Armed

I was talking to a friend and the conversation turned toward armed citizens. I advocated that all persons should be armed who wish to be armed with whatever weapon they may prefer. Gun, stick, or knife doesn't matter to me; any exotic weapon is okay too. I also advocate no restrictions on where they may be carried such as bar, restaurant, government buildings, houses of worship, airplanes,anywhere would be allowed. We both used to be peace officers and are now retired. He thinks that there should be total restriction of who when and where anyone can or should be armed.
A little discussion is in order. Look at all the restrictions in place, it's impossible to know them all you'll need a team of people to keep track and they seem to want to add more everyday. The more restrictions the less freedom must be axiomatic. I want to live in a free society not a relatively free society or one where people have been led to believe they are free because it's been said so many times they believe the hype. I want to live where one is required to think for oneself and make decisions on what one knows and perceives, not a place where there is a rule for everything; rules are for people who can't think for themselves.
You may say that there is a plethora of those people around but if you talk to a total stranger they may agree but you'll be hard pressed to find a stranger or friend who counts himself among the number of people who can't think for themselves. Where are they and why do they exist at all if they do. You can always find a number of people who disagree with any point that you make or hold true just like my friend and I disagree but we both think for ourselves. I don't want to tell you what to think but if you ask I can tell you what I think.
The discussion between me and my friend focused on armed persons in a bar due to time constraints. He maintains that people in a bar are more likely to go off because of lowered inhibitions due to alcohol consumption. I agree with that when all people in that bar are considered unarmed and have varying degrees of response to hostile behavior. An hypothetical example would be a mean bad ass who sizes up a wimp and decides to harass him in order to pick a fight. The mean bad ass decides he can take the wimp with one hand tied behind his back due to his perception of the wimp and his ability to respond physically. Even I will agree that bullies of different types exist as history has proved. In this scenario the fight is on and game over, the bully gets his jollies. Next evolution the situation is that everyone you see it in the bar is possibly armed with some kind of weapon that you the bad ass cannot perceive for the moment. Who you gonna call on now if the wrong move can get some kind of hole poked in you. It causes the bully to think about things that otherwise would not be considered. It will make him less reckless and increase his inhibitions unless he is flat out crazy and then there is all the more reason for everyone else to be armed. Unless there are a bunch of those people in there who can't think for themselves, those would be the ones unarmed by the way, I think that there would be less drinking to excess and less throwing caution to the wind. I realize that it is just an opinion though.
You can what if the situation and argue all day over it. I kind of like some cliches so I'll throw in a few. An armed society is a polite society. God made man but Colonel Colt made them equal. If you don't agree with me, you sir, are worse than Hitler. He who doesn't learn from history is bound to repeat it. All the plans of mice and men can go aft aptly. Lead, follow, or get out of the way. What you do doesn't determine what happens to you and what happens to you doesn't determine what you do. There are some of my favorites. The last one is a humdinger that I still can't wrap my head around.
So you arm yourself, train yourself, and become proficient at arms which doesn't guarantee the outcome of any situation in which you find arms necessary. I consider it a hedge at least. It will generally increase your awareness and effect some decisions like when and where you should be and what you are doing. If it doesn't count yourself among those who cannot think find a leader or guru or dictator to tell you what you can or cannot do and follow the herd. That may seem harsh and it is.

People are responsible for some of what they think, we have all been misinformed, and most of what we do no matter what happens to us. You may counter that if you are shot and die what happened to you did determine what you did. I would certainly have to agree in the end but there were numerous factors involved that may have mitigated for or against that could have been influenced with or without sufficient awareness. It is only a discussion after all.