A Case For Carrying A Firearm

[furyus]

I say "It's better to have it, and not need it,than to need it, and not have it."

 

[Bruzilla]

I say "It's better to have it, and not need it,than to need it, and not have it."

And that's a great point given that all things are equal, but sadly they are not. There's a minuscule chance you'll ever need it, and a host of daily issues with having it. When you weigh the potential good against the actual bad... that's why I decided to use my permit like most Floridians do, which is to get out of the three-day waiting period.

 

[Speedbird]

I can see how a howitzer on the hip might the problem.
Gives over kill a whole new meaning.

 

[Slap Stick]

It's also a women's rights issue.

Womens rights? What's that. No mention in CotUS.

 

[69a100]

I have to stick with Bru here, in my 59 years on the earth, I have never had a need to protect mime or someone else's life while out in public. If I had a CCW would I carry? Probably not very often if at all. Why, like I said, I just don't put myself into situations where I would need it. Do I want one? Yes, just so I can if I need to, or want to carry. But the best would be to get out of a ticket or to bypass having to pay for BK checks when buying something new.

 

[Auggie56]

I carried for twenty years as a patrolman, but off duty, I carried into neighborhoods (duty weapon P226 Sig) where I knew there was danger. I still carry a 32 auto in my pocket when going out. As far as wining the lottery I'd rather have that ticket in my pocket and save myself or someone else. The thing now days is that you can be a victim almost anywhere. As these animals are out there looking for an easy victim. Victims like the elderly, handicapped, females, Asians and Mexicans. Their rationale is that these people rarely fight and the last two don't use banks as they don't trust them, illegals don't have bank accounts because they have no valid ID. So these thugs think they carry cash. You now have kids as young as twelve that are pulling guns and robbing. Sorry, that's the world we live in nowadays and I don't see things getting better. It's a burden to carry all the time as well as a big responsibility. The wife and I pay for shooters insurance through the NRA, so I'm not worried about a future litigation. Be well people.

 

[hemicop]

I've been in LE 40yrs now---rarely do I now or ever did carry. My theory was always: know where you're going, have an escape route and simply, be ready for the loon that may approach you. Now that's NOT to say I'm against any, ANYONE, LEGALLY carrying a firearm as I completely agree in post #21. I've been around long enough to know the police can't protect you, a passer-by (generally) WON'T step-up so that leaves you to your own devices. If that means carrying---- Via con Dios---just be willing to accept the consequences when/if you use it.........

 

[Dennis H]

Expect the unexpected. Leave your firearm unloaded until ready to use? Since we don't know when or if that will ever be, it must remain loaded at all times. Some things are apparent.

 

[Bb70charger500]

I carry a full size ruger p90 .45 I don't even know it's there not sure we're holstering a gun is uncomfortable,now you sound like bufeet t justice's son in Smokey and the bandit were he tells his daddy he took the bullets out because they made the gun to heavy! You don't need the biggest badist gun made get a little tiny .32 pocket pistol it is small and light! Will that really cause you discomfort ! People carry all sorts of useless trash with them all the time smart phones ,head phones,laptop,tablits,keys to locks you don't know about!....ext you don't use this stuff everyday but you like to keep it near if you need it.the world is changing,people are killing each other like its legal.just because you don't hear about it doesn't mean it doesn't happen there's tons of news storyline about deadly shootings muti people dead. It the ones where shooter goes in and starts shooting guy pulls his carry and shoots him dead ! This stuff happens all the time. The democratic news b.s. filters it out because it's not conducive to there agendas! People are blind or stuiped if they don't think a shooter situation is a tv/movie thing only I feel sorry for you and your loved ones I hope for your sake you don't find out the heard way!

 

[DeltaV]

IMO, practice regularly to maintain familiarity and proficiency with your conceal/carry weapon.

