CCW'ers treated like LEOs

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kjeff50cal

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The emboldenment thread got me thinking......... Those of you (of which I will join in the near future) that have CHLs have you ever been sought out because you carry and in the person's mind you are a defacto security guard/LEO. Or the opposite, they shun you because they think, because you carry, you are "The Man":rolleyes: .

I don't have my CHL, but because I'm the armorer of the neighborhood (I sell guns for a well known sporting goods chain) I am the "goto guy" for firearms knowlege and security.
 
All my friends have their CHL so they don't need me to protect them.

I can see where the unarmed can get the idea that you are their protector though.
 
Really, there is no reason that anyone outside of your immediate family should know you are carrying. Its not really concealed if everyone knows.

Carrying a concealed weapon forces one to be more responsible, more vigilent and more level headed than the average guy on the street. It does not make you a big fish in a little pond. It mandates that you avoid all situations that might put you and your loved ones in harms way. I mandates that you tuck tail and run from all situations where such is possible. It mandates that you think with a clear and rational mind should you ever find yourself in a situation where egress is not possible. In short, it is a responsibility and a burden that must be carried with utmost graveness. The payoffs for said responsibility are more than worth the price of admission though. You are empowered to ensure your own safety and those of your loved ones...or even of some strange victim that is not so empowered.
 
Here in Central CA. it is not a good idea to broadcast the fact that you carry.Although it is MUCH better here than other places in California.

One reason is that when there is a need, they call you expecting you to be Super Man, because the cops never come in time. My Mom and sister are avid anti gunners, but when the office door is foiund open, or when they get home late and it looks like "someone has been here," who do they call?????
I am not Super Man!!!! Nor do I let them think I am, but like most anti gunners, "those things are bad, bad, until they need them.
So, no, I try to keep it a secret.
 
Something I saw yesterday that blew my mind. My buddy is restoring an old Chevelle and someone told him to pick up a copy of a magazine as it had some info he was looking for. So we were in Barnes and Noble and I was thumbing through some of the gun mags while he was looking for the article he wanted. I found an ad in there for a CCW badge. Yes, a BADGE!! It looked just like a police badge with the seal of the US in the middle and (if memory serves) CONCEALED WEAPONS PERMIT HOLDER in big bold letters in the place of the jurisdiction and badge number that is on a LEO's badge. It was $30 mail order. Maybe I will pick up the mag and scan the ad. It really set me back for a minute. All I could think was, "You've got to be f***ing kidding me".

Could this thing be an impersonating charge waiting to happen?
 
I would hate to be treated like an LEO. That would mean that when you drive down the highway, everyone slows down in front of you and refuses to pass anyone so you always get stuck in traffic jams. :)
 
While showing my drivers license, I have had people on occasion notice the actual CCW license. It says "Larimer County Sherrifs Office" right on top of it, and as soon as people read that, they just assume I am a sheriff. It is my policy to immediately dissuade them of that, simply because I don't want some crime to happen and then have them turn to me as a police officer. It sounds unlikely, but how many times have you been in a store where some kids gets busted for shoplifting? My roommate, whose license is in Weld County, is even worse because his license has a giant sheriffs star on it. He constantly has people asking him what it's like to be a sheriff and stuff like that.
 
ive seen of those badges, generally a bad idea, but...what if you accidentally "flash" someone and there is that badge on your belt too. the badge would be concealed as well, unless you flash. Maybe they wouldnt freak out?

Jesse
 
Well, I'm in process for my CHL and am hoping it'll be here towards the end of Jan., beginning of Feb. The only people who know (and who will know) are my wife, my father (former LEO), and a friend at work who has her CCW so we talk guns every so often. Other than that, to make a general 'annoucnement' that I am (will be) a CHL holder kinda defeats the purpose of concealment, IMHO.
 
I don't know if anyone shuns my company because I have a CPL. I've had one person call me in the middle of the night who thought he heard a noise in his house. I *believe* it's because he knows I carry, but we've never talked about it.

I don't want to be the neighborhood security detail. I've been satisfied in the past with knowing my neighbors well enough to act as a group for certain situations (fire, flood, the occasional peeping tom, etc), but I'd rather most people take more responsibility for their own protection.

jm
 
Those badges are a very bad idea. They mean nothing. Their only purpose is for impersonating an LEO. Any idiot can get one if he has a CCW permit or not, so it doesn't tell anyone anything, other than you are an idiot.
 
