Homicide: The psychological Aftermath

I’m sure reading the title to this blog posed some questions. I decided to come off of my rant on gun control, laws, and more to give my perspective of what it means to take the life of another human being. If you own a firearm or know someone who does, this might tint your thoughts on what defense carry actually means.

In most case’s your every day CCW (Concealed Carry Weapon) permits class discuss a wide variety of topics. Some of the biggest topics are safety, laws, reciprocity and of course…shooting. What is amazing is the class is designed to teach you and prepare you to have a gun in case of emergency. And the best way to know how to use your gun properly is to go to the gun range. But what if I told you that going to the gun range, doesn’t prepare you for the possibility of taking a life. That topic isn’t really discussed in totality from your day to day ccw class. Homicide, even legal homicide is in a class all by itself. Yes, even protecting yourself, your loved one, or protecting someone who is justified to protect themselves, if you take the life of another human being, that’s homicide.

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Homicide is “The act of one human killing another”.

So you go to you class, the instructor asks “So why did you come to this class, and why do you want to carry a gun?”. Most people will give an answer that is relative to their experiences, conditions, and some other horrible situations that made them feel a gun was necessary to have. You will still get a couple people who answer “cause its crazy out here, and I need to protect myself”. Even as a valid statement…as a assistant instructor for a Firearms teaching company: moorestc.com, (shameless plug) lol, I see this statement as ignorant and unprepared for the reality that stands ahead of them.

David Grossman, a nationally known author and self defense expert wrote the book, “On killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society.” This book and his teachings probably deal with a more law enforcement, and military focus. I can imagine that untrained and uninformed civilians are not even close to being prepared to take a life, or deal with the mental issues that comes with it.

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Its crazy to believe that some people can survive a shooting in defense of their lives and feel guilty? You just killed the person who was trying to kill you, you survived, and your family and loved ones get to have you for a while longer. You shot the person who was trying to take whatever peace you had in life, so just call the police and tell them exactly what happened and continue you to live another day…right? What if you shoot the person, and they don’t die, instead they are gasping for air, screaming in pain and agony, or worse…asking for you to help them so they don’t die. What if they don’t die and they still have the gun in their hand, and continue to try to harm you while you are still in a state of anxiety because you just shot someone and now you have to shoot them again to live. What if you shoot someone and the bullet goes through the person and into another person that had absolutely nothing to do with the situation, and it kills them. What if your at home and you shoot the person who is breaking into your place at 2am, and the phone you need to call the police, is covered in blood from you shooting the person coming to harm your family. I’m sure some of you may think this was a little much…but the reality is…this is what people who survive a moment in time, have to live through, seconds after shooting someone.

You’re not some savage animal, so it would make sense that you feel something after being in a horrible situation such as this. Guilt is possibly just this beginning of things to come. Just because you went to the class, and did the things necessary to protect yourself, doesn’t mean you were actually waiting and hoping to do so, at least i hope not. God forbid you find yourself and a situation like that; but if you do, immediately get legal and mental help…you will need it.

Have you ever thought, that if you justifiably kill someone, that you could still go to jail. It could happen!!! In new York a man was charged with a felony after defending and murdering to men for a home invasion of his own home. The worst part about this…he wasn’t charged with murder! Ronald Stolarczyk was charged with failure to register his firearm that was legally purchased by his father but he inherited by his fathers death. If this was a different blog, I would go into the underlying plot the government uses with gun registration but ill save it. We just took a small glimpse into what people may feel about shooting someone and the aftermath of that, now he has to endure that and be treated as if he is one of the criminals he protected himself against…seriously? Why would anyone want to protect themselves if this is the possibilities that await after I legally defend my life .

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There are many reasons to carry a firearm. Not just for defense carry, but athletic shooting, Olympic shooting, hunting, fun at the range…but if your reason if for the sole purpose to protect yourself and the likes of those connected or around you, this means taking a life and living with the consequences of surviving but killing!