More Words, Deeper Hole

I strongly agree with items 1 and 3. 2 sort-of falls out from being willing to use the weapon in the first place the way I think of it; and having your weapon taken from you is statistically very very rare for civilians (it's much more common for police; police have to approach people and handcuff them as part of their jobs, and they carry openly).

I do disagree on your interpretation of #3 there; quite a large percentage of people feel no really deep psychological disturbance after using deadly force in a clear-cut self-defense situation. Not that anyone really knows in advance.

Also, on things you need to learn -- learn about the laws on use of deadly force in your state and any other states you'll carry in (many states have some degree of recognition of out-of-state carry permits). And learn about police procedure, and about the attitudes of your home-city police force at least. One of the things I enjoyed teaching carry classes, and which I think may have done broader social good, was explaining to a class of white suburban folk (not exclusively, but more than the average percentage in the area) that the police weren't their friends any more, and they couldn't count on being assumed to be the good guy.