06-03-2013, 05:52 PM
(06-03-2013, 04:54 PM)crash Wrote: You still got to wonder how tough George would have been without the 9mm..
I also wonder that crash. Alot of my friends as well as my OL and myself have a PTCDW [Permit to carry dangerous weapons is what it is called in Iowa] and most of us do exercise that right on a daily basis. So I feel I have a good grasp on the attitudes/personality's of a person that does carry a firearm. From my experience I have found that the ability to carry a gun does one of two things. 1 it can do as you said, make a person swell up like a puffer fish and walk around like they are 10 feet tall and bullet proof. Or, 2, make a person less likely to engage in a altercation, weather it be verbal or physical. I cant say what person Z is, but if I had to guess it would be the first type. I can however tell you that when it comes to myself it effects me in the type 2 way. Yes I still get in fights and sometimes those fights are when I am armed, but I do everything I can do to prevent those altercations just because I know how fast things can escalate and how ugly things can get.
In Iowa we, by law, have the duty to retreat. It means just what it says. I must take every possible action that I can to prevent me from needing to unholster my firearm. As an example, If my OL and I are strolling down a street and ahead I see a group of thugs harassing people and generally acting like thugs do, I MUST avoid contact with them at all costs. If I am able to cross the street before I reach them and stately walk by, ok I can do that. If not I must turn around and walk away. If they start to chase me I must run. Should I be lucky enough to make it to my car I must leave, even if they are outside the car bashing on it with ball bats. If I cant reach my car or get away, then and only then can I draw and cap their asses. This is a different state and set of laws than Florida with their stand your ground laws.
Why did I explain that you ask. Well one reason is because I know how the type 1 people are in Iowa with the law the way it is here. Now throw the SYG law on top of that ego and I can only imagine how big SOME firearms carriers heads can get.