What Drives Your Decision To Carry Daily.

Originally it was a "better to have it and never need it" and "there's no reason not to" thing for me. Now I always have one in easy reach, when possible.
Last August, my favorite neighbor's son's ex-girlfriend had some kind of mental breakdown, came to their apartment (when the son wasn't even home) with a gun and a bat, and proceeded to hold the neighbor and younger son hostage and destroy literally everything you can damage with a bat. Nothing glass was intact. Even the doorknobs got broken off.
The apartment was just downstairs from mine. It came to another neighbor calling 911 and, when I heard it, me kicking the door in (not heroically, the hinges and lock were broken), clearing the gun she brought (she had laid it down to cause damage with the bat, and the young son did well pointing me at it), and making sure the neighbors had space to get out.
I tossed the magazine and tucked her gun in my left pocket. She did her level best to cause lasting damage to me and did eventually wrestle it out. My LCP was in the other pocket, and she never knew about it.
If she had gone for that pocket instead, went for another weapon, or decided I was less important than the injured neighbors, I would have used it. But I was more focused on keeping her away from the neighbors and stalling for the police.
It never came into play. The mother restrained her and she fell unconscious about when the police arrived. I left with scars. She left handcuffed to a stretcher, and died on the way to the hospital across the street. Haven't heard an official cause yet; the most I could get from the detectives when they interviewed me later was "drug-related cardiac problems."
So... you never know.

Trunk Monkey your posts have totally changed my image of Colorado Springs and has made me determined to never visit it. I personally would make whatever sacrifices that are necessary to move from a such crime ridden city but I can understand there are reasons why you remain there.

I’d feel stupid if I needed one and I have guns in a safe at home and not on me.

There is nothing more dangerous than a man with a gun. There is nothing more hopeless than a man without one. I will never be in the latter category.

1. Practice what I preach

I regularly provide CCW courses and encourage people to carry everyday.
Hypocrites bug me.

2. I'm was not built for fisticuffs nor does the risk of slipping up during fisticuffs interest me in any way.

I weigh in at a whopping 135lbs and have minimal hand fighting training. To lose the fight puts me and mine at the mercy of someone who is ready and willing to do harm.

This outcome is unacceptable.

3. I take responsibility for the protection of myself and my family.

I can rely on no one else to be there in time. It's going to be me.

ETA: another good thread premise, OP

Any Calvinists here? Universal human depravity anyone?

Not to be overly "religious", but check out Jeremiah 17:9. particularly the "desperately wicked" part. Even if you don't accept the Bible as your rule of faith and practice, it's tough to say that verse isn't true! Just look outside! Or look inside at your own failings to do the right thing.

So... I carry because I know how bad even I can be. I do not remember ever having a murderous or suicidal thought in my life, but (all too often) I've still been wrong in what I've said and done; and I know that there are people out there that have even less regard for the differences between right and wrong than I do. If I regard the difference between right and wrong very highly and still fail often enough; what capability do those who have no acceptance for objective morality have?

Because there are days when carrying is highly (and I mean highly) impractical, or illegal, or otherwise extremely unwelcome on the part of people whom I love and respect, I don’t carry every day. Which basically means every time I leave the house, I pause and think for a moment about where I’m going, the likelihood of other stops/errands, etc., how long I’ll be out, and more, and I then make a decision as to whether to carry a gun. When I do carry, it’s not simply because I can, but because I wish to have (within what I deem reasonability) the ability to defend myself and/or loved ones, should a really dangerous situation arise. That’s it.

Trunk Monkey said:

Clearly you've never met a politician with an agenda or a large group of stupid people

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Or a person with a bomb. Or a person able to send a Tomahawk missile downrange. Or a person with time, patience, and a complete lack of caring about other consequences, who wishes to do others harm.

A few of my closest friends and some relatives know what I might be carrying. But when I am I become the gray man. I will protect what I need to and walk away if otherwise. I am no hero or want to become one for publicitys sake. You rise to your level of training and do what is needed with self preservation first and foremost. I carry because I can and it is but another tool to assure my survival if the need, no matter how remote, happens.

With regard to the query about whether any Calvinists are lurking about: I think Calvin was entirely too fun-loving and optimistic.

My carry of handguns started at age 13 due to the active mountain lion threat on our mountain property. My first encounter with anti-social two-legged type was at 18. For the 10 years, carry was pretty much limited to private property and open carry in the National Forest/BLM, with the college and military lifestyle putting a crimp on daily carry. When CO adopted shall issue in 2003, I got my concealed permit in the first year, and have carried everyday since unless something specific has forced otherwise. Having kids in school results in frequent disarming, but that is an unfortunate side effect. My son's Middle School Principal admitted to me that he feels the same way about having to disarm upon arriving at work.

