kingpin008, Not sure why you act like I'm eager to shoot a guy. I guess you feel wearing a gun or carrying one everyday makes a person "eager" to use it.
My wife carries a gun when she answers the door when I'm not home. Does that make her "eager" to shoot somebody?
I understand you probably have a different mindset about daily carry since you live in Howard County. (Hey, if you can assume things about me, or play the what if game, so can I!) I was born and raised in Maryland, lived there all my life (including a few years in Howard County) until a few years ago (when we had enough of the crime and grime of the mid-Atlantic).
I was a gun owner in Maryland, and even managed to get (eventually) a CCW there. My CCW (like many issued in MD) stated that I was only allowed to carry the weapon when working, but since I was self employed, I kept myself "ON THE CLOCK" all the time. I guess that made me " extra eager".
While, living in Maryland, I witnessed a variety of crimes in action, ranging from simple assaults, drug dealing, a purse snatching, and was even in a 7-11 during a robbery. At no time during any of these incidents was I "eager" to pull out my weapon, point it or pull the trigger, even during the robbery. In most I either called police, or stayed to give police my account. (To be fair, if the 7-11 robber had turned on my or started shooting, I probably would have defended myself with my weapon in that situation)
Once, while going to lunch in Annapolis , I witnessed a man running through the parking lot wearing a ski mask and a dark shirt, and carrying a bag. I heard a siren drive by the main road, and saw the man duck down between cars. He took off his mask and ran toward the shopping center. I heard another siren and saw the man duck down between cars to hide again. I tried to call the cops, but my crappy cell phone (one of the first ones that was portable) died just as I dialed 911.
I decided to follow the suspicious man and see if I could flag down a cop. I drove across the lot and saw him run to the dumspter area, duck behind the dumpsters for a minute and came out now wearing just his white T shirt, and not carrying the bag anymore. Another siren came buy and he ducked again behind cars, then ran around the side of the building toward the rear. I drove past him, all the while trying to get a signal on my cell and call 911. I stopped at the end of the lot, and turned my truck around. What could I do to stop this guy. It was obvious to me he was a bad guy. Ski mask in summer, change of clothes, ducking down when sirens ran past, and lots of sirens all over the place.
The guy was now aware of me following him, and was walking toward my vehicle and screaming stuff at me trying to scare me off. I picked up my weapon of choice for this moment that I kept in my truck as as he got near me and I SHOT! Thats right, I was eager to shoot!
I shot a picture of him!
I used to keep a disposable film camera in my truck just in case I needed to document things for my business. (Now I keep a small digital one) He raised his hand up to cover his face and I got a few more shots of him running past me and into the woods behind the shopping center. I drove around to the front of the center and found a cop and told him what I saw. He said some guys just robbed the bank around the corner. I led police to where he dropped his mask, the dumpster area where they found his shirt and a bag of cash hidden in the trash.
The cops asked me for a description of the guy and I handed him the camera. The look on the cops face was priceless! We drove to the next shopping center and had the film processed on the spot. Nothing like shooting the bad guy after the bank robbery!
BTW, I had my gun with me during that event, and it never crossed my mind I even had the gun with me. All I wanted to do was call 911 and get a pic of the suspicious guy.
OK, now we will play what if.
What if after the scruffy guy said to me "your neighbor said you were a good guy and would not shoot me" and I had not even put my gun on me, and simply said "I'm not interested", or "please get off my land", or whatever and the scruffy guy took my lack of action as his signal to attack me, pulled out his pistol and shot me????
Guess what, I'm dead!
See, you can play the "What If" game, all day long,
A person who sees something is a bit hokey, and decides to tilt the odds in their favor is not necessarily being "eager" to pull the trigger. If anything, my intent was to defuse any situation by giving me a chance to retreat back inside my home while the scruffy guy weighed his options.
BTW, the only two things my wife and I miss about Maryland are real crab cakes with Old Bay, and Bergers chocolate top cookies! These people out west here think crabs come from Alaska! Go Figure!