A hypothetical question for someone that packs a gun (concealed carry)

[Lurks Often]

20. You fail to consider the regional differences

What isn't a big deal in Utah, is likely to be a big deal, if not outright illegal in California or Connecticut.

Open carry of a long gun or handgun, while technically legal in CT, is rarely seen in public. Having said that, I'll say the same thing as everybody else: if the gun is slung from the shoulder and the person appears to be merely going about his/her business, I'll pay more attention to them. If he has the gun in his hands and is wearing a ski mask or doing anything else a reasonable person would consider alarming, I am calling the police and heading for the nearest exit in the opposite direction the person with the gun is going.

Someone who carries a gun is under NO LEGAL OBLIGATION to engage (open fire) on a person shooting other people.

Speaking for myself, if I ended up in a situation like the Clackamas mall shooting, I would have to consider a number of things: can I safely fire at the shooter without endangering someone behind him, am I endangering anybody near me if he fires back, do I have sufficient cover to stop his return fire, is there more then one shooter, even if I can safely fire at the shooter without endangering someone near/behind him, do I have a reasonable chance of hitting him, can I escape without being shot.

Is this an indiscriminate shooting by a mentally deranged person or a targeted crime, say against a Brink's guard with money coming from or going to a store?

Given all the different variables involved, it's hard to definitively say Yes, I would shoot or No, I would not shoot. Again, speaking for myself, using the Clackamas mall shooting as an example, everything would have to be just right before I would consider shooting unless I had no other choice.