Have You Ever Considered Abandoning Carrying a Firearm Because of Your Temperament?

I have found that when I carry, I am much calmer...knowing that I'm carrying. I was always an aggressive driver, getting riled up and cursing. When I'm carrying, I know I don't want to get in a situation that I could have avoided. (of course it might be because I'm older now)

If your loss of temper leads to a temptation of physical violence, you have no business carrying a gun. I wouldn't even expose a gun unless my life was threatened by another deadly weapon. Sounds like a loaded question. If you can't control your temper, I wouldn't trust you with a gun.

I have never considered discontinuing carrying due to temperament or other issues...yet, but if that day comes I hope I have the strength of character and a helpful support team around me.

Until then the fact that so many off kilter others are still out and about unhindered by any such concerns is reason enough to continue carrying for now.

Carry on.

I go out of my way to avoid confrontations, but when I started carrying I became more aware of that than before. Anything potentially leading to a fight puts me in the position of having to defend my gun, something I want to avoid at all costs.

If anything I am way more mellow when carrying,I certianly do not go looking for fights.

jmace57 said:

I have found that when I carry, I am much calmer...knowing that I'm carrying...

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Same here. I was convinced after reading an article years ago (I believe by Ayoob) about armed citizens being held to a 'higher standard of care.' I have noticed in myself that I'll wave people into the lane from driveways and hold doors open for people more often when armed than I will when I am not.

I fought for over 40 years in illinois to expand gun rights. Got my carry permit a year and a half ago. Almost never carry because I just don't feel the need, got it becauce I could.

If anything carrying a handgun is the best anger management tool I have.

That and the cross of Jesus Christ on my finger.

TomJ said:

I go out of my way to avoid confrontations, but when I started carrying I became more aware of that than before. Anything potentially leading to a fight puts me in the position of having to defend my gun, something I want to avoid at all costs.

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I agree and feel a greater responsibility. Sometimes I'm short tempered but never in a violent way.

No. Hard to be any mellower and more peaceful than I am. I avoid conflicts like the plague. I rarely carry anyway because I don't go out amongst others much, but those are usually the only times I do. I keep a 1911 in my truck though, and can holster it when the need/urge arises. But while I have a very mild temperament, I like to be prepared for others that don't, or might try to exploit my mild manners, advanced age, or physical limitations.

An armed society is a polite society.

I want to say that there has been a day or two that I left my gun at home because I was irritable. Can't exactly remember those days, but I'm pretty sure they happened.

Nope. I'm a mellow guy. The only thing that can get my panties in a bunch is bad or just plain wrong documentation on the API / microcontroller/ compiler that's currently being used.

No. I have my moments where im mad or irritable, but its never crossed my mind to smoke somebody for cutting me off or for being an *****.

I did get hit by 208 volts once, and for a day or two, My balance was screwy and i just didnt feel right. I left my gun off my person until I felt square again, and had proven to myself that yes, I can hit what im aiming at.

But I do not doubt my ability to reason out a situation, and to know right from wrong, even when Im pissed off.

I have not, but I deeply respect people who understand that they need to make that decision.

Anger is a psychological tool that has a purpose, but it also can be a habit and an addiction or crutch or affliction. I've known one, or maybe two, people in my life who said they didn't carry a gun because they just got so angry at people, other drivers for example, that they didn't trust themselves.

That's a heaping load of emotional stress to carry within you all the time, but if that's your life, then acknowledging it and keeping yourself and others from harm is wise.

I have a very mellow, non-confrontational personality. I only get serious if you are physically threatening me or a loved one. Other than that, I brush off almost anyone who is a jerk to me. I like to study the human animal, so I don't take it personally. Humans are emotional, strange and unpredictable, that's why I carry.

I feel confident that having kept a clear head so far in my life I can't see an instance coming up when I wouldn't keep my anger under control.

In the 18 years that I've carried, I've had a handful of incidents that could be defined as arguments. Fortunately, the other person was doing all the arguing and I was in diplomat mode. Some of these were initiated by me, but I certainly wasn't hoping for an argument.

The most recent example was about three weeks ago when I asked one of my so-called neighbors to turn down his car stereo as he and his friends were partying in the next parking lot over from my building. Art's Grandma prevents me from repeating what he said. It bothered me that his opening retort was the worst insult he could think of, especially since we'd never met, but I kept a cool head and extricated myself from the incident. His girlfriend was actually more belligerent than he was. Some people are just rude.

I live in a quiet neighborhood and I was very surprised to get that response. I ended up calling the cops, naturally, but I wouldn't have initiated the conversation (armed or not) if I thought I'd get that response. The same goes for any encounter anywhere.

I don't have the least worry that I'm going to be bringing calm to an encounter, or at least earnestly trying, so I continue to carry.

I am an extremely calm person and while I have carried a gun nearly every day for the huge majority of my adult life both professionally and as a regular citizen with a CHP, I have only once decided to leave it at home because of my emotional state.

The day I found out that my now ex wife was cheating on me I left the house to confront her about it since she wasn't home. I very consciously left my gun at home. I was very upset and while I didn't think I would do anything as monumentally stupid as use the gun for anything, I decided it would be in everyone's best interest if it wasn't an option.

As it turned out those events resulted in a change for the better as it was the motivation I needed to ditch her and move on with my now much better life, but at the time I didn't see it that way. So, I left the gun at home, and I think that was the right call for that day. I've never been even slightly concerned any other day in the roughly 20 years I've been carrying a handgun that it made me worse rather than better off.

I have not considered stopping carrying due to temperament, but like to think I'd have the presence of mind to do so if necessary.

In the meantime, I don't rely on an inanimate object to act civil. I find it interesting that some say they do, particularly in light of the anti-gun views this board often argues are irrational when they say that guns make people violent.

Of course, the movement against Second Amendment rights is not just a threat to our capacity to defend ourselves physically against tyranny and discipline our government, if necessary, so that it remains a fit instrument for the self-government of a free people. It is also part of the much more general assault on the very notion that human beings are capable of moral responsibility.

Gun gun control advocates substitute things for people, but this approach won’t wash. It is the human moral will that saves us from violence, not the presence or absence of weapons. We should reject utterly the absurd notion that weapons are the cause of violence. We must recapture the noble view of man as capable of moral responsibility, and self-restraint. Purify the heart and we will not have to worry about the misuse of weapons. If we want to hold on to our heritage of liberty, we must first and foremost strengthen our confidence in our own moral capacity, and encourage such confidence in our fellow citizens. Only a people confident that it can behave like grown-ups will be justified in asserting its right to keep and bear arms, because it will be a people responsible to use them only in defense of ourselves and our liberty.

Because of temperament, no.
Because of medication/ medical treatment, yes.