Something I have- very happily- never had to do, but

which everyone with a brain who carries has considered.  Thought over.  Planned for, just in case.
...The point I made was this. I asked her what she might do if one of us made her mad - mad her so angry she couldn't see straight, hit at the core of her being, just straight out pissed her off beyond words? Then I explained oh yes, she might yell, she might throw something, she might even hit someone if she got pissed off enough. That she could throw a great little tantrum at the injustice of it all and truly vent.
Well, I'd sunk the bait, but then I set the hook.
In a very calm voice I explained to her that every person in that room had moved past that. We didn't "hold in our emotions because we were afraid of what we might do." We held them in because we knew what we could do.
Everyone I've known who's carried for self-defense, both those who have and those who haven't had to use it- from drawing, to drawing and aiming, to drawing and firing- have worked through that in our minds.  Every moment of it.  And it's why we DON'T get drunk while carrying.  Or start fights.  Or get into fights if we can avoid them.  When you've got a pretty good idea of what you can do, and the results of it, you really don't want to do it if you don't have to.

We know we have a moral and legal obligation to avoid it if we can, and we do.  But the gun bigots and hoplophobes don't/won't understand that; they just think or see 'Those people have GUNS!', and in their minds that means we WANT to use them on someone*.  Why? 

Partly they've been conditioned by the echo chamber to think that way, but also, how many times have these clowns written or said "If I had a gun I'd shoot people!  If I'd had a gun I'd have used it!" about (usually minor) stuff?  If they don't trust themselves to have the restraint and self-control not to hurt others, you think they're going to believe anyone else has it?


*They also have a nasty habit of throwing in things like 'especially colored people', the favorite being 'especially black/brown people'; if you disagree with them you can't just be a nasty gun owner, you also have to be a racist.
They get upset when you ask if that includes the black and brown and red and yellow gun owners.

Also, ever notice they're real fond of saying 'colored people'?  They change the wording to 'people of color' but it's the same thing.  Wonder if they know what they sound like?