No longer a subject

Breda experiences the liberation and responsibility of her carry permit for the first time.

“There. It’s official. You are a now free person, no longer a subject.” I looked over at him and started laughing. I felt my world change. It’s a wild feeling – enormous freedom and enormous responsibility all at once.

I am not going to quote Spider-Man, because let’s face it, half of you nerds were thinking it anyway.  But it is appropriate in this instance, because since we choose to arm ourselves in public, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard.

Because I carry concealed, I can’t get road rage.  Because I carry concealed, I can’t allow myself to lose control of my temper.  Because I carry concealed, I can’t allow myself to be provoked into altercations.  I can never, ever, initiate violence against another person unless a reasonable person would believe that I had been in imminent danger of death or grievous bodily harm.

If you carry, you have to hold yourself to the highest standard of personal conduct possible.  An armed society is a polite society, because (most) people who choose to arm themselves legally understand the responsibility inherent in their choice.

7 Comments

  1. An armed society is a polite society, because (most) people who choose to arm themselves legally understand the responsibility inherent in their choice.

    Just to play contrarian for a moment – this may hold in a society where a minority chooses to be armed and understands and accepts the consequences. If you take an entire society and force them to be armed, then you get a lot of stupid death, because a lot of people can’t handle it. A lot like the effect of an honor-bound society, really.

  2. No, I actually agree with that. I don’t believe that people should be compelled to be under arms, because I believe that what makes us armed folk polite is the nature of the people who choose to carry concealed.

  3. And what exactly is the Spiderman quote? (for those of us who, despite our librarian-ness, somehow missed that bit of nerd knowledge)

  4. “With great power comes great responsibility”…

    I’ve only seen Spiderman like 30 or 40 times… (My son digs it. What can I say?)

  5. What Jay said.

    It is quite appropriate for gun owners, because whether or not we like to talk about it, choosing to carry a firearm for personal defense does give you the power to end another human being’s life, which to me brings with it moral obligations that must be heavily weighed before one makes the choice “go out armed”.

  6. The moral ramifications are compelling in and of themselves. But there are also the legal ramifications, which (at least here in the state of Minnesnowta) include the requirement that for a successful claim of self-defense, you must AT ALL TIMES have been a “reluctant participant”. Just flipping someone off because they cut you off (and then precipitating an incident) is more than enough to remove your status as “reluctant”.

    When we are carrying we are required, if not by common sense, then also by law, to be the most polite, understanding, and courteous individual possible. And in a civilized setting, it’s my opinion that this is a good thing that should be practiced all of the time anyway.

  7. Because I carry concealed, I can’t get road rage. …I can’t allow myself to lose control of my temper. …I can’t allow myself to be provoked into altercations. I can never, ever, initiate violence against another person unless a reasonable person would believe that I had been in imminent danger of death or grievous bodily harm.

    I’m with Blackwing1. One should be this way, regardless of carrying. Our behavior should be impeccable, armed or not.

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