Is There Anyone Here Who DOESN'T carry?

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I don't carry because there appears to me to be very little rewards for the inconvenience/hassle.

A handgun is a tool - not a magic crime stopper. There is a subset of crimes for which a concealed handgun is a useful prevention tool. A much smaller subset than many of us may want to admit. The perpetrator has to have means, motive, and opportunity - and communicate a threat while still at enough of a distance to permit the handgun to be drawn. On top of that, you need to have the opportunity to take a safe shot (i.e, what's in your line of fire other that the BG).

That's actually a pretty limited set of circumstances.

You can increase this somewhat by increasing your "situational awareness", but I am not convinced that everyone who claims to practice that knows what they mean. I have known people who really exercised enough situational awareness to add to usefulness of a handgun - they looked like hungry rat on speed. Wasn't time for much else than"situational awareness". From most of the stories I have read on THR, many of us confuse racial profiling with situational awareness - "I saw a young black gun in baggy pants near the ATM, and bells went off!"

I also don't feel like practicing enough weapons retention to make carrying safe. I privately wonder how many people carrying could really keep their weapon away from a 20 year old meth head. I probably could not.

Mike
 
When balancing statistics & consequences, sometimes not carrying is the preferred choice.

Imagine a law that imparted serious punishment for having a fire extinguisher in your home; if the penalty were likely enough and severe enough, some would reasonably choose to not keep such a tool therein (but may have alternatives available).
 
I never carried untill recently. I was always worried about being spotted. That was my concern. But then I went and got a Kel-Tec .380 and a pocket holster and I carry just about every day now. It's as easy and comfortable as a pocket knife, and completely invisible. Now I just have to find a new place for my pocket knife.
 
I privately wonder how many people carrying could really keep their weapon away from a 20 year old meth head.
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Dear Gunhilda,

If an attacker tries to take my gun away and use it against me, what should I do?

Worried in Willows


Dear Worried,

Pull the felon repulsion lever. You should find it just underneath your trigger finger.

Gunhilda
Click to expand...

http://www.corneredcat.com/Fun/gunhilda.aspx


A much smaller subset than many of us may want to admit. The perpetrator has to have means, motive, and opportunity - and communicate a threat while still at enough of a distance to permit the handgun to be drawn.
Click to expand...

Every mugging and every home invasion that is not a complete surprise where the criminal immediately kills or immobilizes you on first sight or finds you asleep/dead drunk/drugged (prescription or illegal), both justifies deadly force and provides some opportunity to use your gun.

I'll leave aside any issues of "it can't happen to me" thinking since I'm the one who just talked about risk-balancing and could probably prove statistically that I have just about the same risk of being a violent crime victim as I have of being struck by lightning.

However, if you would rather rely on a criminal's mercy for your personal safety then do so. But don't lie to yourself or to anyone else that carrying a gun wouldn't do any good. While the changes of any given individual being the victim of an attack may be slim, the numbers prove that for that subset of humanity who are attack victims, resistance with a gun produces the highest survival rate.
 
Living in California, I'm pretty much screwed.

High party officials and large contributors to the ruling party are typically well heeled, but not the great unwashed masses.

One day I expect to see the pendulum swing back to reason and rationality, the elitist socialists out of power here, and then I will apply and carry.
 
You axed: ..."Given situation: You are legally able to own a gun. You live in a state ( or country) that allows CC (or open carry). You meet said state's requirements. and choose not to carry.

Also semi curious as to your rationale"...

Regardless of the law, I carry when I think I need to which is not very often. Carrying a pistol is a pain in the butt. They are heavy, uncomfortable and often cause more grief that they are worth. I realize the value and the need in certain situations but I am seldom in those situations. I believe that most people carry because it is "Mas Macho" but it doesn't do much for me.

As I said, I carry when I think I need to which is seldom.
 
Unlike the vast majority of those who have posted so far, I actually meet all of those requirements (I assume you meant "handgun" by "own a gun.")

I don't have a concealed carry permit, although I could go take the required class and get one. Even if I got a permit (which I was going to a month ago, but circumstances involving a messed-up bank card foiled me), I probably still wouldn't carry. Most of it, for me, has to do with my partner's ambivalence about guns. (For all who are going to start saying," Well, get another girlfriend, blah, blah, blah...." please don't start.) I've put in my time and energy into showing her why I think gun ownership is important, and have seen a sea-change in her attitude about it all, but I feel like that carrying is a line that she just wouldn't be comfortable with. I don't resent it, or regret not carrying.

