Some Lines You Just Don't Cross
'Bout two weeks ago, one of my favorite bloggers, Lawdog, posted an interesting piece over at his place. Now usually Lawdog spins some hilarious yarns about his childhood in Africa, or his experiences as a sheriff's deputy, but this one was in deadly earnest. Some highlights:
"Deadly Force - the taking of a human life - is one of the most profound actions one human being can undertake; not only for the recipient, but also for the person who weilded it.
To use Deadly Force against another -- to kill some mother's son -- is to take away everything that person was, everything he is, and everything he could be...
...Today, I want to ask if you -- as an adult -- have sat down and truly pondered Deadly Force? Have you, as an adult, made the conscious choice to decide when, where, and under what circumstances you will use Deadly Force, and when you will not?
And more importantly, as an adult, have you drawn a firm, bright line between I will and I will not?
I ask this because there are people -- purportedly adults -- who have stated to me that they do not know under what circumstances they would attempt to take the life of another, and that they don't wish to think about such things until the moment that it becomes necessary.
This is complete, total, and utter bushwa.
Make your decision now. If the time comes, trust me, a violent face-to-face social negotiation with a critter is neither the time, nor the place for an inner debate vis a vis morality and philosophy.
Get the debate done now, so that it will be one less thing to worry about when the time comes."
This, for me, was a compelling piece, because I remember quite clearly when, and why, I started holding this debate with myself. "Could I kill another human being? Under what conditions or circumstances? And why would I be right to do so under those conditions?" These are questions I still ask myself and meditate upon the answers frequently - almost every day in fact. Keep reading, and you will understand why.
I've always been interested in guns (along with weaponry in all its forms). Don't ask me why, I couldn't tell you. They have simply fascinated me since I was eight years old. I read everything I could get my hands on about them, and occasionally I found opportunities to shoot. But I couldn't really learn to shoot until I was in college, when I was out of my parents' house and had a some spare cash. I bought my first gun in February of 2003, a surplus Lee-Enfield. Now anybody who knows much about guns knows that a Lee-Enfield is a poor choice to learn to shoot with. I quickly discovered that it kicked like a mule and I couldn't hit the side of a barn from the inside with it. What I needed was a .22. So that summer, while I was working for the college, I went out and bought one, a Remington 597, and fitted it with a nice big scope. The same afternoon I headed off for my first real range session ever.
I took plenty of ammunition and targets, and set up on the 100 yard bench. I set up a target and sighted in my scope. I then proceeded to start sending lead downrange. At first I was all over the paper - it looked like a shotgun pattern more than a group. But as I worked on my breathing, my trigger control, my sight alignment, the groups began to shrink. I spent three hours at the range that day. By the time I was done, the bullseye in that target was gone.
As I packed up and drove home that day, I felt different. It was a subconscious thing at first, a tingling in the back of my mind. But as I thought about it, I realized that what I was feeling was power. As I had watched the effect of my bullets that day, it had begun to seep into my subconscious mind what kind of devastation they could wreak. A .22 long rifle cartridge is almost the very bottom of the power scale of cartridges, yet it is quite capable of killing or severely injuring a human being. More powerful cartidges are even more potentially deadly.
Over time, as I thought about it more, I realized that the power I had acquired that day was the power of life and death. It occurred to me that with this awesome power comes an equally awesome responsibility. If I were going to have such power, I was morally obligated to set firm, clear rules about when I could justly employ it, and when I could not. It seemed clear to me that I could only justify using it against those who presented a real and immediate threat of physical harm to myself or other innocent people, or against uniformed combatants of a declared enemy (though the latter is of course unlikely in civilian life). In turn, I had to define what circumstances or behavior qualified as "real and immediate threat of physical harm."
1. First, the presence of a weapon - gun, knife, sword, cricket bat, doesn't matter. I know what sorts of things can be used as improvised weapons as well. In the case of an exceptionally large, strong man, or someone I reasonably believe is a serious martial artist, the presence of a physical weapon may be waived.
2. Threatening behavior. Making verbals threats is usually the biggest one, but facial expressions, brandishing a weapon, or even body language also can qualify.
3. Unlikely to ever occur, but wearing the uniform of a recognized enemy state or non-governmental organization (read: gang, or terrorist). Note that these days under the Geneva Convention, a uniform can consist of something as simple as an armband or hat, or even just an AK-47.
Of these three options, the first two are far and away the most important. Anyone in my presence who meets both criteria 1 and 2 will be dead as fast as I can make them that way. Under police rules of engagement, the police are required to wait until a suspect actually points a firearm at someone before they are allowed to shoot. But police also have body armour, backup, armoured squad cars, helicopter surveillance, SWAT teams and police snipers. Those are luxuries I don't have. If I have to wait until a goblin actually attempts to harm someone, it may already be too late. To sum up these criteria, I quote Malcolm Reynolds of "Firefly:" "If I ever kill you, you'll be awake, you'll be facing me, and you'll be armed."
To learn to shoot is literally to acquire the power of Zeus - the power over life and death of your fellow man. Indeed, on a good day, my skill with a rifle makes Zeus with his thunderbolts look like a pussy. But there is a vast difference between men and gods. The power and immortality of the gods of ancient Greece made them immune to the consequences of their actions. They never had to learn to accept responsibility for their actions. Instead, they became vain, selfish, arrogant and proud gods who meddled in the affairs of mortals, who wielded their great powers for their own amusement or aggrandizement, often at the expense of the very men who worshipped them. But we mere mortals, we humans, lead brief, tenuous lives, easily damaged or snuffed out. We have no supernatural powers, and for us, time flows only one way. There are no second chances for us, no 'do-overs.' The consequences of the decisions we make and the actions we take are final. We have had to learn to live with the consequences of our actions, to take personal responsibility for ourselves. I know that if I were ever called upon to use my skill with firearms to take human life in defense of others or myself, I would ask myself for the rest of my life, probably every day, if it had been really necessary. "Well, maybe he was just bluffing." "Maybe if I had just talked to him some more, I could have dissuaded him..." But in those situations, the hard cold reality is that the decision has to be made fast. And I know that when I die, and someday I surely shall, my life and all my sins and decisions will be judged by the only Judge qualified to really judge any of us. All I can do is go with as clean a conscience as I may, and be able to defend my decisions.
So, yeah, Lawdog, I know where my firm, bright lines are drawn. More importantly, I know why. Because there are some lines you just don't cross.
