Taking A Shot At Preparedness A Challenge

‘GUN-FRIENDLY LEGISLATION’ WOULD ALLOW A PERSON TO PROCEED WITH PLANS FOR DEFENSE

What if you wanted to take a date to the movies, but were concerned about recent acts of violence occurring at theaters, and wanted some protection?

You don’t own a pistol and have never fi red one, but you would feel much safer if you brought one with you. You have seen other people fire a pistol and it appears to be easy; all you do is aim it and pull the trigger. With a pistol under your belt you would be ready to defend yourself and your date against bad guys.

In addition, your date would probably be impressed with your macho approach, and might want a pistol herself in the event you weregunned down.

Since purchasing a pistol would be costly, you might consider renting one for the evening, along with suft cient bullets and possibly bulletproof vests for you and your date. It would also be wise to obtain an instruction manual on the use of the pistol, and go to a firing range to try it out; you might also want to practice your quick draw.

Some video games might be of help in improving your accuracy. If you have been declared mentally incompetent or have a prison record, you probably couldn’t acquire a pistol yourself, but you could always borrow one from a friend.

There would be the potential problem of you shooting an innocent bystander, or taking out someone whom you mistakenly thought was a bad guy. But how would you know who to shoot?

You probably would need some instruction on how to identify a bad guy. If the suspect were wearing army fatigues, a mask, holding a firearm, and threatening to open fire, you probablywould be safe in assuming he would be a proper target. You would need to make sure you are seated in a advantageous place for action, but beware of getting caught in a crossfi re, since there will probably be other heroes armed like you, ready to get it on. There could be a problem with the lighting in the theater so you might want to take an army night light with you. There also would be the question of whether you shoot to kill the suspect or merely disable him.

The use of a grenade would be too risky because of potential injury to innocent parties. If you did accidentally kill or injure someone, a letter of condolence along withflowers should follow forthwith. Since you might be interviewed on television after your heroic eff orts, you would want to make sure you have shaved and are wearing clean clothes.

The idea of being properly armed also would apply to other activities, such as attending church, sports events, walking across the campus, or simply living in a dangerous neighborhood, where having a handgun ready might be a life saver. It is always good to be ready to respond with force whatever might happen.

The thought of becoming a national hero in a shootout with a bad guy may be such an intoxicating idea to that it causessome to actively look for trouble, which would provide an opportunity to demonstrate a person’s courage under fi re; however, such reasoning is likely to be counterproductive and discouraged.

Before you could legally carry a pistol as described, the law would have to be amended, but since the NRA and the fi rearms lobby have a death grip on our congressmen, it should only be a matter of time before new “gun-friendly legislation” is enacted, which would allow you to proceed with your plans.

BASS TRUMBO IS A RESIDENT OF FAYETTEVILLE, AN ATTORNEY AND A FORMER COLLEGE INSTRUCTOR IN BUSINESS LAW.

Opinion, Pages 11 on 09/16/2012

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