I carry a knife and wear steel-toes, which is better than nothing.

Josh
 
I got mugged one night as I was leaving a ballgame and reacted more or less normally - that is, I hid. I didn't go to anymore ballgames or to much of anything else for awhile. Then I got tired of being in a self-imposed jail and started carrying a gun. I carried everywhere for several years until he police took exception to the idea and hauled me off. It came out a draw: They kept my gun and I was permitted (by court order) to buy another one.

I carried that one for a long time too but as I grew older, my ability to draw it safely suffered until I finally decided I was better off letting the muggers kill me rather than kill myself and three innocent bystanders in a vain attempt to ward off the bad guys. Last week, I slipped the pistol inside my belt just like I always had and found that I could barely reach the damned thing under the most favorable circumstances. I'd never get to it if I were in any way stressed.

So no, I don't carry. I urge others to do so though. By the way, I didn't ask the king for permission to carry. That's why his minions were so quick to chastise me.
 
My buddy doesn't carry anymore the cops took his guns because he was a bad boy and pulled it on a crazy woman.
 
Every mugging and every home invasion that is not a complete surprise where the criminal immediately kills or immobilizes you on first sight or finds you asleep/dead drunk/drugged (prescription or illegal), both justifies deadly force and provides some opportunity to use your gun.
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I would buy your argument on home invasions - but home invasions unrelated to drug trade still seem to be very rare where I live (Raleigh).

I suspect that some muggings could be prevented by carrying a handgun, and some not. The problem that I see there is someone communicating their intent to harm you while still far enough away to allow you to draw a weapon.

While the changes of any given individual being the victim of an attack may be slim, the numbers prove that for that subset of humanity who are attack victims, resistance with a gun produces the highest survival rate.
Click to expand...

I would be very interested in citations of decent studies (peer reviewed, neutral funding, etc) that support your claim. I am not trying to win a debating point - I am interested, and such studies might change my mind. Do you have citations?

Mike
 
John Balze Says:

I own plenty of guns, recently got a CCL, and I do not carry. I just don't need to. I don't look for trouble, and although I know trouble might come looking for me, I have yet to have a problem. I know I'll probably get flamed for saying it, but i have faith in God to watch over me and keep me from harm. I live in a small town with a population of about 16k, and although there are some bad things that go on, none around where I live ( this is why I like to live in the country.)

However, when traveling out of town I keep my .357 in the car, and have various guns locked and loaded in my house at all times. God also helps those who help themselves.


Boanerge responds:

I'm a born again Christian, and I have a question, and I'm not trying to be a smart aleck; I trust in God to keep me safe yet, I still where safety belts. I also depend on God to keep me and my family safe and in good health, yet I still maintain Property and health insurance. Do you wear Seat Belts? Do you have Property and Health Insurance? CCW is Just insurance!!! Rember when Moses had the RED Sea in front of him and the Egyptians, behind him; Moses Prayed to Good to help Him and God responded , why do you trouble me, use your Staff and divide the REd Sea and walk through (Exodus 14: 11-16). Therefore, IMHO, americans exercising their CCW rights are performing their God given ability to protect themselves. Just food for thought.
 
I have a ccw, own a handgun, live in a gun friendly state, and don't carry. (I agree with RPCVYemen's first post.) I live in a very safe part of town, and I think the likelihood of having to use a gun is extremely small. No need to flame me about the 'safe part of town' clause - I know anything can happen anywhere.

Life is full of taking reasonable risks. Everything that we do involves some sort of risk. I am sure that I am much, much more likely to be killed in a car or motorcycle accident, or die from heart failure, than from being shot. I wonder how many people carry everyday who smoke, don't exercise or eat properly (indicates an imbalance in risk-assessment in my opinion.)

For me the decision to carry or not is about prioritizing my risks, and being realistic about the statistics. My decision is based on my particular situation - if I lived/worked in a mediocre part of town, or if I travel to/through these areas, then I may choose differently.
 
I live in southwestern IL, but have a UT permit to CC. I travel into St. Louis frequently and carry many times.
 
