“There is a beast inside every man, and it stirs when you put a sword in his hand.” - George R R Martin.

If you carry a gun, for a living or for self-defense, you need to think through the implications before you need that tool. Your mind needs to be right in advance of a deadly force incident. When the incident occurs is too late for that thought process to happen. It needs to be part of your worldview well in advance.

One of the things that I am proudest of in my dual careers, is that I never used deadly force because I could, or even because I wanted to. I am proud of the fact that I was professional enough to only use that level of violence because it was objectively necessary.

The decision to use deadly force should be as dispassionate as triage in an ER, it should literally be a mathematical equation. If the opponent chooses non-threatening action “A” he gets response “B” and is unharmed. If he chooses aggressive action “C” then he gets response “D” and is answered with deadly force. Necessity, not rage or fear or cruelty.

Looking at conflict this way both ensures you act ethically and avoids much of the negative emotional response that can follow the use of deadly force. The decision was his, not yours. Math, pure and simple. Dispassionate and void of anger or hatred. Failing to use this mental paradigm not only makes you vulnerable to the emotional stress of using violence on another human being, it also makes it easier to lose your way. I’ve seen good honorable men do evil things because of rage or fear. There is a beast in all of us that awakens in conflict. The way to keep that beast reigned in is the mental discipline of this mathematical equation. Follow the math, control the beast, and act with honor. Math.