At one time I had a friend, and one of my guitar students, who was very much into guns. He got interested in competitive target shooting when he was in the Marines. But his interest in handguns escalated to the point where he never went out of his house without his trusty Colt .45 automatic strapped to his hip (and concealed by his suit jacket). And, yes, he did have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

He was so tuned to the idea of all the possible threats in the outside world that he damned near shot a mutual friend by accident. And this was shortly followed by his whipping out his gun and joining the police in trying to apprehend a couple of people who were trying to flee from a misdemeanor. The police caught the two (they were trying to drive away after denting a fender on a parked car). But they also arrested the friend, took him in, and confiscated his gun. And he had to go to court.

The judge pointed out to him in no uncertain terms that the situation the had interfered in did not warrant the use of deadly force. The judge rescinded his concealed weapons permit and confiscated his gun for ninety days.

I don't know what happened after that because I found other places to be and other things to do. I was beginning to feel that he was just too damned dangerous to be around!

There are some folks who, if they happen to have a gun in there possession, feel impelled to use it.

Don Firth