[fatlazyless]

hello everybody,

In thinking about carrying a handgun that is totally concealed from view, here's a couple thoughts off the top of my head.

- It carries with it the very big responsibility of having a very potent weapon, and a .45 Sig is a very powerful weapon.

- Carrying concealed will strongly tend to empower the person with a feeling of increased security or a feeling of superiority because he probably thinks that another individual does NOT have a concealed weapon while at the same time he does.

How can this influence his actions? It could make him more aggressive knowing that he can always rely on his handgun and instead of tending toward withdrawing from a confrontation, it encourages more aggressive actions. So, carrying concealed can aggravate a situation that otherwise would have been solved by speaking in a way to get along with someone as opposed to confronting them. This is known as "posturing" when your attitude effects you to assume a certain posture in your mindset.

For every situation where a concealed handgun solves a security problem, there's probably three situations where it makes the situation worse because people are less likely to back down or to retreat and just call and explain the situation to the police down at 911.

So, carrying concealed comes with a big responsibility and a big need to act responsibly so maybe a carry permit should require a training course and a test. After all, driving a car or piloting a boat both require a state training course and a state test so why not for handguns too?

If Ward had had to make the effort to attend a training course and then pass a test, wouldn't he probably be less likely to be all locked up with his current situation? Just my two cents ..........