Concealed Carry-why do you do it?

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Why Carry?

An email sent to me by a friend last week summed it up pretty well:


Why I Carry a Gun


My old grandpa once said to me, "Son, there comes a time in every man's life when he stops bustin' knuckles and starts bustin' caps and usually it's when he becomes too old to take an ass whoopin'.

I don't carry a gun to kill people. I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don't carry a gun to scare people. I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.

I don't carry a gun because I'm paranoid. I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.

I don't carry a gun because I'm evil. I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.

I don't carry a gun because I hate the government. I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.

I don't carry a gun because I'm angry. I carry a gun so that I don't have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.

I don't carry a gun because I want to shoot someone. I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.

I don't carry a gun because I'm a cowboy. I carry a gun because, when I die and go to Heaven, I want to be a cowboy.

I don't carry a gun to make me feel like a man. I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.

I don't carry a gun because I feel inadequate. I carry a gun because, unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.

I don't carry a gun because I love it. I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.

"Police Protection" is an oxymoron. Free citizens must protect themselves. Police do not protect you from crime; they usually just investigate the crime after it happens and then call someone in to clean up the mess.

Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass whoopin'."


..author unknown (but obviously brilliant)


Remember the average response time to a 911 call is over 4 minutes.



The average response time of a 357 magnum is 1400 FPS.
 
When I was 19 My bretta 9mm kept a woman from being stabed to death in my moms front yard in the middle of the night. The womans ex boy friend abducted her from her apartment and drove to our rural area where she jumped out of the car when he stoped at the corner. He cought her in our front yard and slashed her with a larg kitchen knife. Moms dog started barking and I heard screaming. I grabed my 9mil and my mag light and ran down stairs out on the front porch. The man was draging the woman across the yard bleeding from a gash on her arm. The sound of the slide racking got his attention and the sight of a 19 year old skinny white kid in plad boxers was enough to make him let go of the screaming bleading begging for her life woman and run like hell. This happend in probabely less than a minute and I was still shaking like a leaf in the wind when the cops showed up fifteen min later. I got my ccw the week I turned 21 and have carried pretty much every day since except while on active duty because base rules say HELL no to carrying or having a personal weapon in a barracks room. I am 30 now and have never needed to reach for my ccw since then and hope I never have to but I like having the option. Only difrance now is the gun is a 45 and the flash light is a surefire.
 
Ive gone into dangerous areas in Trucking for many years relying on wit, words and fast evaluation of people instead of weapons.

One night prior to my retirement from trucking due to medical reasons, a car full of teens shined a red dot into my cab and seeking my head next to me on the interstate at 70 mph. I had a high value load on for Uncle Sam and running quietly without any kind of protection other than satellite tracking/communications.

My hands tightened on wheel and began the process of taking them out with the 40 tons I had on me and intent to protect my own life. 6 in the car could not ever understand that a very small article about penlight type lasers were the latest fad in high school events saved them from death or worse. When I remembered that article, I reversed the manuver and shook the rig down, they moved out quickly.

That planted a seed that some day I will need to be armed against a people who are perhaps already armed.

I put it off for many years. But finally the amount of shootings and other problems in our area has increased enough to go ahead and exercise that right. Maybe someday we will get out of there and live elsewhere where we dont need CCW. But then again, we may not have that ability in the future.

So, we do the best with what we have. And pray that we dont have to draw.

Every time I see a weapons laser dot, including my own I think about those 6 clueless teenagers whose lives I almost took because they were stupid. Perhaps I was the stupid one for not taking the moment to decide... are they trying to shoot me?

If you happen to be one of those who shined laser toys into truck cabs... and feel bad now, dont worry about it. Ive already put it behind me and moved on.

Next time I see one coming my way on the street... well, there will be no worries. Not now. God bless the LEO's and Military for what they have done and continue to do but seconds is shorter than the minutes it will take for one to come and take care of the mess.

I believe there are many good people even today, and much good to do and have seen done. However that one dark heart with deciet and motive to cause harm up to including life taking for sake of bad things against myself, family or anyone else cannot and must not be allowed to stand.
 
I carry my gun for the same reason I carry my Swiss army knife, because I like to always be prepared. If I'm ever in a situation where I would want a gun I want to make sure I have a gun.
 
Henry David Thoureau was sitting in jail because he refused to pay his taxes: He detested slavery, and because tax revenues contributed to its support, Thoreau decided to become a tax rebel. As the story goes, his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson came to visit him at the Concord jail and asked, "Henry, why are you here?" Thoreau replied, "Waldo, why are you not here?"

Thoreau's essay on Civil Disobedience should be required reading for every American, particularly those who exercise their right to keep and bear arms today.
 
