Several years ago I went to get my paycheck cashed at the bank. I held the door for an individual and even let him cut me in line. After all, it was pay day and I had nothing to do but sleep, eat and catch up on some television I'd missed due to work.
That guy, also in a hooded sweatshirt, robbed the bank while three feet in front of me. All the while, I had my gun on my hip. I never saw that he had a gun, though he implied that he had one.
Now this was the moment that, since I'd gotten my CCW hot off the presses that I'd been waiting for. I'd been planning for it. I had set up targets at the range and walked/drew/shot through dealing with it. I'd gone over it a million times in my mind. I'd day dreamed about being the hero that would save the teller only to hop on my horse and ride it off into the sunset with the bank teller sitting on the back of the horse with me.
I saw that he passed something to the teller and saw her immediately stiffen and go a shade of white usually reserved for people that have either died or gambled on a fart and it occurred to me what was happening. I put my hand on my gun and then promptly forgot that I needed to breathe to continue being conscious. I'd guess that my heart rate was probably 170.
I put my hand on my gun but, the thing was, that my hand and probably my whole body were shaking so bad that I don't know that I could have shot him. The teller gave him the money from the drawer and it really seemed as though I was in some kind of dream. That I was at home, in my bed asleep while simply having another masturbatory dream of being Galahad.
In the end, the bad guy got away with the money and I'm glad that he did. It turned out that he didn't have a gun (thankfully). The thing is, though, that I truly thank God every day that I didn't shoot him. That I didn't draw my totally legally carried gun and then use the ~10 pounds of pressure it would take to pull the trigger.
Why? Because money isn't worth a human life. I understand that others don't share this virtue and I'm ok with that. I'll deal with that situation should it arise. Until then, however, every person that robs a convenience/liquor/gas station/bank/Taco Bell is going to get away with it if I'm the one behind them. It's not my responsibility, as someone who carries a gun, to protect someone's bottom line.