You must proove that someone is really theathening you, or that you are very wealthy, in order to be able to pass the CCW exam
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While I don't doubt that, I'm just wondering how one goes about proving, on the exam, that one is wealthy. Perhaps attach pictures of your cars, boats, homes, airplanes, and statements of your stocks and bank accounts. "Dammit, I told you that I'm rich; now give me my license!" :p
 
@RPCVYemen,

John Lott credible enough for you? I had his books from the gun club library so I don't have the precise citation I first read, but this interview repeats it.

http://www.reason.com/news/show/27562.html

Reason: You say that resistance with a gun is the safest option when confronted by a criminal. What's the basis for that conclusion?

Lott: You hear claims from time to time that people should behave passively when they're confronted by a criminal. And if you push people on that, they'll refer to something called the National Crime Victimization Survey, a government project that surveys about 50,000 households each year. If you compare passive behavior to all forms of active resistance lumped together, passive behavior is indeed slightly safer than active resistance. But that's very misleading, because under the heading of active resistance you're lumping together things like using your fist, yelling and screaming, running away, using Mace, a baseball bat, a knife, or a gun. Some of those actions are indeed much more dangerous than passive behavior. But some are much safer.

For a woman, for example, by far the most dangerous course of action to take when she's confronted by a criminal is to use her fists. The reason is pretty simple: You're almost always talking about a male criminal doing the attacking, so in the case of a female victim there's a large strength differential. And for a woman to use her fists is very likely to result in a physical response from the attacker and a high probability of serious injury or death to the woman. For women, by far the safest course of action is to have a gun. A woman who behaves passively is 2.5 times as likely to end up being seriously injured as a woman who has a gun.
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And then there is this one:

http://johnrlott.tripod.com/op-eds/IBDSuitsAgainstGuns042605.html

When criminals confront people, resistance with a gun is by far the safest course of action.
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I don't carry on a regular basis.

This is mostly because most of my outings are to the University hospital, where guns are evil and bad.

I have a permit to do so though, but it's mostly for my being allowed to store my guns in my car however I want without having to worry about being in violation of the law during trips to and from the range than anything else at the moment.

If I go to a public place that allows firearms and don't have classes/rounds to worry about, then I'll CCW. If it's really late at night/early morning, I OC. But seeing as the public places I visit most frequently are restaurants that do serve some alcohol and bars (can't carry if alcohol is consumed in the establishment, regardless of how little), and a movie theatre in a mall that bans CCW, I don't really carry much at all.
 
I will be getting my CCW soon but even then I will not carry most of the time due to the fact that if I were caught carrying where I work I wouldn't only be fired I'd be put in prison.
 
I do not carry, and I live in a gun friendly state. I meet all of the CC requirements, except that I haven't gone and taken the class, paid the fees etc.

I'm fairly new to handguns, and because of that my wife wanted me to start out with a .22, also suggested by many members of this forum and others. So I am the proud owner of a Ruger Mark III. Now that I have proved to my wife that I have learned to accurately operate a handgun she is cool with me getting others. My main interest in handguns is for competition and long range target shooting. My next purchase will probably be a 6" .357. So I can get used to the recoil/noise factor of a larger caliber gun. The 6" barrel will also more fit my primary uses for handgun than a smaller handgun. I live in a very safe community, and hardly go anywhere that I would feel unsafe, so it isn't really a pressing issue for me.

All that being said, after the 6" .357 I'm planning on buying a .45ACP of some sort or a SP-101 and getting my CC license.

Hope this answers your question.
 
I live in suburb of Chicago (No handguns allowed! Bad guns! Bad!), though I've owned handguns for years.

BUT... I work in Maywood, the homicide capital of Cook County. And since I often don't get out until 9PM or 10PM, just when things are getting exciting, I've often thought of applying for a concealed carry permit, for my own protection.

But then I remember... I live in Mayor Daley's kingdom. So I'm as likely to get a permit as I am to win the Illinois Lotto.

The Heller ruling may finally make the handguns in my home legal... but it's not going to pave the way for a carry permit in Cook County.

So no, I don't carry.
 
No I don't carry. I am in Kansas which recently passed a ccw law, i'm 25, and have no legal restrictions. My main thing holding me back is the money, I don't have a full time job right now so of course money is very tight. Once I pay down more of my cc and car loan, I'll find a class and send in the paperwork.

I've never been in a situation in which I needed a gun, but I know that can always change in an instant.
 
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