Well, you knew it was coming.
Important things to note: the articles that I wrote about
Rule One and
Rule Two (and now Rule Three) are in
priority order. In other words, One is more important than Two, and both One and Two are more important than Three.
As I've said from the beginning, if you are at least doing Rule One, then I'm not going to tell you that you are wrong. If you follow Rule One, then you are FAR more likely to be able to keep yourself safe than the vast majority of the population. If you follow Rule One and Rule Two, your chances for successful defense go up even higher. (And your chances of making a mistake that lands you in prison go significantly downward.)
Truthfully, Rule Three is for the outliers with respect to armed self-defense. Most defensive gun uses (DGUs) are completed successfully without a shot being fired, or with only one shot being fired. And if a shot
was fired, it was rarely necessary for that shot to actually be a hit that was sufficient to quickly stop the attacker. That's why this Rule is only third in priority.
But what about DGUs that don't fit that majority? Determined attackers that aren't scared when they see a gun, and don't stop just because it was fired? Multiple attackers? Cases that are more serious?
That's when Rule Three comes in. And like I said, if you are following at least Rule One, I'm not going to tell you that you are wrong. But if you aren't following Rule Two, I'm going to say that you could raise your chances significantly (and
decrease your chances of making a mistake significantly) by following Rule Two--in addition to making yourself much safer when handling a firearm.
And if you aren't following Rule Three, I'm going to tell you that there are better choices you could make. (And I might tell you that you are making a bad choice. Because there ARE bad choices with respect to Rule Three.) Following Rule Three is EASIER than following Rules One and Two because One is something you have to do every day and sometimes that isn't easy, and following Two means you have to take time to learn something, practice it to competency, and keep in practice so that you
stay competent.
But following Rule Three? That simply means
making a good choice when getting the gun in the first place. It SHOULD be the easiest rule of all to follow. And yet.....this is the one where we see the largest number of poor choices, emotional arguments, and blind refusal to look at reality.
Rule Three:
https://precisionresponse.wordpress.com/2017/01/11/rule-three-of-concealed-carry/Cue the Hi-Point/Judge/Revolver shooters responding in
exactly the emotionally argumentative manner that I mention in the article. Or others who ignore the points made in the article and go straight to arguing that their gun is Just Fine, without
actually giving valid reasons for their choice to carry something less than optimal for keeping themselves safe.
(The "but I like them better" argument is meaningless, from a Rule Three perspective, by the way.)
