TekGreg
New member
Then you will be able to provide real life examples where your theory has been proven true?
NavyLCDR,
I will not go as far as to posit this as a theory. It is simply a collection of my own experiences in South Central L.A., observations and interviews of maximum security/lifer prisoners while on Grand Jury Law Enforcement committee and collected stories from a family member who used to spend time on the inside. I do not have enough data to form a workable theory and start postulating towards something more scientifically provable.
I do, however, feel I have enough data in my own mind to know that there is a very small percentage of criminals out there - I'm talking about the less than 1% - the hardcore, serial killer, serial rapist, sociopath, the criminal that kills with no thought to the fact that you are a human. He sees you as prey or worse yet, a form of entertainment. They are not deterred by my OC, nor by police officers, nor by the FBI. As long as they are out there, I do not want to be the one that arms them by showing I have a weapon and then being jumped for it. I agree that I would probably stop crime in public if I OCed, but my large size alone has incited violence in others in the past and I cannot imagine that adding a viewable weapon would help that situation when it's possible drugs or alcohol may have already impaired their judgement. I imagine this is why an individual is allowed in many states to treat an unruly crowd or mob as armed even if they are not when threatened by them because the mob mentality and the number of people in and of themselves is equivalent in danger to the individual to the mob having a weapon.
I guess the difference between me and most other people is that others plan for the most likely eventuality and I try to plan for the absolutely worst case, most heinous thing I can possibly imagine. If I turn the corner and Hannibal Lecter is holding my wife at knifepoint, I want to have already run the scenario and drill over and over again in my head. If I'm walking through the woods and happen upon Charles Manson and 10 or 12 of his friends, I don't want it to surprise me. So I have asked myself, "Do I want Chuck and company to know I have a firearm before I pull it? Will any or all of them be threatened by the fact that they can see it?" I have personally decided on my own answers and carry accordingly.
Others may choose differently, but I think everyone needs to seriously examine why they carry and if they can handle a shooting and the taking of a life if it is warranted. All of the psychological roadblocks have to be worked out long before you ever strap on a gun or clear leather to defend yourself. Beyond that, I would think that OC or CC is a matter of law or preference because a method of carry won't make a difference to a person that has decided he is going to be involved in an execution.