 

[DeltaV]

What can an average, law-abiding citizen do to reduce their chances of being violently murdered? It’s very simple. It doesn’t matter if you live in Hell’s Kitchen in New York City or you live in rural, southeastern Virginia. Stay out of bars at closing time. Nothing good ever happens after midnight. Do not buy, sell or use narcotics or associate with those who do. And try to marry well. Don’t marry a psychotic. If you don’t do these things, the odds of you being a victim are an inch tall. You do any of those things and they are 2 feet tall. If you do them in combination, they are 10 yards tall. - Joe Kenda, Homicide Hunter

https://pilotonline.com/entertainme...cle_bb77357d-df62-549d-a431-005a7cc545eb.html

 

[Bb70charger500]

Or instead of hiding in your house your entire life get a gun and go do stuff . Why waist your life to hide from criminals!

 

[MoparLeo]

Deciding to be able to protect yourself or loved ones is a personal choice. If you don't feel comfortable doing something like carrying concealed, you have the right not to do it and shouldn't do it. Here is the thing. Most documented shootings are ( other than gang shootings) between a L.E.O and a "suspect". L.E.O's are required to shoot X amount of rounds per month through their duty guns and are required to shoot a Qualifying score from time to time. Yet the vast majority of the time these "trained" officers rarely are able to hit their targets. Now lets take the person who has no firearms experience but is afraid so he goes to his local gun shop and buys whatever is recommended to him or that he has heard of on TV. He buys the gun, a box of ammo and maybe some ear plugs and thinks he is now set. No practice, no training. Now that guy probably shouldn't own a gun for his own protection. Like mentioned before, He will probably not need it in his lifetime( depending on where you live). If he does, he will probably not think of it, or it will probably not be accessible to him, or the ammo is not with the gun, or he can't load it, or if everything works out in his favor, he will most likely not hit what he is shooting at. Like anything else be it cutting a good light at the strip, shooting free throws or whatever you like to do, it requires a lot of constant practice and commitment. If you can't/won't commit to the being proficient, keeping informed of the legal ramifications, being mentally able to squeeze that trigger and possibly kill someone, then you for sure shouldn't be armed, at least not in public. But remember "That when seconds count, the Police are only Minutes away" You make the choice.

 

[Dennis H]

Very good points made.

 

[Dennis H]

Took the garbage out @ 0400. Why would you NOT drop this in your pocket? Come on, common sense.

 

[miller]

But remember "That when seconds count, the Police are only Minutes away" You make the choice.

Those are good words. But, reality jumps in, the fact that 'when something happens', it can only take a matter of seconds...and too late.
Don't get me wrong, I respect the police, and the job they do, but they can't cover everything.
Just like where I'm at, sort of in the country, edge of a small town. Problem is, there's too many nuts out there, who would do things in an instant, just to have their way.
My neighbors just told me of, a widowed woman they know, who, while at their house for bible study, her house was broken into! Completely tore up. Sounds terrific, huh?
I'll keep my 1911, loaded, and where it's at. If the time comes, hopefully not, no excuses.
Lucky, so far, but have been too close to bad deals, that took a life. And, could have easily been me!

 

[DeltaV]

View attachment 514763 Took the garbage out @ 0400. Why would you NOT drop this in your pocket? Come on, common sense.

Agree, especially since there are four-legged creatures roaming around here...and venomous snakes.

Feral pigs, alligators, and black bears (which run away). Rabid animals are a concern, but I haven't seen any.

 

[Bruzilla]

Looks like lots of folks trying to squeeze square pegs into round holes, which is often the case when this issue comes up. So let's look at the holes for a second.

First, there's, realistically, about a 1 in 97,531 chance of you being a victim of any violent crime on any given day. This goes to about 1 in 4,221,735 when you factor in only those crimes where lethal force can be used in most states (Attempted murder, rape, or robbery). So yes, there is a risk of being a victim, but it's awfully damn slim.

Second, speaking as someone who used to carry, it is a pain in the ***. For example, I would put my holster and handgun on (either a 2.5" S&W Model 19 or a Sig P226 9MM), when I left the house. Then I had to take it off when I got to work. Then when we went to lunch, I had to find out if where we were going served alcohol. If they did... no carry. If I went to a place for lunch that didn't serve alcohol, but also needed to stop at a store that prohibited carrying, on and off again. Back to the office and the gun was off again. On again to go back home and then back in the rack. Bottom line was my gun spent far more time in the center console of my car than on me, which is bad because over half the guns that are stolen each year are not stolen from homes or businesses, but from cars. So every time I took that gun off and left it in the car because I couldn't carry where I was going, I was at far more risk than being a victim of a violent crime.

