There are very few reasons for a person to go about in public carrying weapons. Assuming an occupation by a hostile government is not occurring at the time, all the well-armed militia stuff can be satisfied by keeping arms accessible at home. If a person’s job doesn’t require a gun and the person isn’t engaged in a shooting sport and isn’t a criminal and doesn’t plan to become a criminal, then the only reasons to carry a gun are to protect oneself and to protect others.

I’ve been in situations in which I’ve been personally threatened and I’ve been attacked in the dark by a would-be robber in the night at an isolated place. No matter how badass you are, you can be outnumbered, there’s always someone bigger than you, you may have others with you to protect; there are a lot of reasons, in a personal confrontation with criminal force, to want an advantage.

But what about in public? What about when you’re going to the mall, with the wide-open parking lot on a bright sunny Saturday and you can be reasonably sure that no-one will corner you in a dark alley? These days, the threat that comes readily to mind is the ‘active shooter’, terrorist, lunatic, killer, whatever you choose to call those persons who have their humanity snap like a rubber band  and lash out with lethal force, raging until they are shot down.

I was in a movie theater not long ago, watching the last Jurassic Park. As the credits rolled, my wife checked her phone and saw a news update. A man had fired shots in a movie theater in another state, killing and wounding random moviegoers. We were in our seats. I looked around at the still-dark theater. The exits were in front of us. I saw that an attacker coming from the front of the room would have us trapped. What would I have done, had someone started shooting while we were sitting there?

When there is a random public shooting there is a reliable dialog following in which the NRA leads a chorus of voices saying we need more guns and more people carrying guns and they are met with a response by anti-gun activists saying that more people will get shot with more guns and that the average citizen who is not a trained law-enforcement officer will not be able to effectively stop a shooter.

Let’s consider both points of view. Some people are going to do dumb things in panic situations. They’re going to lock their brakes on a rainy highway, throw water on a grease fire, and generally make a bad situation worse. Training is a good tool for figuring out who those people are and teaching them better reactions. Remember “stop, drop and roll”? I do. I think I learned it in elementary school. I was told that if my clothes were on fire, I should not run screaming down the street, I should stop in my tracks, get on the ground and roll over until the fire is out. This is simple, and brilliant, stuff. This is training, but it’s quick and easy. Gun safety training can and should teach simple, basic rules to prevent dumb reactions. Good training and life experience can help a person determine if they want to be armed when an emergency happens.

It’s completely valid for an individual to say, ‘I don’t want to be armed’. If you don’t trust yourself under pressure, or if you doubt your physical or mental ability to react, or if you are especially adept at running, hiding, or deflecting bullets, then you may not want to be armed when you’re caught in an active shooter situation. I say ‘when’, not ‘if’, because we’re talking about emergency preparedness and that means planning for when an emergency occurs. You put on your seat belt because you want it on when you’re in an accident.

It’s also valid for society to say, ‘we don’t want you to be armed’. If you have a history of violence, crime, mental instability, or stupidity on a grand scale, it’s reasonable that you shouldn’t carry a gun. For everyone else it may be an excellent choice to be armed in public. It may even be the socially responsible thing to do. If you’re possessed of an able body and a calm mind and you’re capable of stopping a killer, you may save the lives of innocent people, some of whom may not be capable of saving themselves.

There are some basic rules to follow to keep from being stupid with a gun. These are widely taught in gun safety courses.

1. Know what is behind your target. If you don’t have a clear shot, don’t shoot. Be aware that walls may not stop a bullet.

2.Keep your finger off the trigger. Modern handguns don’t just fire on their own. Practice handling your gun with your finger off the trigger, until you’re ready to shoot. That way you won’t respond to a maniacal killer by shooting yourself in the ass while drawing your gun. Although someone else might be able to take him out while the killer is doubled over laughing at you.

3. Know your gun. If a panic situation is the first time you fire your weapon, you may not be effective and you may be dangerous. It’s easy to get the idea from movies that you just sort of point with one hand at the bad guy in the distance and he drops like a stone. Then you stand at the range and realize you can’t hit a target at ten feet on your first shot. You don’t have to practice everyday, but don’t carry a gun you’ve never fired.

4. Know your ammo. Different types of rounds will penetrate differently. If you’re carrying a .357 Magnum loaded with full metal jackets, you’re going to shoot through a lot of stuff before the bullet stops. If you’re going to be in public, you may want to carry hollow-point ammunition that will disperse its energy faster. This goes hand in hand with rule 1. Learn about the right ammunition for your intended purpose, and practice with it, even though it may be more expensive than target rounds.

Some people are going to run. Good for them. If you’re fast, and you’re not injured, disabled, old, young, or responsible for someone else, and the attacker isn’t blocking the only exit, then run. But a calm, careful reaction with a weapon may stop a killer. A well prepared killer with body armor and multiple weapons may have a great advantage, but an unexpected response from one or more intended victims may work. Sadly, there’s a lot of evidence that doing nothing doesn’t work.