There are jobs that require you to be armed. Law enforcement is the big one, but if you’re going to work for an armored car company, you’re probably going to be carrying a gun as well.

Yet there are a lot of jobs where you might well need a gun while carrying out your duties, even if a lot of people wouldn’t think of it that way.

Personally, I think anyone who goes out and about as part of their job is especially vulnerable to armed criminals–though we also know sometimes sitting in an office and leaving your gun at home is a bad idea.

Take this repo man, as an example:

Having your car repossessed isn’t a fun situation, and while it usually can be avoided, sometimes people are in genuinely bad financial situations where it can’t be helped. Even if that’s the case, pulling a gun on  the tow truck driver who’s just doing his job is far from a practical solution. One man learned this lesson the hard way when police responded to the situation, immediately arresting the guy.

The suspect, who was identified as “Henry,” tells police the tow truck driver was in fact stealing his car. We’ve heard other people refer to repo men as professional thieves, usually by individuals who believe paying their bills should be optional.

…

Henry deescalates things like a pro, telling officers to “relax” because he’s “cooperating” after they cuff him. Of course, he won’t tell them where the gun is stashed, but doesn’t matter, right? Later, an officer finds a .22 round in his pocket – oops!

We learn from a witness that Henry took the keys from the tow truck, then pulled a gun and threatened the repo man. That witness tried to talk Henry off the ledge, but to no avail. The tow truck driver’s story matched up nicely with the one witness said.

Now, this particular incident was resolved thanks to law enforcement, I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Henry here decided to get violent.

It takes time for the police to arrive at any situation. If you’re lucky, they happen to be just a handful of seconds away such as what happened during the outlet mall shooting in Allen, TX when an officer happened to have responded to a previous call at the mall.

Should a repo man carry a gun? I won’t say it should be mandated, but a lot of places would rather make it more difficult for such a person to carry one. “They don’t need a gun,” they argue, and most of the time they’re right.

Yet that’s true of anyone, including police officers. Most officers go their whole career without ever firing their weapon except at a gun range. Should they be barred from carrying a firearm because they won’t need it most of the time?

A lot of people see armed citizens as a problem. They think the issue will somehow escalate. Yet a law-abiding citizen has no desire to escalate anything, as a general rule. The problem is that the other guy gets a vote.

In this case, there was a peaceful resolution. There’s no guarantee there will be the next time, though.