Third, carrying is comfortable, or uncomfortable, depending on who you are. If you're skinny as a rail, you may not have a problem. If you're heavy like me, you might. It's also a pain if you sit a lot, especially in an office chair where the gun is up against a hard chair arm. If you're standing most of the time, it's less of a problem. So just because carry is comfortable for you doesn't mean it's comfortable for everyone, and everyone needs to decide what works best for them.

Fourth, a lot of you who think carrying is a great idea, and have visions of being attacked and defending yourself and family, have never been in a totally defensive situation like this. It's nothing like what you think, and very difficult to prepare for. I've written before about when I was attacked while on watch in the Navy, and I was so busy getting my attacker off me, bashing his face to get him on the ground, and getting him under control that I totally forgot I had a loaded M1911A1 on my hip.

Another issue people don't realize is the confusion factor. In a blitz situation, you have no ear protection on, which means the second someone pulls a trigger, you're ears shut up and your head buzzes. This was an issue I used to bring to light when I was teaching defense back in the 1990s at an outdoor range, and without notice I would fire a shot while the class had their ear protection off, and every single one of them would be startled and confused. That's the usual reaction to that situation, and one that shooters are rarely prepared for as they are used to shooting with ear protection on.

So in 30+ years of training this stuff, I've met a lot of what I call John Waynes who have these fantasies that they are going to carry, be threatened, and save the day using their ice cool wits and steady hand, but that's rarely ever the case. Most of them will never be in a situation where they would need a firearm, and many who do either dont use the weapons, like I did or flee the scene without thinking about it, and those who are able to get a shot off usually are damn lucky to hit the bad guy, which is okay as the bad guys are usually hauling *** the moment they see a gun.

So yes, I agree 100% with all of the arguments the "I gotta carry!" folks make, but when you look at the reality of what actually happens when you carry... it's not worth it for most people out there.

 

[Bruzilla]

IMO, practice regularly to maintain familiarity and proficiency with your conceal/carry weapon.

And this is an issue I've been preaching about for decades! I've yet to have a student who says they practice with their weapon actually practice in a useful way. Their idea of practice is to go to a gun range, observe all range safety requirements, don ear and eye protection, and shoot at a non-moving or non-maneuvering target using their strong hand. All of these are ideal conditions for target shooting, but usually worthless for a real-world defensive situation.

First, you won't be wearing ear protection, which means the moment someone fires you're going to lose your hearing and depending on your physiology you may also partly lose your balance. You're instinctively going to be using your strong hand to push, shove, punch, or otherwise engage with an attacker, not reaching for a gun. This I emphasize to my students by throwing a ball at one of them unexpectedly. Every one of them reaches with their strong hand to grab the ball, they don't reach for their weapon. Instinct drives behavior far more than training, so if you're not shooting with your weak hand, you're not proficient. And God help you if you're carrying a 1911A1 or similar pistol that doesn't have an ambidextrous safety.

Lastly, there's rarely an opportunity to get into a Weaver stance to shoot. More likely you're going to be on the ground, off balance, against a wall, arms pinned, or otherwise encumbered, so how much do you practice shooting with your gun at your waist and doing instinctive firing vice aimed fire? Probably not very often.

Most people are proficient shooters on a range, but are totally unprepared for defensive situations.

 

[Bruzilla]

You don't need the biggest badist gun made get a little tiny .32 pocket pistol it is small and light!

I just had this discussion with a guy who wanted to buy a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum revolve with a 2" barrel as a concealed carry weapon. Aside from needing to wear suspenders to hold his pants up with that much weight on his hip, I pointed out that a bullet's ability to do damage is based on how much energy it transfers, and energy is based on velocity and mass. A .44 Magnum has a large amount of mass, but needs to be going at a pretty good clip, like 1,400 FPS+ to put that mass to good use. A bullet only gains in velocity when it's in a barrel. Once it clears, it's starting to decrease speed, and a .44 Magnum bullet fired through a 2" barrel only gets up to about 800 FPS, which gives it about the same energy transfer as most 9MM and .38 Specials that fire a smaller bullet but at a higher velocity.

So yes, bigger isn't always better.