For instance, if some rough-looking people stopped you to give you a hard time would you immediately start rifling through your fanny pack, pull out your gun and point it at them? At what point would you feel comfortable brandishing the gun?
First, you don’t rifle through your fanny pack. If you’re carrying a weapon in it, you shouldn’t need to because there shouldn’t be anything else in there. Second, you don’t brandish the gun, ever. It is not there for you to show off or to try and scare someone with. The only time you should draw is if you are prepared to shoot.
For a more practical example, I’ll reference my earlier post. In that situation, I’ve moved off the road, dropped my bike, and stepped away from it. There are reasons for this. I’m off the road to create space between myself and the guys in the pick up that are reversing towards me. I want to be at least 20 feet or more away from them if they exit their vehicle. I moved away from the bike to give myself some space from it. I don’t want to trip over it if I have to move. If I was carrying in a fanny pack (which I don’t), I’d unzip it and be sure it was in the correct position, but nothing more. As soon as the truck stopped, I’d clearly yell, but not aggressively, that I’m not looking for a fight, I just want to ride my bike. If they get out and move towards me, I’ll yell that they’re threatening me and for them not to come any closer while taking very small shuffling steps backward (small and shuffling to avoid stumbling). If they continue, they’ve clearly demonstrated that they’re fine with threatening me and plan on continuing to do so. At that point, I would draw to low ready (aiming down at a 45 degree angle but most definitely towards them) and inform them to keep their distance. Anyone who advances on me after all that is not coming to give me a hug. If they comply, I’ll immediately call the police and inform them of what occurred. If they don’t, I’ve done everything I could to avoid the confrontation.
For anyone that wants to argue that I escalated the situation by drawing, I’d point out everything I’ve tried up to that point. When they yelled and flipped me off, I didn’t respond. When they pulled over ahead of me, I did not approach them. When they came back to me, I moved off the road and was non-threatening. When they exited and moved towards me, I warned them about coming closer.
As for the second part of your post, there are two types of gun owners. There are impulse buyers who hear about something happening and get a gun to protect themselves. They never learn proper use, care or storage. These are the ones that would have to rifle through a bag to get to their pistol. They’re the same ones that shoot their relatives or themselves. The vast majority of gun owners who carry, however, take that right (yes, it is one) and responsibility very seriously. We’re not trying to be Rambo or make up for physical inadequacies. We simply acknowledge that there are dangerous people and events in the world and choose not to roll over if they happen to us. As a result, we practice (in most cases many times more often than your local PD), we learn, and we go about our lives and you never even know.