Exactly!
Thanks for pointing out, what for some is obvious. You might have added the mental issues that will never go away after such event.
Take Care
Bob
I had a thrilling 10 years running the combat courses and training clinics in Central Mexico for civilians during the very height of the Drug War. I never thought about it too much at the time but I have some observations you may or may not find interesting.
I think if the person involved in the incident remains in a dangerous place after the incident for a significant amount of time, this helps with their mental processing of what they experienced. Going back to some 1st World Pansyland where it will be difficult to even find someone else who has experienced your plight isn't going to help and there is nothing worse than being in a situation where little floricitas are trying to look down their nose at you in judgement. (I can only imagine what people who have successfully defended themselves think of the current crop of Politicised Canadian Crown Attorneys, but that's just too much to try to assimilate on a quiet, hot evening like this.) It seems to help immensely and to be very therapeutic to find a group of like-minded and like-experienced individuals. The Combat Clubs around here have several who have had to do the deed. Drinking with them, the beer tastes better and the laughs at the dark humor makes one feel like they've walked on the dark side a bit, but it is good to know that one is not alone. They don't show up to matches dressed in spandex and bobby socks wearing "team" shirts. They wear real holsters. They tend to stick to their own crowd and not easily make new friends.
After you walk away or drive away from the encounter, the first two weeks will generally be the worst. If you are identified, the fuzz will probably be the least of your problems. Some gang or other will also be out gunning for you and yours. The good news is, the violence level is so high that few crimes are resolved, and since you defended yourself you didn't commit a crime. Why wait around and give some snivelling, entitled professional pansy with a degree the option of trying to rule that it was? If you get out of the actual area, hide the car, dump your clothes and clean the gun and stash it deep -- the countdown begins. I think if two weeks have passed and the S.S. still have not come a-pounding, you're pretty good to go. It's those two weeks where you go to work -- not wanting to, but knowing that any change to your routine might attract the attention you want to avoid, that take a toll on one. Talking to anyone is difficult and you must be smart enough to know that casual friends are not real friends, you should probably not talk. You should not confide. You should be in "act surprised, show concern, deny, deny, deny" mode. Show no more or less interest in conversations that come up about the event than possible, hopefully there will be few. And count the days. And sleepless nights. One foot ahead of the other. If you go through the two weeks -- you're probably scott free. And just keep moving on. If you are armed during those two weeks, for God's sake carry something different. Do not go back to where it happened.
Months later, things like ordering yourself a new barrel for your snubby (or going to see if they have one in the bins at the Custom Shop), or a new firing pin and barrel for your PPK are diversions that might occupy your mind and help you relax a bit. You will get over it. Maybe paint the car a different color. Or just go and say that your plates were stolen and get new plates. Little, useless things that help seal the possible cracks your spinning mind develops since you're pretty much working through things alone. And hopefully, it stays that way.
That two weeks of not really sleeping and sweating through the days -- trying to avoid having a constant hangdog look on your face as you constantly ask yourself "Did I have to? Was there another way?" will be truly character building. But you'll get over it. It will always be there, of course, but you'll get to a point where you never think about it unless you let yourself think about it. It's hard to tell someone going through it that the two weeks of truly-sucks will build a great character further along, but if a few days have gone by and nothing's happened yet they're probably fine. And they've helped clean up a world where even the Crown Attorneys are no longer always on the side of justice and good. And the dark humor....they'll suddenly fit right in. I suppose there are many who can't deal with it but I never met any around here. I think the natural violence of the land and culture help with that: they don't raise so many pansies. And pansies, of course, should stay where they can call a Policeman if they need help.
I don't think any course taken in advance will help anyone get through the thing, though. You'll just go into your two weeks of hell poorer than you would have been if you'd skipped on the course. How's that help matters? My thoughts of the matter. Other's mileage may vary. Obviously, suffering through an event such as this in Canada -- where policing is much more efficient and Crown Attorneys appear to be more puckered than Mrs. Grundy -- would be heartbreaking and probably result in a loss of freedom. And for what? For cleaning up the streets. It's enough to make one ask "Why?" was Dirty Harry against the vigilante squad in Magnum Force, exactly? Because there it is.
Hey, that new ruling by the President of Ecuador, now there's a politician who gets it! Damn!
good luck!