I am a strong believer in "have a gun" being the most vital step in concealed carry, with capacity, caliber, ammo choice, sights being farther down the list. I also believe that carry can be adapted to the situation based on concealment needs and perceived probable threats. Others may disagree strongly, and that's OK.

For me there are two main reasons that I carry on a daily basis.

1. The world is getting to be a more dangerous place. I want to be prepared to defend my family and myself against any violence that threatens us. I hope that I never have to use it but I would rather have it if I need it.
2. Our second amendment rights are under constant assault. Carrying is one way that I can support our constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

I can't carry daily. If I could and when I do, I carry to add a layer of protection against the encroachment of evil. It makes me feel safer. Whether that is or proves to be true; remains to be seen. Heaven forbid. I've read that carrying a gun makes a person more careful. That might be true for me.

"Because I can" isn't enough of a reason for me. There has to be something that makes me want to, what separates me from those who also can, but don't. For me, it's the same as for most of the rest of us, being about a concern about personal safety and making use of an option we all have that isn't really all that difficult to exercise. Also, specific to me, as a trained "sheepdog" per se, I almost feel obligated to do so. Maybe I take it further than some, but that is my prerogative.

There are times I wonder about "stepping it down" a little. Not necessarily not carrying, but not carrying as much. Like ditching the belt gun and sticking with the pocket one, instead of carrying both. Actually did that for two days in a row earlier this week, and at the county fair one day last week. By the third time, I felt more uncomfortable than not, almost like I didn't have one on at all.

Carrying is like wearing a seatbelt.
You can wear it your whole life and never need it. The first time you don't, you're flying through the windshield.

Self reliance and accountability.

Neither more simple nor more complicated than that.

Todd.

I've been carrying for quite a while now and whenever I leave the house I'm armed. There are just too many instances of violent people harming and killing innocent people. A lot of these incidents happen in "safe areas" so you don't have to accidently wander into the bad area of town to be in danger. I value my life and that of my family far more than I care about the life of a thug intending on harming me/us. I'm not 25 any more, way past that and in poor health. I can't stand toe to toe with a young thug and can't out run one. If I don't have enough time and distance to get out of the danger area I either take a beating and possibly death or shoot a thug.

Life experience, world view, training, accepting responsibility, to list a few.

What Drives Your Decision To Carry Daily?
Interesting answers. I purchased my first handgun in 1978. I primarily bought it as a hunting sidearm and target shooting. For safety around the home, I always stored it loaded in my nightstand drawer. Never really felt the need to carry until I started aging and no longer felt as physically strong and agile as I once was or able to effectively defend myself. I kicked around the thought of getting a conceal carry permit but kept putting it off. When I started thinking about retirement, I felt that the wife and I might want to travel to new and unfamiliar places. I decided right then, I didn't want to become a victim out in a motel parking lot in the middle of nowhere while getting the luggage out of the car. I went and applied for and got my CPL.

I purchased my first defensive revolver and it reignited the passion I long ago held for shooting. So much so that I decided to become a certified CPL instructor to actively promote the 2nd Amendment, supplement my retirement income, and build a range at home for practice and to teach others about self-defense and the joys of shooting.

Trunk Monkey said:

This question came up yesterday on a different forum. I really feel like the person who asked at the other forum feels that carrying a gun every single day is a little bit ridiculous but it doesn't make the question any less valid.

I've said this multiple times but it is an iron clad rule for me that if I'm not in bed or the shower (basically if I'm dressed) I have a gun on my person but when the question was asked I really stopped and thought about how I would explain myself if I was honestly asked.

This is the answer I gave there:

I never really did any soul-searching or questioning the odds. I bought a gun the day I got out of the army and I started to carry it.

My wife (then fiance) was really freaked out by guns so before we got married I got rid of all of mine and for the first 10 years we were married the only gun that we had in our house was an NEF .22 revolver that we kept in a lock box in the garage. I don't think we even had any ammunition for it.

In 2006 two incidents happened. First somebody put a Drano bomb on our neighbor's front porch. When it went off it rattled windows in our house across the street. The second was (I suspect) an attempted home invasion on our house.

My wife and I sat down and had a discussion and we bought a gun a RIA 1911.

