This is a purely fictional scenario:
Let's say you're a member of a nationally known RKBA organization. You become fast friends with the guy in charge. In public, he's an icon. Articulate & attractive, he also has a talent for gently educating antis and swaying fence sitters. The media turn to him for accurate firearms-related information, and the talk show circuit welcomes him as a calm, informed source. With him as spokesman, your group has won several important victories and is on the verge of winning even more. He's even being groomed for politics. However, you notice that he's completely different in his private life. He gets drunk or abuses drugs and plays Russian roulette, pointing his gun at himself, his family members, and people passing by in front of his house while pulling the trigger. He's not above selling, loaning or trading the occasional unwanted gun to people who shouldn't have them for drugs or extra cash. You see him disintegrating, and he refuses all private offers of help. He sees any type of counseling as an attempt to take his guns away, and he'd rather see himself and his family dead before that happens. His wife and kids are scared into silence. It's only a matter of time before he becomes part of a tragedy.
Do you try to intervene knowing it would destroy the greater good of the organization once news of his behavior becomes known? Would you sacrifice the group to try to save your friend?
Do you keep silent hoping that he'll eventually hit bottom and change his ways while seeing that he's steadily getting worse?
Do you abandon him and your friendship, waiting for the day when the hammer falls on a live round during his games of Russian roulette?
What would you do and why?
Let's say you're a member of a nationally known RKBA organization. You become fast friends with the guy in charge. In public, he's an icon. Articulate & attractive, he also has a talent for gently educating antis and swaying fence sitters. The media turn to him for accurate firearms-related information, and the talk show circuit welcomes him as a calm, informed source. With him as spokesman, your group has won several important victories and is on the verge of winning even more. He's even being groomed for politics. However, you notice that he's completely different in his private life. He gets drunk or abuses drugs and plays Russian roulette, pointing his gun at himself, his family members, and people passing by in front of his house while pulling the trigger. He's not above selling, loaning or trading the occasional unwanted gun to people who shouldn't have them for drugs or extra cash. You see him disintegrating, and he refuses all private offers of help. He sees any type of counseling as an attempt to take his guns away, and he'd rather see himself and his family dead before that happens. His wife and kids are scared into silence. It's only a matter of time before he becomes part of a tragedy.
Do you try to intervene knowing it would destroy the greater good of the organization once news of his behavior becomes known? Would you sacrifice the group to try to save your friend?
Do you keep silent hoping that he'll eventually hit bottom and change his ways while seeing that he's steadily getting worse?
Do you abandon him and your friendship, waiting for the day when the hammer falls on a live round during his games of Russian roulette?
What would you do and why?
