So - you choose NOT to carry .. anyone? Why?

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P95Carry

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OK, you are legal age and over - you are NICS clean ... you are in a state that is ''shall'' or ''may'' issue, you are not stuck living in an anti gun household, you have at least one gun and shoot recreationally. But you don't carry - ever.

I know a large number of us DO carry ... but it's maybe unfair to assume that all do, who can.

If you are in the described category ...... of 'can' but 'don't' - be interested to know your rationale. Not looking to belittle anyone, so don't read this wrong.:)
 
I fully support concealed carry and I hope someday Ohioans will have a good CCW law. But if that ever happens I will most likely never, or very rarely carry a gun for defense.

The reason for this is that the parameters for a situation where having a concealed gun would be advantageous to me are so narrow that I probably wouldn't consider it worth the trouble. My profession does not necessitate use of a gun and in the event of an attack against my person I can resort to "other means" of defense much more quickly than I can bring a handgun to bear - especially from concealment. Granted, I can imagine situations where being armed might make the difference - but that kind of scenario is a real long-shot.

I do open carry in some situations - handguns as well as long guns. I also practice often with guns that could potentially be used for defense. So you see, I have no moral or ethical problem with the concept.
 
Don't carry often

My life goes like this:

Wake up
Go to work - at a education facility
Go home
Go to sleep

I don't want to get expelled and arrested all in the same day.
 
I generally don't carry (a firearm) even though I have a permit and all the rest.

Why not? Simply because I'm not as skilled with a handgun as I am with other weapons. I ALWAYS have at least two knives on me, and usually three or four. If I'm feeling particularly paranoid or vulnerable I'll add an Asp. I have a good deal of skill in stick and/or knife fighting. I'm much more confident with those weapons than I am with my sidearm.

I've noticed that a lot of shooters tend to believe that a gun is the only viable option for self defence. A gun is a formidable weapon indeed, but it is certainly not the only formidable weapon out there. Have you ever seen a trained Fillippino knife fighter in action? I have, and I wouldn't want to go up against him no matter what I was armed with.

I guess it comes down to skill and training more than hardware.
 
If you are in the described category ...... of 'can' but 'don't' - be interested to know your rationale. Not looking to belittle anyone, so don't read this wrong.
Click to expand...

I am. A permit, two weapons, assorted holsters, etc. Legal, capable, equipped.

I don't carry when I don't carry for the same reason that I do carry when I do carry.

I carry because I want to, and I don't carry when I don't want to.
 
I don't carry :) because I don't have a CHL yet.

Why not?

Haven't made the time to go kill a Saturday taking the course. I'm a lazy procrastinator, I know...

I have made plans to go take The Class this November, as a berfday present to myself.

I hope that once I do get my CHL I will carry regularly... I think it will be easy in the winter to do so (concealed under jacket) but not so much in the summer (Texas is frickin HOT). I'll need, at the very least, a smaller pistol for summer carry than my 1911 (currently my #1 contender for Carry Piece once I do get my CHL)
 
CC

For those of you who DON'T think you need to carry,at a given time I ask:

DO YOU WEAR A SEAT BELT ??

If you can predict your day or safety level during it, (you and others) why wear a seat belt. Do you make your family and kids belt up?

I'm not trying to jam carrying down your throat, just giving the view a take.

"To my mind it is wholly irresponsible to go into the world incapable of preventing violence, injury, crime, and death. How feeble is the mindset to accept defenselessness. How unnatural. How cheap. How cowardly. How pathetic." --Ted Nugent



Keep Safe !!

Steve

Michigan
 
When I first got my permit (GA, Active Duty Military), I rarely carried because I had to go on the Base to work and was too lazy to get there early, goto the armorery, turn in the gun and then reverse at end of day.

Now, even though my workplace is "no weapons", as a civiy, I don't have armed gates and SP's along the way to my work place. I no longer work in a building that could only be accessed via a code lock. So, I now carry 16/7.

I carry for the same reason I wear a seat belt (no, not because they tell me too), have a fire extinguisher in my car and truck as well as four in the house, have a carbon monoxide as well as fire alarms/detectors in my home; I hope that I never need them but you never know when you will need them.

The worse excuse that I've ever heard from a person with a permit but never carried was "I don't like having the gun on me all day. It's uncomforable, heavy, and not worth it". He was a little guy trying to carry a full sized P85 in a cheap holster.

He got mugged at the Valdosta Mall parking lot and got the living crap beat out of him.

He found a nice carry gun and a nice holster after that and carrying became a second nature to him. He would yell at me if I "forgot" to arm because I just happened to be in a hurry :D.

M
 
I'm not trying to jam carrying down your throat, just giving the view a take.
Click to expand...

That's funny. It certainly sounds like that's exactly what you're trying to do.

One of the differences between me and the antis is that it's OK with me if they don't believe the same way I do.

Turns out that that same difference exists between me and several people here, and several people at the range.

I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell you.
 
I work at home, with my shotguns available. Previously, I worked in companies that prohibited firearms on their premises and had parking lots where my actions (securing a handgun in the trunk) would have been visible. But those are excuses, in my case.

