[snippity]
The anti side played on emotion a lot. Especially Chris who mentioned in almost every speaking chance that he is a veteran. Well so are the other 2 guys on our side, and none used their status to draw emotion. Which worked out for us because it helped squash his "i'm a veteran, so the military trained me to be an expert" type of reasoning. With all his talk about being trained, you would think that he was a grunt or something. Turns out he's a helicopter pilot. Per his companies website, he was awarded the Bronze Star. For what, IDK.
[snippity]
I'm a veteran. I wasn't in the military .... I was in the Air Force.

However, I was qualified "expert" with small arms. I was required to re-qualify annually. I was able to compete once in an Excellence in Arms event, where I was one point from qualifying. I'm 99.99% sure the guy next to me got half a round on the very edge of my target. His target looked like a dozen hits landed. Mine had the center ripped out keyhole style. First count, they said I made 297 out of a possible 300. When they handed the target to the second counter, he touched the ripped edge and felt the stray hole on the edge. He said they had to subtract 10, giving me one point below the threshold for the next round in the competition. I was a little angry that the guy next to me messed up my chances of going forward, but I did win 3 1/2 cases of beer from a coworker who bet me 2 beers a point. He'd shown up a little hung over and without much sleep -- that was his excuse anyway.

Winning the bet made me a little less bitter about losing the round.
What that shows is that someone who did not grow up with guns, who had never fired a handgun before Air Force training, and who practiced on his own to maintain enough of his skill to make expert each year is totally capable of being more than just proficient with a firearm.
Being in combat, or any fire fight, is an experience I don't envy anyone. But, if I ever am in that situation, I know I can hit the target.
Since then, I've taken a 5 day defensive handgun class to learn about the tactical areas of firearm application for self defense. Clearing a room, putting 2 shots on target (center mass) in 3 seconds, and critical skills like clearing jams and checking for danger AFTER stopping the threat in front of me.
In the Air Force, I signed a document titled something like "Use of Lethal Force." It went through the same points that Vet Chris was trying to state. Firing a weapon at another person MAY (is not guaranteed) result in the taking of a life. Killing a human being must be something you are prepared to do
when your own life is in danger. Funny how Chris kept forgetting that last part.
Most people I think will do what they have to do when faced with a threat to their own life. One of the reasons we trained with silhouette targets is it desensitizes you when pulling the trigger toward another human being. The 2-page form had all the points Chris made and more. It ended with: if you are unwilling or unable to see yourself ever using a firearm to harm another human being for any reason, including to save yourself or someone else, you should not own a firearm. You should also sign the form and identify yourself as a "Conscientious Objector," someone who wants to serve in the military, but who is opposed to combat on moral grounds.
Chris had every chance in his military career, I'm sure, to identify as a contentious objector, but he didn't. Why not? Maybe because he did not hold moral, religious or other personal beliefs that would stop him from killing an attacker. What does that say about him? Was he conflicted that he was in a position where he didn't want to be? Did he change his mind? Did he ever kill anyone at all? Was the carnage of war in general something that changed his view about civilians being armed?
I think Chris may have PTSD, and he should seek counseling. His arguments and lecturing were pure emotion, even if the points are valid, He said nothing that focused on the Constitutionality of bearing arms, but rather tried to convince us that carrying a firearm -- no, a machine designed only to kill -- is a really serious decision. Well, duh!
By the way, firearms are designed to kill, but it's the use of those firearms that separates murder from self defense. If the other guy has a knife, gun or other potentially deadly weapon, I WANT lethal force on my side, too. If there's more than one of them, a Tazer or Pepper Spray isn't going to hack it.