quote of the day – matthew

I have already discussed how much of a losing proposition I consider the recent theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado to be; as others have said, it embodies pretty much the "perfect" (though I hate to use that word) Kobayashi Maru scenario for self-defense, only with no way to hack into the server the night before and cheat your way through to victory.

That does not mean I would not have tried to bring the asshole down if I thought there were even a glimmer of a chance for me to do so, and that does not mean you should not try if you are of a similar mindset either.

Which brings us to the quote of the day provided by the brilliant mind behind "Straight Forward in a Crooked World":

He said finally "you know…my fear is I’d piss my pants if that ever happens." I’ll tell you like I told him "piss them and then shoot the son of a bitch".

Bravery is not the absence of fear; bravery is the overcoming of fear. I can only hope I will be able to do what I need to when I need to, and then I will worry about little details like changing my pants later (though hopefully before some scumbag news reporter looking for the next big "scoop" finds me).

But that is the somewhat key mentality, if I can say as much without ever being in a situation even remotely approximating what transpired in the theater on Thursday – do what you need to in order to keep yourself and your family alive, and deal with the petty details later. But you have to decide that now, and you have to come to terms with what you may or may not have to do now (up to and including taking another person’s life), such that you can simply act in that moment, rather than think about it; if there is one thing we can learn from spree/mass shootings, it is that quick, decisive, violent action on the part of the would-be victims can bring the situation to a screeching halt. (This is not to blame the theater-goers for not acting – as I said, that specific situation is horrifically unique – just an observation from other shootings.)

In closing, I would like to steal another page out of Matthew’s book, and remind people why it is we carry guns:

Some people do not want your money. Some people do not want your car. Some people do not want your virginity. Some people do not want your stuff.

Some people just want to watch it all, including you, burn. And sure as I know anything, these people – if they really can be called "people" – will not be swayed, deterred, or even slowed by something as idiotic and poorly thought-out as "gun control"; you need only look at the complexity and scale of the explosive traps set in the Aurora shooter’s apartment to realize that he was going to kill people that night, and he was going to be successful, regardless of the tool he chose to use.

So, as long as people like that continue to live and breathe amongst us, people like me are going to take whatever peaceful, responsible steps we deem necessary to ensure, or at least improve the chances of, our families’ safeties, so how about the blood-dancing imbeciles amongst us stop attempting to pin the blame on people who had nothing to do with this shooting, and let us take care of our own lives without their petty authoritarian interference?

Thanks.