I had my own thoughts years ago when I first got my CCW, about the possible liability of carrying. My concerns were of a different type. I did some research, contacted local LEO, and found out what the most common crimes were, and what the most likely bad situation I might find myself in would be. It turned out that in terms of "muggings" (which were pretty rare), most were done by unarmed or non-gun armed (i.e. knife, or pipe, or brass knuckles, etc.) teen-ager/20-something gang banger-types.
At that time the common M.O. was three guys; one is coming towards you, two are behind you. The one coming towards you "sucker punches" you in the stomach, the two behind grab your arms/wrists. They take their wallet, watch, cell phone, etc. Or they would just corner someone, two guys would hold the victim and the other would pat him down and take anything of value. In either case, they are going to control your arms/hands first thing -- and the whole thing was over in seconds. In these situations, if my "situational awareness" failed me and they got the jump on me, it would happen so fast that my fear was that these guys would leave with my gun. I saw them arriving without a gun and leaving with mine as a major liability. [The only parts of town where crimes like these would occur that I might be in, were at night, near the train station, or in parking garages.]
The other type of robbery is an armed robbery, up close. The LEO said this was very rare (in that city), and in no case in his memory/long career had the BG actually fired. They just took the money and ran. So, either they get "the draw" on you, or they come up from behind you and put a gun to your head. Again, the possibility of having them take my wallet
and my gun seemed to out weigh the possibility of my shooting them without getting shot first myself.
Yes, I have been mugged by two armed guys on a bicycle while out for a walk. What a terrifing feeling to look down the barrel of .38 with no means of self defense. I have carried ever since.
chuckusaret -- I'm curious, two armed guys pointing guns at you, could you really draw and drop them both before one of them shot you? You left unharmed, I can't help but think this could have ended much worse if you had a gun and drew it.
Before anyone gets their panties in a bunch, I'm not some liberal troll, I carry 24/7. I just think realistically about what really happens on the street, and its not like in the movies. I've often wondered that judging the situation in the moment, if a guy pulled a gun on me and said "give me your wallet", and my sense was that he was going to take it and run, I would probably hand him my wallet. 99.99% chance he would just leave the scene. Would I pretend to go for my wallet, and go for my gun? Only if I could see down the pipe and he didn't have a bullet in the chamber, or I had time to notice if the safety was still on. Otherwise, I'm not dieing for my wallet. If I thought there was any chance that he would get my gun, I'd have to do my best to shoot him. So, I would escalate my chances of dieing for my gun, but not for my wallet. That creates the possibility that the gun, in that situation, becomes a liability.
There are a handful of situations in which a carry gun could be a liability (the topic of this thread), but obviously hundreds of others in which is could be valuable. For me the usefulness outweighs the danger, which is why I carry.