"Do you give notice to homeowners before you concealed carry in their home?"

[myrockfight]

So you have the basic question with the thread title. Someone in another thread said they don't carry into someone's home unless they clear it with the homeowner. This got me thinking and wondering if this is a common line of thought throughout the carrying community. Therefore, I created a poll with various options. If you could also let me know if you have a concealed weapon permit in your reply it would help us understand where you are coming from. I would love to hear everyone expand on this and let everyone know their thoughts.


Sorry about the confusion with the answers and the question of the title. It was , "Do you give notice to people when you carry in their home?", and therefore less confusing considering the poll choices. I had to retype the whole thing and copied the wrong question for the poll. *rollseyes


I will let you guys tell other people what you voted, just in case you would like to keep it private.

 

[merpho]

Don't ask, don't tell

I never ask and I never tell.

 

[Titan6]

I have a strange rule that if I am an overnight guest I declare but if I am just there for the day or a few hours I do not. My logic is if something goes bump in the night I will stay in my guest quarters but will be armed so whoever is clearing the house knows. But if the host asks I certainly will tell if I am guest in their house, it is a sign of respect.

You probaly should make a poll out of this the results would be easier to read.

 

[Solo Flyer]

Only 3 states require disclosure to the homeowner/occupant that you're carrying:AK,LA,and SC.
If I'm not in one of those 3 states it's #5.
I have a CCW permit.

No. It has not even occured to me to ask

 

[myrockfight]

Only 3 states require disclosure to the homeowner/occupant that you're carrying:AK,LA,and SC.
If I'm not in one of those 3 states it's #5.

I did not know that. Thanks for the info. Good to know!

Sorry it took me a minute to complete the poll. Your thread is posted before you can make the poll and my first one got erased because I didn't know each choice has to have under 100 characters.

 

[guntotinguy]

4. No. I don't think you should tell anyone that you are carrying.

5. No. It has not even occured to me to ask.

They dont ask,I wont mention it...in fact,I conceal so well nobody beyond me knows except my wife,and we both share the same policy,as where we go and what we do,isnt a threat to 'anyone' and a 'real friend' wouldnt ask me not to have the capability to defend myself.

 

[zxcvbob]

What does 2 mean? Just curious.

 

[thecheeto]

I live in Alaska too, we have to notify and refrain from carrying if the resident prefers we don't carry.

 

[markk]

If you were to stay in the house of a friend who had religious objections to birth control, would you feel obliged to remove a condom from your wallet?

 

[FourNineFoxtrot]

I can't carry where I live, so this is theoretical for me.

Personally, it would depend on circumstances, rather than a blanket "always inform/never inform" rule. If I could get a CCW, my friends would all know... probably because the first thing I'd do is go to their house and say, "Dude, check it out: I can carry now!" My friends would already know, and I know they wouldn't have a problem with it.

With relatives, it would be case by case. Some, that I'm on good terms with, I would probably have a similar reaction as to my friends. Others, who I might visit often, or especially if I might stay the night, I might broach the subject. And others still, whom I visit rarely, briefly, and don't really want to discuss the matter with, I just wouldn't mention it unless they spotted the gun.

With people who are basically strangers, I don't know. I don't remember the last time I was in the home of someone I didn't know well. If I felt like it might be awkward, I might just forego carrying there. Or I might just carry and not say anything. Context would be key, here.


This brings to mind an instance that did happen, not with CCW but just traveling with a gun. My uncle and I were helping my grandmother move to a new place several states away, near where he lived. While driving to the new place, we spent several nights in motel rooms (my uncle and I sharing one, my grandmother in the other), and I spent a few nights at his house.

During this time, I never mentioned that I had a gun with me. While we were in motel rooms, I would remove the gun from the case, load a mag, and put it under the unused pillow (two full-size beds to a room, so we each got a two-person bed), in condition 3. I generally did this right before going to sleep, when my uncle wasn't in the room. And the first thing I did in the morning was unload and lock up the gun. When I was at his house, the gun never left the case. I definitely would have felt uncomfortable sleeping at his house with a ready gun without his knowledge, and telling him would have felt like saying, "I don't feel safe here", or worse, "I don't trust you to provide a safe environment for me to sleep".

