People who carry are a bit... different. Out of ~310 million Americans, nationwide there are only 9-10 million with licenses for this. (And one state that does not require a license.)
Obviously you have your George Zimmerman ticking time bombs out there, which is very unfortunate. But by and large, CPL holders are decent people. These are all people who have voluntarily submitted to a full background check, and placed their fingerprints on file with the FBI for easy identification if they do commit a crime.
I WOULD like to see more training, and I don't just mean, hitting a target. In my state there is no training requirement at all. Pay your money, pass the background check, get your license. And a pamphlet with a list of state laws regarding carry, and use of deadly force.
I think that is inadequate. We had a class at work, invited in a man regarded as the best self-defense attorney in the state, to speak to us about it. His summary; avoid shooting at all costs. He laid it out for us. Even in cases where the shooter is WHOLLY innocent of any wrongdoing, the average cost is 1-2 months in court, which can lead to job loss, and more than 10k in legal fees. For me, I'm MORE concerned about the possibility of taking a life, something I can't give back if I made a mistake, but laying out the costs/risks also resonated with other participants. He also talked about how while you might be totally justified, in the moment, your actions will be judged by a jury under no stress, populated by people who have never been in a life or death situation, let alone people who carry a gun for a living or otherwise, sitting in a comfortable, air conditioned room.
It's just all around a bad thing. It's bad to be in that position in the first place. It's sad for the person you might have to defend yourself against. It's bad to be in court over it, civil or criminal, etc.
Most of the time when I am carrying, it is due to wildlife, not humans.
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