This topic is likely already a dead horse, but I'll take one more swing at it...

Even thinking about reaching for a pistol when someone cuts you off in traffic is indicative of the ridiculous times in which we live. If the person forced you to a stop and then got out of his/her vehicle, only then would reaching for your pistol be a legitimate option - or reaching for it immediately after they stopped your vehicle, in order to be prepared.

I am very much pro-gun ownership and I think carrying a hand gun in your vehicle in case of an emergency is a legitimate thing to do. Just please don't jump the gun (pun intended) and reach for your pistol every time a driver pisses you off... otherwise you'd spend all of your time cocked and loaded and would probably never reach your destination

Hmm, it's probably splitting hairs now as to timing, but I would prefer to have gun in hand just a tad sooner, provided I am able to control the vehicle. I think that too is a legitmate option, but as I said before, YMMV. Besides, with a round in the pipe on my Glock, cocked and loaded is normal mode.

Though we strayed off topic a bit, the debate gave me the opportunity to resolve my position somewhat so I don't sound totally insane. Thanks for the respectable banter folks. I found it interestingly engaging.

Just curious, but what hand do you have your pistol in once its drawn? If you have to stop, you want to be able to get out since you're effectively unable to maneuver any further while still inside the vehicle. You have to put the vehicle into park, otherwise your vehicle may become a moving hazard. With the weapon in your right hand you'll have trouble with the shifter. With the weapon in your left hand, you won't be able to effectively shoot at someone directly at your driver side window. Plus right hand has to undo seatbelt and then open car door. Am I missing something? Where and how is everything positioned?

ROE for civilian driving in the supposedly friendly homeland. Surely some security-types out there have fine-tuned this topic?

It's given us a peek into your thought processes too. Benjamin my friend, I think you're carrying the full auto firearm incident (you experienced in Iraq?) over into your USA driving days. Then you had a serious guy with a serious firearm willing to do serious damage to you, and if I can be a half-assed analyst for a minute that bugged you out a bit. Enough to read potential personal aggression into crappy driving, and to arm up and be at the ready Just In Case.

I used to react alot like you for different reasons. Two things cured me, time and a much bigger guy than I could handle, who heard me cuss him out for cutting me off. We both stopped at a gas station, and I was ready to draw down in what I imagined the judge would call self-defense. He was big, calmly walked over to my car, and apologized for cutting me off. I said okay, and calmed down. In the same calm voice he said "You know you really should be careful what you say, it can land you in a word of hurt." I like to think I squeaked out my own apology for what I said, but I dont' think I really did.

Time made me realize that everyone is a crappy driver sometime, and if you make one bonehead maneuver every few years you are driving par for the course: at that point and no other, we are all the bad driver everyone else cusses at. Anyway, I think that and it calms me now.

Now that is a good dose of perspective.

I will still desire more to arm myself, just in case. Mr. Clown got a California Howdy after he got on his binders a second time and took a right turn, without signalling. I can chalk up his first mistake to just a foh-pah, and my reaction to want to grab a gun to just being me. The second mistake implies a deliberate disregard and lack of consideration for courtesy on the road, and so the requisite gesture of contempt on my part as I passed him by. At that point, it would've taken more than a simple apology from Mr. Clown to absolve his attitudinal disorder, had a confrontation ensued.

I was like this before I went to Iraq. Going there only made me moreso I reckon. I guess my processes aren't the model for others, but they work for me, and so far Mr. Lawman hasn't been given cause, yet. We'll see what happens if push ever does actually come to shove, though I figured long ago that most of the time I am only one or two steps away from being a convicted criminal.

No worries, take it with a grain of salt. One or two steps from being a criminal really says it all - exactly how I feel thinking back on my own near brush with involuntary manslaughter. Despite my own pro-2A stance, I think its overkill to be armed and ready for most driving incidents.

But there's no accounting for where other people drive, I've definitely driven in places with alot more aggression than the Pacific Northwest. Let us know though if you start seeing IEDs along the interstate though, I have a buddy who drove convoys to Baghdad for 26 months going through that now.

I can't resist..."faux pas". Now, draw down if you feel so inclined.

There are a least 20,000 people on this planet that are lucky that I don't have rocket launchers on my car or a UAV ("Stripes").

Hey, I'm from Texas, not France or New Orleans. The way I spelt it, I reckon more folks will be able recognize it, otherwise, someone's gonna go "what the heck is this fox pass thing?"

Rocket launchers, flame throwers, emg pulse machines, HO microwave horns, a 155mm bore, a phased plasma rifle in a 50 watt range, my wish list just goes on and on...

Top of my list is a large LED roof bar, that displays pre-programmed messages to the front and back of the car: forward messages display and scroll backwards, so the dillwad gets my message in his mirror.