Now, when I go out, it's often to places where NC prohibits carry: restaurants (alcohol is served there, so I can't carry even if I don't drink); places where admission is charged (the State Fair, theaters and the like); the bank or the post office; also to places where the owners have posted signs. In essence, I'm mooching off the people around me who do carry.

The fundamental reason is that I haven't practiced enough with a pistol to be confident in my skills. That's a problem I can solve, and I'm headed that direction.
 
Jamming the Jammer

Sorry what it should have read is THE VIEW I TAKE.

This is only MY opinion, and like having a fire exstiguisher or a pcket knife........... ya just never know !!


Not a "gunslinger", just feel the need to be prepared.


Steve
 
I'm licensed, able, and equiped, but rarely carry these days. Once it was whenever possible, but over time it became less and less.

P.S. Most wear seat belts because it's usually the law. They were installed in cars in 1968, but very rarely anyone used them till laws mandated them.
 
Haven't found the combination where I am physically comfortable and it is fully concealable. Carry is prohibited at work.
 
Interesting thread, and intersting responses. I'm certainly not a Ninja/Delta/SEAL Team Six kind of guy, but I shoot a fair amount (twothree times a week, ~ 150 rounds each time) have gone to two "gunslinger" classes... I carry 24/7

part of the reason is that I live in Houston, and we have a pretty significatn crime rate.

Biggest reason is because I had an AD when trying to remove my holster (IWB front side carry) that put a bullet through my groin, down and out the back of my leg.

Figured I should either not carry at all, ever...or I should carry every damn day and get it right. I now carry IWB behind the strongside hip, pretty much all the time.

I guess it's like a lot of things- whatever we get accustomed to seems "normal"...if we're not accustomed to it it seems weird/dangerous etc.

I do believe that if you think you might want to get a CHL "just in case" make a point of carrying all the damn time for the first month or so. carry enough that it doesn't seem uncomfortable, practice your presentation...and get training from a "name" school.

"Course then again, working on your situational awareness, and running away when things look sketchy are good ideas as well! *grin*
 
P.S. Most wear seat belts because it's usually the law. They were installed in cars in 1968, but very rarely anyone used them till laws mandated them.
Click to expand...

Not to mention that you're at least a thousand times more likely to be involved in an auto accident as you are to need a weapon...
 
I don't carry; I'm fully able to get the permit (no legal reasons keeping me from it). But, I have a ferocious temper at times; and I know it. Carrying a firearm would most likely cause more problems that it would solve.

W<
 
"To my mind it is wholly irresponsible to go into the world incapable of preventing violence, injury, crime, and death. How feeble is the mindset to accept defenselessness. How unnatural. How cheap. How cowardly. How pathetic." --Ted Nugent
Click to expand...

I like Ted, but that comment should not be used as a blanket condemnation of those who choose not to carry. I will probably never carry on a regular basis, but people who know me would not likely characterize me as a person who accepts defenselessness, is unnatural, cheap, or cowardly.

As far as I'm concerned if you tell me you carry because it is your legal right and because you want to, that is good enough for me -- you don't have to justify it to me. And if a time comes when it is legal and I discern a need to carry a gun, then I will do so.
 
I don't carry because the costs outweigh the benefits. To wit:

I attend classes and work on a college campus, which recently banned the carrying of firearms in response to Colorado's new shall-issue law. (I'm sure the fact that some sheriffs issued permits on a discretionary basis before the new law, and that holders of those permits probably carried on campus without their knowledge and without incident, never crossed their minds. But I digress.) So that's roughly 7am to 3:30pm every weekday that I'm either in my car or on campus.

Of the remaining time, most is spent at home.

Most of the time that's spent away from home is spent going to friends' homes, to the grocery store or mall, or to the range :D .

None of these occasions make me feel unsafe enough to think to myself, "I'd feel a lot better if I had a gun on me." Now, that would be moot, and I would carry anyway "just in case," except carrying is a huge PITA. Carrying IWB just is NOT comfortable, and carrying OWB just is NOT concealable. I know that's not "true" because no one here seems to agree, but it's sure as hell true for me. There's always pocket carry, but I don't own any pocket guns, and the previous paragraphs should hint at why I'm not running out to buy one.

And on top of all of that, I'm moving to another state in a few months' time, so paying $150 for a permit seems a poor investment.
 
which recently banned the carrying of firearms in response to Colorado's new shall-issue law.
Click to expand...
That somehow - seems a real oxymoron!! New shall-issue .... coupled with a ban ....... anachronistic seemingly.

Thanks for the numerous responses ....... a lot of candid and measured comments . :)
 
not carrying

my kid is getting old enough to notice and be curious and when I do get to go out I like to have a few cocktails with the boys. it's legal to carry here in bars but I usually get a buzz and that's not legal. :)



soooo, I guess I'd rather partake than carry.
 
Carried for 30 years due to job.
Quit carring off-duty after 2nd year.
Newness wears off pretty fast.

It really is a bother in a bikini.:D
 
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