While showing my drivers license, I have had people on occasion notice the actual CCW license. It says "Larimer County Sherrifs Office" right on top of it, and as soon as people read that, they just assume I am a sheriff. It is my policy to immediately dissuade them of that, simply because I don't want some crime to happen and then have them turn to me as a police officer. It sounds unlikely, but how many times have you been in a store where some kids gets busted for shoplifting? My roommate, whose license is in Weld County, is even worse because his license has a giant sheriffs star on it. He constantly has people asking him what it's like to be a sheriff and stuff like that.
Click to expand...
This reminds me of the time I was a tourist in DC. Every other stand was selling hats and windbreakers with FBI and POLICE on them. I couldn't resist and bought a black baseball style hat that said FBI in white. A few days later, I was home again and decided to wear it outside while I ran some errands. I was amazed at people's reactions to me. I was like Moses parting the red sea as I walked through crowded places. Everyone stepped out of my way as I walked. This clued me in to the likelihood that I might be guilty of impersonating an FBI agent, so I took it off, and it's been hanging in my closet ever since, but it's a pretty weird experience. By the way, this was just a few weeks after 9/11.
 
No, never happened to me. I hope it never does. And I hope if such a situation occurs to somebody, a ccw would do the right thing, ignore it, and just look out for themselves. CCWers who got one because they like to play LEO or have hero fantasies would get CCW banished quickly. We don't have the protection of the law or the benefit of the doubt on our side if we ever need to use them, unlike an on duty officer. Most of the public views CCW'er as a crazy kook ("Why the *** do you need to carry a gun to McDonald's and buy a cheeseburger??! What's wrong with you??!"), not a pillar of strength for protection. They probably fear you like they'd fear a criminal. There's no damsels in distress, there's no parade for you if a situation arises where you need to use it.
 
Not in Florida. We have the Stand Your Ground law. You are not required to run away if confronted in an area you have a right to be.
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Yeah, but we all know that as soon as that law went into effect, blood was going to run in the streets since every fender bender would turn into an all out fire fight. Hmmmm reminds me a lot of what the anti's said almost 20 years ago when Florida became a "shall issue" state. :)
 
The few people who know I carry...

Also know that if they consider me their "fire escape" for stupid %#@$ they will no longer be on my list of people I associate with. Lethal force is not a game or a solution to a urinating contest.
 
I would hate to be treated like an LEO. That would mean that when you drive down the highway, everyone slows down in front of you and refuses to pass anyone so you always get stuck in traffic jams.
Click to expand...
But then you do get free donuts!:D

Carrying concealed should be just that. Concealed. It is not going to surprise anyone if you are flashing a badge around or if too many people know about it.
And that element of surprise may just be what you need to help turn the odds in your favor if you ever find yourself in a situation to need a concealed weapon.
 
I don' really get the premise of the original.If you carry concealed how do people know unless you tell or flash or maybe your cover garment has I HAVE GUN printed on it. As has been said before few make it public that they carry excluding family and close friends. I know if tshtf and one of my kids was with me they would expect for me to be carrying but probobly no one else. In general in the larger circle that you find in a small comunity I'm shure that people know I'm a gun/hunt guy or whatever you choose to call them and in that respect might be called upon to shoot a rabid coon or somthing like that otherwise I'm betting they will call 911 not me.
 
I'm a LEO and I don't broadcast the fact that I am when I'm off-duty. When someone knows that I'm a cop, I'm constantly getting asked for legal advice, my opinion as to when it's okay to punch their brother-in-law in the mouth, their pet peeves with the police, and the reason they got their most recent speeding tickey because the cop certainly wasn't justified in pulling them over when everyone else was speeding... blah, blah, blah.

It's so much of a hassle I wonder why *anyone* would want to lead someone to believe they're LEO when they're not. :confused:
 
No one knows when I carry, not even the wife. Only a very few select close family and one friend even knows I have a CHL. I plan to keep it that way. If I'm ever in a situation where God forbid I have to use it, I want everyone else around me acting like sheep and not looking at me to do something. Sheepdogs can be more effective if the wolves don't even know there is one mixed among the sheep, until it is too late.
 
when I start carrying I want as few people as possible to know for several reasons, two main ones though.

One, is I don't want to put up with stupid requests they should be bugging a cop for

Two, and probably more important, is I don't want some idiot telling me not to pull my gun or something to that effect in the middle of a bank robbery so I become an instant target and get my head blown off before I can even decide myself if its a situation to stop or not.
 
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