Well... I personally see it pointless to purchase a handgun, have it registered to you, buy ammo for it, practice with it, get it for protection... then leave it in a drawer... It doesn't do much good in a drawer...

You probably paid $500 for it or more and then if you pay $200 for a CCW permit it is just plain stupid not to exercise that right... I also live in a "safe" place but my friend was carjacked at gunpoint by an out of state guy and was almost killed... the guy was eventually shot and killed by the state police because he turned and opened fire on them... I would rather not be at the mercy of a nutjob with a gun...
 
For me it's pretty simple. It's so I never have to find out if I'm strong enough, fast enough or smart enough to physically stop someone from killing me. However, my attacker will have to worry about those things but not for long.
 
Amazingly, I was asked this question in deer camp back in Decmeber.
My answer was that the right to carry concealed is like a muscle. If you never exercise the rights you have then some elected official will have not problem removing those rights in the interest of public safety.

I realize, statistically, that there is a level of risk in carrying a firearm just as I accept the risk of driving my vehicle on a public road way.
 
I carry hoping I never have to use it but totally prepared in case I have to.

I love the story of David in the Bible when he went up against Goliath.
I think he picked up those extra four smooth stones just in case the other bullies in the vicinity wanted to fight too.
 
Concealed Carry Course

On Monday night I took the 3 hour Concealed Carry Course at the NRA Headquarters range in Fairfax, Virginia. This course is taught about twice a month and sells out everytime. Good course, taught by 4 NRA staffers who were former FBI and Police officers. 8 of the 24 people were women. There is 1 hour range instruction on the following day, 1 on 1, with one of the instructors, shoot your own handgun or use one of theirs. Very good course and you get the certificate to apply for a concealed carry permit.

NRA also released a new DVD, Personal Protection Outside the Home, $34.95 but discounted for NRA members. Very professional dvd.

Tom
 
First, for protection of my family. I too have never had a dangerous encounter where I thought "man I wish I had a gun". But all you have to do is read the CNN headlines any day of the week to see bad things happen to good people. I have a lot more to live for now with a wife and kids, so me sticking around is a lot more important than it ever was, and their safety is also first and foremost.

Second, there is protection in numbers. If even just 25% of the US population had concealed carry permits, politicians would NOT want to screw with that voting block. I view having a CHL sorta like NRA membership in some ways. Even if I NEVER carried, I'd want it just to add another number to the ranks of those that support gun rights. Politicians stand up and notice (usually) if the numbers are against them in a big way. Re-election is the only language they understand.

Third, the CCW class here in Texas is a great way to learn about use of force laws. The average gun owner w/out a permit probably has no real idea of what is lawful and what is not when protecting yourself with a firearm. All they know is what a friend told them or what they saw on TV. A class is a great way to (hopefully) learn what you can and cannot do when protecting yourself with a firearm, whether you carry concealed or not.
 
I carry because:

1. Police have no legal duty to protect individuals.
2. Police have no legal liability if they fail to protect individuals.
3. In almost all instances, police have no physical ability to protect individuals who are not either in custody or assigned a personal bodyguard.

Expecting the police to protect you from a violent attack once it starts is as irrational as expecting Chuck Norris to do likewise for you. It's just NOT going to happen.

If your life is in immediate danger from a violent attack, you will either protect yourself or you will not be protected AT ALL.
 
My trust is in God, not men. The Bible tells us in Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Knowing the nature of man, and this culture in which most things that are evil are called good, and those things that are good are called evil, I choose to carry knowing that one day, there is a chance (however slim) I'll have to defend that which is precious to me, the lives of those I love.

God help us all.
Click to expand...

Nothing more needs to be said. God Bless.
 
Too many good people have gone before me and made the ultimate sacrifice in order that I may exercise my Right as an American. I owe it to them. I've been to many bad places in the world where an armed citizenry could have made a difference in the chaos. I will not allow that to happen here.
 
Because I'm supposed to.

We all are supposed to exercise our right to own and to carry because if we don't, nobody is going to do it for us.
 
Because our society has devolved to the point where people would rather watch you die than help you - and feel justified doing it.
 
Because 98% of the people in this world are sheep, that leaves 2% as wolves or sheepdogs...My concience and raising keep me from being a wolf or lamb...
 
I carry for two reasons:

1. So I won't need a gun -- I have been in two situations in civilian life where I had to draw on another man. And that ended the confrontation. Had I been unarmed, it might have been bloody.

2. To exercise my civil rights. It's like voting. If nobody voted, the government would get the idea nobody cared and abolish voting.
 
For the protection of family and my self against the scum of the earth, the muggers, home invaders and thugs/gangs. I have no hang ups about protecting my family or myself with deadly force.
 
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