Several months later my wife was involved in a road-rage incident that absolutely terrified her. She came home and when she got out of the car she was shaking and she told me that in the middle of it she realized that if that person had got out of the car because of her disabilities there was nothing she could have done to defend herself. She said to me "I want a gun and I want to get my permit." We took the class together we got our permits at the same time and we both started carrying.

Shortly after that Colorado voted to legalize weed and the City of Colorado Springs began to change for the worse.

Colorado Springs is overrun with homeless people. Between the two of us my wife and I knew four people who were murdered either by homeless people or in the middle of drug deals that went bad. When I say knew I mean people who were actually part of our lives, not random people we knew by name. We also knew 2 people who committed murder and did time for it. We also have an ex-SIL who is a suspect in several murders. The reason I mention this is because murder is not an abstract concept to me. It's something that has impacted my life multiple times and because of that it's something that informs my world view. I know too many people that it's happened to. I know too many people that have done it. I have no problem believing that it could happen to me.

There is cartel activity in Colorado Springs because they're growing weed here and exporting it out of the state which I guess is easier than importing it across the border into America.

Carjackings are becoming a nightly occurrence. Multiple convenience store robberies are becoming a nightly occurrence. A week ago Saturday some Maniac walked down Wasatch street in downtown Colorado Springs randomly shooting at people. I think he killed 3.

I think a month ago another random maniac walked down a hiking trail from Cimarron Street to America the Beautiful Park and stabbed eight people apparently at randoml. I think he killed one of them. The have been three other active shooter events in Colorado Springs since 2007.

I've been the victim of an attempted robbery right outside my home that I was able to stop because I had a gun.

As far as we know it's never happened to us but we have a neighbor down at the end of the hall who says that she's been sitting in her living room late at night and watched somebody try to to turn her front door knob.

I've been working nights since roughly 2003 and I see what kind of people wander around this town at night. Even before I started doing security I worked in a machine shop and I would come home at 3 in the morning and my neighborhood looked like a scene out of The Walking Dead. I'd see homeless people just wandering through the neighborhood every night.

I do not leave my home without a gun under any circumstances. Not even to take out the trash or check the mail

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LONG,LONG story.

Readers Digest version = I was born & raised in NYC for 25 years and yes I carried an unregistered gun that saved my butt 3 times [ NO SHOTS FIRED ].

Became a LEO in Western NYS and was on the job for 26 years and there are still a few "inside" that I proudly put there.

I would happily NOT carry --------- IF there were a way to know exactly when [ or if ] I would ever need a gun to save my life or a loved one.

I believe it was Clint Smith of Thunder Ranch that put voice to my liking.

" A Gun Is Not Supposed to Be Comfortable,it's Supposed to be comforting ".

Mine isn’t terribly complex. Lived in a city. So you know, ewww. Then I moved to the middle of nowhere for my career in the woods. I was working alone in the forest when someone approached and let me know they wanted me to leave, despite the fact I had not trespassed at all. They let me know by pulling a gun in me.

I felt defenseless, and I was. I started carrying shortly afterwards. That was 12 years ago.

I also hike a lot on my own time for fun. People are crazy. And animals can be cranky. Tweaked coming to your door are fun too.

Edit: I carry everywhere legal. I can’t at work as I’d be prosecuted if found out.

I guess a number of things came into consideration when I got my first pistol permit.

I'd been interested in firearms since I was a teen, and had owned my first gun since I was in my 20s, but for most of my life I'd lived in a state that (at that time) did not issue permits. Once I moved to a free state about 17 years ago, I suddenly had the option legally carry.

I wanted to take responsibility for my own safety. As the saying goes when seconds matter the police are only minutes away. I've never had a dramatic personal encounter with the dark side of humanity like some other posters, but I'm aware that even in a relatively safe area like I live in, crime can still happen.

When I was younger I was a big guy, and worked out regularly both with both weights and several martial arts and I felt (right or wrong) I could take care of myself. I'm older now, I don't work out much, I have a bad knee, and in general I know I'm probably no match for an average 20-30 year old bare handed anymore, let alone if he's armed.

I want to exercise my constitutional rights. With the constant attacks on our 2A rights, especially now, I want to be part of the active opposition. I'm fully in agreement that the 2nd protects all the other rights.

Humans are the most dangerous, unpredictable, and destructive species on the planet. This is undeniable, as a quick review of history makes plain.

I live and work amongst other humans all day. I am consciously aware that I, and I alone, am ultimately responsible for my own safety.