc. Even if a person doesn't carry a gun, it will be reasonable to assume that like most others, he/she does carry a gun.
Now, if you and I are on the street having an argument, it might be prudent to pull my gun out first. I reasonable assume that you have one. You are a stranger. I don't want you to pull your gun. I just want to stop arguing. In other words, I got my gun out first, so please calm down.
I'm not out of control. I'm not irrational. I just want this to end peacefully and me getting my gun first is preferable in my mind to you getting your gun first.
But what if it doesn't end peacefully? What if you feel threatened enough by my gun (after all, you don't know my intentions) and you decide to reach for yours?
Seeing you reach for your gun and begin to raise it up to me, I may be justified in shooting you at that point (or would I?) Would you have been justified in reaching for your gun after I reached for mine? (Hell, yes in my opinion.)
Is this a likely scenario? If it's likely, is it likely to be frequent or likely to be rare? If it is unlikely, why? What changes would have to occur to allow us all to carry guns and yet prevent this scenario from happening frequently or even at all?
Some may argue that you shouldn't reach for your gun unless you intend to shoot it. Does that mean that me reaching for my gun --for the purpose of ending the argument before you reached for yours-- was the wrong choice? How many people do you think might make this wrong choice in the heat of an argument with a stranger who we can reasonably assume is carrying a gun?
Now, if you and I are on the street having an argument, it might be prudent to pull my gun out first. I reasonable assume that you have one. You are a stranger. I don't want you to pull your gun. I just want to stop arguing. In other words, I got my gun out first, so please calm down.
I'm not out of control. I'm not irrational. I just want this to end peacefully and me getting my gun first is preferable in my mind to you getting your gun first.
But what if it doesn't end peacefully? What if you feel threatened enough by my gun (after all, you don't know my intentions) and you decide to reach for yours?
Seeing you reach for your gun and begin to raise it up to me, I may be justified in shooting you at that point (or would I?) Would you have been justified in reaching for your gun after I reached for mine? (Hell, yes in my opinion.)
Is this a likely scenario? If it's likely, is it likely to be frequent or likely to be rare? If it is unlikely, why? What changes would have to occur to allow us all to carry guns and yet prevent this scenario from happening frequently or even at all?
Some may argue that you shouldn't reach for your gun unless you intend to shoot it. Does that mean that me reaching for my gun --for the purpose of ending the argument before you reached for yours-- was the wrong choice? How many people do you think might make this wrong choice in the heat of an argument with a stranger who we can reasonably assume is carrying a gun?