"You", you who jumped on this poster for describing his experience wrestling with a moral issue.. you who rushed to judgement faster than a right-wing radio host.. you who put your personal ideology ahead of the facts.. You are an embarrassment to this website and community. You are not a liberal today.
I am appalled at the enthusiasm with which you trashed Elmar, slandered him and misrepresented his intentions.
The tags assigned to this diary are atrocious as well. "Epic fail".. "viagra not vigilantism".. You who tagged Elmar's diary with "my problem is i'm homicidal" are the worst kind of person to have among any organization. You placed more importance on the satisfaction you get from judging someone than you did on anything else such as THE FACTS and the diarist's stated intent. You are as contemptible as the losers who skulk on Redstate and LGF waiting for the next opportunity to attack someone.
Elmar, I have to say that you might have organized the facts in your diary a little more clearly and avoided the melodramatic title. It obviously attracted the anti-gun reactionaries (our side's unfortunate counterpart to the right-to-life zealots). I had to read it twice to get it all straightened out.. which is 1.5x more than the people I'm addressing...
(Edit: changed title because it was unnecessarily inflammatory. Apologies to anyone who spontaneously combusted.)
Here is my synopsis of your diary, Elmar.
You walked into the gas station and saw two customers preparing to leave or leaving.
The clerk called them back inside and was joined by a coworker who then assisted the clerk in blocking the customers' exit.
The shoplifted item was surrendered.
The clerk then attempted to detain the two men to wait for the police.
The argument started in earnest with "very upset" behavior and consisted of "two minutes of words and posturing."
During this time you weighed the possible events that might unfold in front of you and realized that you might be better able to defend the employees than they themselves were, in the case that the shoplifter or his friend introduced potentially deadly force into the argument.
At no time did you reveal your weapon. You considered the ramifications of your actions and to your credit you considered what was behind your potential targets.
The argument ended peacefully and the 2 problem customers left.
Now, I want everyone still reading this far (and not rushing to post about my alleged love of murdering anti-gun reactionary Dkos posters) to read these next few words very carefully:
ELMAR WAS NOT INTERESTED IN KILLING SOMEONE OVER A BAG OF CHIPS.
ELMAR WAS NOT INTERESTED IN KILLING SOMEONE OVER A BAG OF CHIPS.
ELMAR WAS NOT INTERESTED IN KILLING SOMEONE OVER A BAG OF CHIPS.
Shame, shame shame on you who would put these and other words in Elmar's mouth so that you could argue. Fallacious strawman tactics like these are the tools of the fascists and neoconservatives who would have us stop thinking for ourselves. You are blind, deaf, and dumb to the reasons we are here. You RUSHED to accuse Elmar of murderous and callous intent, misrepresented his account of the altercation, and failed to ask clarifying questions before making such a serious accusation. You missed the entire point of his diary - the sheer weight of the decision and responsibility to carry a handgun. "With great power comes great responsibility" and I believe that Elmar was open to constructive criticism, and after an intensely personal moment of soul-searching, was perhaps seeking some reassurance. My thanks to the more reasonable among us who offered such.
In reading Elmar's rebuttals and elaborations in the comments it is only made clearer that his intent was correct. He waited for the chance that one of the customers might pull a knife or gun - a VERY REAL possibility, however remote. He prepared himself for such an event to the best of his ability. You are fair-weather "patriots" who perhaps feel that you can pick and choose the sections of the Constitution and Bill of Rights to support your personal morals and justify your philosophical grudges. You make me sick.
This is not an issue concerning the State in which this happened.
This is not an issue concerning whether it's better to wound rather than to kill - the logistics behind this are available with a cursory internet search.
This is definitely not an issue wherein the clerk should be used to such events and accept them because stuff like this happens at gas stations all the time (does it? I've never seen anything like this.) Blame the victim, blame the diarist, blame me for standing up for him. Don't blame the shoplifter whatever you do.
Regarding firearms specifically: The decision to carry is not one to be taken lightly; Elmar just found out why. I own a handgun and choose not to carry it for many reasons, primarily because I do not have sufficient experience using it, but also because I do not choose to carry that responsibility right now. I might someday, or I might not..
If one does decide to carry a concealed weapon, one is rightly aware of it at all times and it does become a lens through which you view events. One avoids conflict with others, to minimize the chance of any "incidents." One accepts a responsibility much larger than one's self and is aware of it at all times. One must be aware of one's situation and surroundings at all times.
Elmar, I respectfully suggest that if you decide to keep carrying that you perhaps consider counseling (the decision is yours) and definitely seek professional advice and research concerning the legalities of drawing your weapon and/or using it in someone's defense. And of course practice with it as I'll assume you already do. If you decide not to carry any more, I would not judge you for it. And allow me to personally thank you for making the right decisions at the gas station.