10 Commandments of Concealed Carry

[xl_target]

I don't believe that this has been posted before but its an interesting read. People who carry regularly might already be familiar with the concepts in this article.

10 Commandments of Concealed Carry
Written by Massad Ayoob

http://www.tactical-life.com/online/exc ... ment-63697

[timmy]

I agree that there is a lot of good information in this article -- information that one should take into serious consideration before carrying a weapon as a means of protection. I differ with him on some very small points that are not really worthy of mention, but that is beside the point I want to make here.

I've read a number of articles by Massad Ayoob, and there's no doubt that the guy is an expert. He's been there, and done that, as they say, and one would be hard pressed to find an individual who has more authority. (Equal authority, sure, but more? There can't be very many!)

But there are two things I would caution about, regarding reading this. Both are related to the notion that one can read some or many of these sorts of articles and become prepared to use a weapon by doing so. There are a couple of problems I see in this idea:

First of all, Ayoob is a pro -- an expert -- and he's used to carrying a gun and working with others who are also professionals. That's his perspective. He knows what he's going to do if he gets into a situation where using a gun might or will be necessary. He also works with others who have the same outlook.

An equivalent for us is that we might be used to working in a shop with a machine tool, or a calculator, or dealing with customers -- whatever our vocation is, we are used to that. We will never be as practiced or as used to doing what Ayoob has done -- we should recognize that and think about how it applies to ourselves before we figure that reading this kind of stuff has given us adequate preparation (along with practice at the range, of course). It is not the whole story.

For instance, I know lots of folks who, when they went hunting for the first time, got the shakes when they laid a bead on the game -- and then either missed badly or couldn't even pull the trigger. This is not that uncommon!!! For myself, this did not happen. However, my point IS NOT that I am some sort of more macho man because it didn't happen to me -- my point is that, having gone through such an experience, I know something about myself that I could not have known, had I not had that experience.

Similarly, I know what it is like to have someone point the muzzle of a 380 automatic in my face from about 3 feet away. I froze -- solid! And, I refused to move until this rent-a-cop at an amusement park put away his "toy." I don't know if I had any urge to fill my pants or not, but looking back on this, I can understand how it could happen.

Finally, I've been in a situation where I was "that close" to clearing leather and busting caps." I think I have a good idea from that experience, what it would be like for it to happen again -- maybe.

But I do not have, and hope to never have, the sort of experience that Ayoob has had in life. So, there's always going to be a certain amount of uncertainty about how I would perform when the chips are down. I think it would be the height of foolishness for me to take such an article or articles as a recipe, and not think through the sorts of things I have outlined here, and also to consider that I cannot really know what I'm going to do or how I'm going to think in any given situation. Factoring these things into my decisions that I make regarding carrying a firearm for defense seems like the bare minimum of preparation I can do, besides work on the range, of course.

I think it would be the height of foolishness to listen to some bloviating gas bag go on about his feats of derring-do in critical situations -- and I sure have heard such types, especially on gun boards, going on about what they would do and what they have done (interesting stories, if only they are true...). It isn't about knowing what someone else has done (if they even did it), but it is knowing about what one's self will do that is important here, I think.

Second, I very much recall the first Massad Ayoob article I read. It is sitting right in front of me and it is from the 40th edition of Gun Digest.

In his Myth #2, he talks about the silly notion of putting a knife in someone's hand to justify shooting them, and he also talks about the forensics that can prove someone was dragged into the house after they were shot outside, among other related issues.

Well, years back, having just been primed with this information, I was expounding on it with some work colleagues at coffee break. One of them proceeded to give me a lesson that Ayoob didn't mention: It seems that both he and his father had been involved in a shooting. The whole business was very bad, and I was able to learn a number of lessons from it and he provided me with lots to think about. But the fun part related to Ayoob's article was that his father actually did the shooting, and my coworker was charged with killing the other party because the cops got the paraffin tests mixed up. In other words, from the way he told it, the cops were simply inept bunglers.

It would seem to me that, in one's considerations, one needs to take into account whether the authorities are knowledgeable, able, and honest enough to do their job properly. Ayoob didn't mention that part, and heaven knows, I've seen enough cops that couldn't pour you-know-what out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel. That doesn't make all cops bad and this shouldn't be insulting to any law enforcement officer reading this, but it does make the observation that, just as we see people unable or unwilling to do a good job in our own vocations, we have no reason to expect that the police (or any other group) are any better or worse.

So while I think this link is to a good article with lots of good information, I caution that while the information that is there is good, one should not assume that all of the information relevant to one's self is included!

And that point seemed to be important enough to me to mention it.

[xl_target]

You're perfectly correct, Timmy.
No article like this can cover every situation or anticipate every situation. However, they are food for thought and as you pointed out, people differ so no one solution will fit everyone. By making ourselves cognizant of other people's opinions, we gain knowledge and can try to prepare ourselves to meet the challenges that life throws at us.

As you said, Ayoob has been there and done that so I tend to give some credence to his opinions. In the field of expert witnesses, especially as related to gun crimes, Massad Ayoob is probably preeminent. While I don't always agree with everything he says, I do try to rate his advice highly.