Why Get A Concealed Carry Permit If You're Going Tell People You Have It?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Wyocarp, I guess you meant that with your CWP; you don’t need to put your SSN on the 4473 and the dealer does not have to waste time with the phone call to get the NCIS check done. Not that we have a waiting period for firearms purchases, which we don’t.

Back on topic;
I don’t mind telling people I have a CWP, which usually happens during a conversation about guns of some sort. There are some folks (Wyoming gun owners) who don’t know that you can legally carry a concealed firearm for the fairly low cost of $79 and proof of competency (Mil ID card covered the training/class requirement). I don’t, and wouldn’t, share it with everyone I meet, but I might mention it in a casual conversation with co-workers, friends, and other gun owners I may meet.
 
Why Get A Concealed Carry Permit If You're Going Tell People You Have It?
Click to expand...

simple, because if you have a pistol in your pocket, but no CCW permit, and you tell everyone you meet you have a pistol in your pocket, the police will still take you to jail.

Conceal is about VISUAL not VERBAL

Now, I can see some tactical value to keeping the gun a total secret, and I can be aware of the social backlash that can occur if you are "outed" as a gunny.

I am also, however, aware that there can be great value to our cause if we make having a gun seem normal, not bad and scarry. To make it seem normal, we have to have instances of normal gunnies interacting with normal 'muggles' when the 'muggle' is aware of the gun, and is not harmed by the gun, and must conclude that the difference between this gun and the gun in the hands of the gangbanger is person who wields it directs it, and inanimate object is inanimate morally as well.
 
I have absolutely no problem telling people that I have a CWL or that I carry, like others said concealed != secret. I encourage others to share with people, it is beneficial to our cause. As a result of conversations I have had 7 more people have their CWL and a lot of them carry routinely

If someone doesn't like me because I like guns oh well, they probably would have found another reason not to like me anyway.

There is a difference between randomly yelling "I am licensed to carry a firearm and I have one on me" and selectively telling people about it, even people that you have just met. I don't tell everyone, just people that I think I can (a.) educate or (b.) have a fun conversation with.

I have better relationships with a couple of the neighbors, and I have enjoyed countless hours of enjoyable discussion of firearms.

It is important to show others that we are not crazy and in order to do that we need to reveal ourselves as gun owners and CWL holders. If we are able to show that we are responsible people others will be more likely to support us if & when politicians go after concealed carry.
 
Last edited:
Hanzerik, what I meant was that I don't have to wait to pick up a firearm. I friend of mine that I work with here in Jackson Hole went to get a pistol from a store in Casper and couldn't. He had to go back a week later after he was approved. That doesn't happen with a permit.

And Treo, what is all of the conversation about cost? You seem frustrated that we all don't agree with you. We do have different opinions on here. I think the more mystical we make guns, the more mystical guns are to those who don't have any experience with them. And I remember you telling a story on yourself that made me cringe about dropping a pistol out of a backpack. In that case it might have been better to carry it in your hand.

In my opinion, the more that "normal" people openly carry guns, the more normal the idea of guns becomes. I've had some pretty good conversations about guns when people find out that I have a permit.
 
There are extremes in every situation,some folks keep to themselves and others feel compelled to share information. It's up to the individual to decide if they want to tell some, all, or none of the people they know.
 
Most people in the NRA promote that fact it kind of defeats the purpose not to so carrying is not to far away from what else one does if it's allowed in your state.
 
One of my buddies got one but nevers carries he just simply uses it for making purchases
 
It sounds like some folks were just looking for a kindred spirit. Seems like they were looking in the wrong place.
 
Now to clarify, I'm not talking about mentioning that you have a CHP in the CONTEXT of a 2A related conversation. I'm talking about the kind of idiot who turns to you as you walk into Wal-Mart and says " I hope no one tries to rob this place tonight 'cause I'm PACKIN' and I don't want to have to shoot anybody."
Click to expand...
That's odd, that's not the example you gave in your original post. Here's the example I recall:

I came home a couple weekends ago, my neighbor opened a conversation W/ me by in forming me that he had just got his CHP. The reason he got it ,according to him was so that he could leagally carry a gun in his car. You don't need a permit to have a gun in your car in Co.
Click to expand...

The next example is also mundane and certainly nothing like your second set of "real life" scenarios.

Last Week I was talking to a co-worker about cops & speeding tickets, first time I've met this guy & out of nowher he tells me that when he gets pulled over the first thing he gives the cop is his CHP.
Click to expand...

It seems your original two examples weren't meaty enough given the comments, so now we have people walking into Wal-Mart and turning to you saying "I'm armed and I hope I don't have to shoot anyone". I'm sorry... I call BS on that one.

I took those two examples right out of real life.
Click to expand...
Why didn't these much more questionable examples make it into your first post? Seems odd they come out 3 pages later.

I'm talking about the kind of person who thinks that having a permit makes him "cool" and wants everybody around him to know how "cool" he is.
Click to expand...
Really? Announcing your status to a police officer (per your original post) is acting "cool"? I just don't see that.

I would agree that flashing a weapon to impress random people on the street is ignorant, however I would submit that such behavior (per your second set of "real life" examples) is very few and far between. To be honest, I've never witnessed such ignorance first hand. I've never had a person turn to me in any public venue and announce to me that they were armed and hoped they didn't have to shoot anyone.

Maybe people in Indiana are more mature... or maybe you're exaggerating.
 
i understnad your basic thought on this topic, but i see it this way.

am i going to walk into a mall and yell at the top of my loungs that i am carrying a gun. well no.

the only reason i tell people i carry is if they ask for one. or is they are intested in guns/own guns for two, and for three if they talk about gun laws and/or how crazy gun owners are to prove to them that gun owners are not hicks that like to kill stuff.

that i can be a very cool and laid back person, but i will not become prey.
 
Having returned to this thread after a period of absence, I am left with the inescapable conclusion that the original poster opened this thread not to ask a question, but rather to make a statement. Why else would he ask a question and then take issue with those who responded ... and then ask that the thread be locked when the responses didn't support his preconceptions?
 
sturmgewehr said:
Seems he deleted his original post, luckily I captured most of it.
Click to expand...
Nice.

Behavior like that confirms my opinion that he didn't really want people to answer his question unless they were going to confirm his position. This brings to mind one of the late Ann Landers' more famous aphorisms: "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen."
 
We all leave people with impressions based on what we say or how we act. This comment that was made by Treo made an impression on me.

On my way back up to the front I DROP THE GUN!!!! Of course customer service sees me drop the gun & acts like I'm the biggest idiot they've ever seen. So I give them back their ticket & they recomend that I look online for the holster.
Click to expand...
 
I'd prefer to open carry, unfortunately I can only to that on my own property. Elsewhere I can ONLY conceal. I don't mind people knowing I have a gun. Most don't. The few that due won't be surprised by it, but I won't be expecting them to be either.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top