Morality of carrying a gun in an NPE

[Tamara]

One of the great things about working at a university is the ease with which one can call on experts in various fields. I strolled down to the philosophy den today and...

...said "I'm trying to win an argument on the internet that's been raging for two hundred and fifty posts and in which I'm the sole remaining debater holding up my end of the position. It's crucial to me that I prove these imaginary people in my computer wrong, so give me the answers I want so that I can crush them and make them see how right I am!"

This probably made the people in the Philosophy department, not normally used to being asked for concrete absolutes, happy as clams. Once upon a time, the Philosophy Dept. guys would have had to calibrate their response to you against the Right Answer, which was a platinum-iridium alloy bar stored in a vault in Paris, but since 1960, the Right Answer has been redefined as being equivalent to the length of 1.4x10⁷ Becauseisaidsos.

[orionz06]

...said "I'm trying to win an argument on the internet that's been raging for two hundred and fifty posts and in which I'm the sole remaining debater holding up my end of the position. It's crucial to me that I prove these imaginary people in my computer wrong, so give me the answers I want so that I can crush them and make them see how right I am!"

This probably made the people in the Philosophy department, not normally used to being asked for concrete absolutes, happy as clams. Once upon a time, the Philosophy Dept. guys would have had to calibrate their response to you against the Right Answer, which was a platinum-iridium alloy bar stored in a vault in Paris, but since 1960, the Right Answer has been redefined as being equivalent to the length of 1.4x10⁷ Becauseisaidsos.

You gotta admire the persistence.

[Sensei]

...said "I'm trying to win an argument on the internet that's been raging for two hundred and fifty posts and in which I'm the sole remaining debater holding up my end of the position. It's crucial to me that I prove these imaginary people in my computer wrong, so give me the answers I want so that I can crush them and make them see how right I am!"

This probably made the people in the Philosophy department, not normally used to being asked for concrete absolutes, happy as clams. Once upon a time, the Philosophy Dept. guys would have had to calibrate their response to you against the Right Answer, which was a platinum-iridium alloy bar stored in a vault in Paris, but since 1960, the Right Answer has been redefined as being equivalent to the length of 1.4x10⁷ Becauseisaidsos.

Damn, that is why I don't tell my wife about this forum. Last thing I need is for her to learn skills like that. My testicles would never see the light of day.

[JRB]

I recently accepted a job in an NPE. It wasn't explicitly stated to be an NPE, but my boss has showed an aversion to gun-related small talk. The business itself is a high-performance car shop and as car shops go, whether you're a tech or the guy planning what the techs need to do, you're finding yourself bending over engine bays and otherwise crawling around and under cars. So, I opted not to carry at work and to instead leave my weapon locked up in my car.

Then just this past Tuesday, this happened:
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S....shtml?cat=516

After the suspect hit that phone pole, power to our shop was cut, and we heard the rather inimitable thump-buzz of a high-voltage electrical line arcing and blowing up a transformer on a nearby power pole.
So we walked outside the shop, thinking that the construction at a neighboring lot led to an accident of some sort with the power pole.
By the time we're outside our shop, we see a man in street clothes sprinting through the construction site, and start scaling the temporary chainlink fence between the construction site and our back lot. As he's nearing the top of the fence, we see some Police vehicles arriving at the construction site behind him and I realize what is happening just in time for our usually lazy shop dog to take off after the man who is apparently running from the police, and just entered our lot.

A coworker of mine and I both start running after our dog, who miraculously gets about 20 feet away from that man and stops but keeps barking. But as I get closer to our dog, that man lifts up his basketball jersey and reaches into his sagging Dickies pants as if he's going for a gun.

That's when I went for my own well-practiced draw stroke. But my right hand clawed an empty waistband where my faithful Glock 19 full of Gold Dots usually rests, and my heart felt like it stopped and fell through my stomach.

Right after that instant, the suspect suddenly lifts his hand pointing straight at me and my coworker like he just drew a pistol and was pointing it at us.
At that same moment is when my coworker, who I didn't know carried, had drawn his own Glock 23, and he saw at the last possible instant that the suspect was just pointing his index finger as if it was a pistol, and he didn't have a gun at all.

The suspect surrendered on the spot immediately without a shot fired. He went to his knees with his hands up and behind his head. An impossibly long 15 or 20 seconds later, armed police officers arrived and arrested him.
My coworker got some fist bumps and even a handshake from a couple of the responding officers. One asked if he was from some other department, and he simply responded 'No officer, I'm just a regular guy who has a gun and gives a shit'. I was only two of those things that afternoon.
We were told at the time that the suspect was violent and suicidal, and had threatened his own parents before carjacking someone else at gunpoint shortly thereafter, which obviously led to the police chase that resulted in his loss of control and crash into that power pole. An officer on-scene mentioned to us while we were giving our witness statements that the suspect's gun was found in the dirt near the wreckage of his hijacked car.

I'm incredibly grateful that wearing basketball shorts under sagging Dickies makes for terrible weapon retention, because I honestly believe that saved his own life and possibly others... possibly my own.



All in all, while it's profoundly unlikely for that sort of 'lightning' to strike twice, I have altered my habits and mindset nonetheless.

[Totem Polar]

^^^Whoa.

[MDS]

Wow. That'll clear your head up quick. Like a spoonful of wasabi.

[Manzanita]

I also work at a university and decided to consult a few experts. So, I strolled down to Facilities Maintenance into the "den" of electricians, plumbers, carpenters, et.al., and asked then if they knew any Latin. Pretty much none of them did. Although none would admit to having one nearby, plenty of them regularly carry a gun, though, and expressed little regard for their employer's stated policy.

Wait... hah! After registering nearly two years ago, this is my first post here.

[Lomshek]

Some of the categories have already been mentioned and supported by others, such as to save the lives a a number of innocent people.

Probably everyone is worn out and just wants the thread to die but I've got a few minutes before I roll to my match.

Since you agree that being "dishonest" to save the lives of innocents is OK then we agree that carrying in an NPE is AOK. I'd certainly be an "innocent" as would be most everyone around me in that I am in no way an aggressor. I probably won't insert myself as a third party in an inter-gang gun battle so I'd say my focus is on saving the lives of innocents (myself, family and those around me).

[23JAZ]

You gotta admire the persistence.

Ya like that mosquito that won't leave you alone!

[MDS]

Gentle reminder that personal attacks won't be tolerated. A few posts have come right up against the line here lately. Please find other ways to express frustration.