CHAPTER 12

DEALING WITH CRITICISM

FAMILY

You cannot choose your family, but having supportive family sure makes life easier.

Your spouse has a say in your decision to go armed and is the only person you really need permission from. But if approached correctly, and with a well-thought-out plan, you’re not likely to encounter too much resistance. If you have a spouse or kids, then you have an ultimate responsibility to protect them, no matter your gender.

COWORKERS

Luckily I do not have to deal with this. In my primary job I can be armed if directed, and in my secondary job, I teach people how to go armed. My coworkers either are pro-gun, or ambivalent. I don’t work with any anti-gun coworkers, but I know that this is not normally the case. My wife has a good bit of experience dealing with this. She doesn’t bring it up, but when the talk turns to people who carry she casually mentions that I teach the state’s carry permit course.

Her coworkers almost always seem surprised, and say something like “But he’s so nice!”—I don’t know why the two are mutually exclusive—and ask her how she feels about this; she smiles and says she thinks it’s great because I let her buy any gun she wants. This gets her looks sometimes, but she also gets questions later in private about what it feels like to carry a gun. She is honest, knowledgeable, and does not make it a big deal or force her opinion.

This works for me, as many of her coworkers come to my classes, and on one instance I gave a chemical spray class at her job site. She convinced me that the coworkers forced her to promise to spray me. I found out much too late that that was false.

This acceptance might not always be the case, and my wife always follows the rules. Her current job does not allow weapons on the property, so as a law-abiding citizen she follows those rules.

I would recommend not telling people you carry a gun, but if you choose to, be honest and don’t be pushy toward your views; many more people desire to carry than do carry.

ANTI-GUNNERS

There is no need to discuss this. If a person is truly anti-gun, the person will never listen, and will never hear your arguments. In a lot of ways being anti-gun is a religion. They believe it because they believe it. No amount of facts will sway their emotion. The only thing that can come from talking guns with a rabidly anti-gun person is to solidify your own position in your own mind. It will also help you work out pro-gun arguments to use with those that will listen. In a very few occasions I have been able to sway an anti-gunner with a well-planned range trip after they were a victim of crime, but generally I don’t bother.

ANOTHER REASON NOT TO TELL ANYONE

To me, this criticism is yet another reason not to let people know you carry a firearm. If they do not know you are armed, then they cannot judge you for being armed. Once you choose your personal path, don’t let anyone’s opinions change your mind. It is your life and your choice, whether you choose to go armed or not. This is the ultimate expression of “pro-choice.”