@baldur I always find the presence of armed people shocking.

Mostly because of the intrusive thoughts whenever I see one that I should absolute snatch it from its little holster and shoot the owner, while screaming "do you feel safer now, you dolt?"

@kay @baldur
I'm not sure if this helps or not, but you can't just pull a gun straight from a holster these days. There's usually some kind of retention mechanism that you have to release before you can draw the weapon.

Edit: Just to make it abundantly clear, this is very specifically about the post that I'm directly replying to. I'm general, I don't think cops should exist at all, much less carry guns. I don't think police disarmament or abolition is going to happen before the person I replied to is going to be in a position where they're close to a cop with a gun, though. I do appreciate the optimism, though.

@jargoggles @baldur One small clasp mechanism away

Luckily the only time I've ever see armed police is in airports so it's not like the other worst-case intrusive thoughts, in that it's very very rare x3

@kay @baldur
Ah, but the trick is - where is the release and how do you get your hand in a position to both get it and pull the gun away in a quick, smooth enough motion to beat even a modest reaction time?

Unless you *really* practice it (and please, please don't), you can tell your intrusive thoughts, "sure, and how about I steal his watch without him noticing while I'm at it?"