Every now and again, someone will ask me if I expect to have to use my gun. I generally reply: "I pray to God I never do," or something along those lines. Usually that's that, end of conversation, but sometimes the asker looks confused or presses further with a 'Then why do you carry it? Do you go to bad places?'
No, I don't go stupid place, or do stupid things. At least, as much as humanly possible I try to avoid such. I don't get into situations where I expect to need my gun. I carry it just in case.
Often in the gun community, I hear similar echoes from concealed carry permit holders. They often run along these lines. I don't carry because I want to use it, or because I expect to, I carry it just in case. It's the same reason I do hundreds of other things:
When I get into my car, I put my seatbelt on, not because I expect to drive dangerously or wreck my vehicle, but just in case.
When I cross the one lane dirt road adjacent to my driveway, I look both ways. Do I really expect a lot of traffic? No, certainly not. But I do it anyway, just in case.
I take my cat to get her rabies vaccine every year. I did it even when she lived as an indoor cat before we moved. Because I expected my house guests to bite her and give her rabies? No, but she might escape and she might need it.
I have candles in my house because the power might go out. I have smoke alarms not because I'm a pyromaniac, but just in case.
For us, who do carry and accept it as a piece of our lives, putting on your gun is like putting on your seatbelt. Just in case. But I can hear the protests to these arguments and I have to admit there is one that is pretty good: "But putting on a seatbelt won't kill you. It isn't dangerous."
Those who make this protest have a valid point. The point they're making, whether or not they know it, is that there is a difference between active and passive safety measures, to steal terms from the automobile industry.
Passive safety measures rely on objects or others to function the way they are supposed to and keep us safe. They usually don't require much training or effort to use. The seatbelt is one: putting it on doesn't require a lot of training. The 911 system is another. We can call it in an emergency and they will send help, not much effort needed. Fire alarms, airbags, deadbolts, reflective vests, helmets, shoes, tetanus shots, and so on, are passive safety measures.
These things are great. The only problem is, they sometimes fail and they can be defeated with enough determination. The burglar with bolt cutters or an ax, the airbag that fails to trigger, the drained battery in a fire alarm, the person who doesn't see the reflective strip. You get the picture.
Active safety measures, on the other hand, are a tad different. Defensive driving, swimming lessons, fire extinguishers, and CPR are the examples I'm going to use.
Trying to avoid a crash can end worse than taking the hit if an inexperienced driver swerves suddenly on a slick roadway. Without full understanding and good techniques, defensive driving can be dangerous.
Installing a swimming pool isn't a way to make yourself less likely to drown at the beach unless you go ahead and take the swimming lessons. In fact, you're more likely to drown in your own back yard!
Someone may have a fire extinguisher in their home but if they use a water-based extinguisher on an electrical fire things could go horribly wrong. Not to mention the risk of exposure to chemical agents from some types. Extinguishers may be great in some cases, but they are also dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.
First aid and especially CPR are another example. Someone with limited or no training may try to render aid to the collapsed man in the restaurant yet CPR is dangerous too. It involves turning the chest of the recipient into so much broken rib jelly, it often induces vomiting, and once started should (read must) be carried on until someone arrives to relieve you. This is incredibly unsafe. You risk exhaustion, infection with the flu, tuberculosis, or blood born pathogens such as HIV. If some disaster is happening around you (did he collapse from carbon monoxide inhalation?), you risk getting caught in the carnage. And especially, there is the risk of making a mistake and causing more harm to the person you're trying to help.
This doesn't mean we shouldn't have fire extinguishers in our homes, pools in our backyards, consider dodging out of the way of the oncoming tractor trailer truck, receive training in CPR and first aid. It simply means we must get the training and be aware of the responsibility that comes with it.
Guns and carrying a firearm are the same sort of active safety measure. In the hands of an untrained individual they have the potential to be dangerous, just like CPR learned from a TV show. But when handled and carried by someone who knows the drill, they are quite safe and often quite useful. Just like that same CPR applied by a well trained stranger.
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