If I had a CCW, I wouldn't feel as bad about it, because then carrying a gun would not be a "special case", they way it felt there, but just habit, and I would have felt more comfortable explaining it as such.

 

[Valkman]

I have gone to someone's house for a holiday get-together and carried, knowing the homeowner would not approve. Concealed is concealed - I would never have asked so I guess #5 would apply.

 

[Zach S]

Its never occurred to me to ask. My concealed handgun doesn't effect them.

Its like asking if I can keep my boxers on, or would they prefer me to go commando. Its a personal choice that I'd rather leave them out of.

Besides, if they're antis, I probably wont be there long anyway.

 

[Thernlund]

I didn't vote because none of the answers were just right to me.

I'd consider it kinda bad manners on my part if I was at a stranger or mere aquintances home. But another doing it in my home I'd have no problem with.

I carry in a few friends houses all the time, but they know and are of a similar mind. So that's ok.


-T.

 

[myrockfight]

What does 2 mean? Just curious.

by zxcvbob

It means that it is just a personal preference of yours. Ethics usually fall in line with what the rest of society would agree with as being right. Therefore, laws usually fall in line with ethics, but not all the time. Make sense?

 

[Linda]

Concealed is concealed. It's no ones business. I don't tell them about my pocket knife either. I see no difference between my firearm or my knife. They are both tools and both can be lethal if need be. My ballpoint pen can be a lethal tool as well and no one would ever say I couldn't bring my pen in their home.

I have a sign next to the entrance door of my home (in the garage) that says that lawful concealed carry is welcome and encouraged in my home.

 

[JackBurtonJr]

Since I'm not planning on whipping the gun out and shooting any of the lawful inhabitants of the home I am not sure why I would need to tell them that I am carrying.

And if I do find I need to shoot one of them I would prefer to keep it a surprise and retain the tactical edge.

 

[Bezoar]

in theory if you think its unethical to carry your favorite j frame in your pocket while at your buddys house to watch a football game, then you would be unethical to carry that jframe in pocket into a hotel. SO many different things to look at.
The real questions to ask are:
1, are there any laws or court orders preventing the possesion of fire arms by anyone in the house?
2, if yes to question one, you may want some better friends as its quilt by association these dyas in the legal system.

 

[Eleven Mike]

Your poll is confusing. The answers make more sense when compared to the question in your first post, but not with the question you used as the thread title.

Whether it is unethical depends on whether they would object to it, whether you know they would object to it, and probably some other circumstances.

in theory if you think its unethical to carry your favorite j frame in your pocket while at your buddys house to watch a football game, then you would be unethical to carry that jframe in pocket into a hotel.

In other threads, I have tried to point out that private property rights remain in effect even in a business that is "open to the public." Most people find that a shocking idea, and will simply insist on an imaginary line between the two sorts of property. No point in arguing with them.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

1. Yes and I think it is unethical to not do so.
2. Yes, but I don't think there are any ethical implications.

Poll choices #1 and #2 are contradictory, especially #2. The question is: "Do you think it is unethical to carry concealed in another's home?"

So looking at choice number 2, how can it be unethical yet have no ethical implications?

Needless to say, I did not vote.

I actually did ask once, a couple or three years ago, just after reading a similar thread on this very same forum. I was going to visit a friend in another state for a few days, so I called up and explained about the discussion and I asked if he had any problem with my carrying in his house. His answer was, "I'd have a bigger problem if you didn't. If something goes down I'll be busy watching my ass, I don't need to worry about watching yours, too."

So I don't ask any more.

 

[N1150X]

I have a strange rule that if I am an overnight guest I declare but if I am just there for the day or a few hours I do not. My logic is if something goes bump in the night I will stay in my guest quarters but will be armed so whoever is clearing the house knows. But if the host asks I certainly will tell if I am guest in their house, it is a sign of respect.

couldn't have said it better myself

 

[myrockfight]

Poll choices #1 and #2 are contradictory, especially #2. The question is: "Do you think it is unethical to carry concealed in another's home?"

So looking at choice number 2, how can it be unethical yet have no ethical implications?

Needless to say, I did not vote.

Sorry about the confusion. I am going to try to get a moderator to change the question to, "Do you tell a homeowner that you are carrying when you are in their home?"
When I had to redo the poll after it automatically erased it for having too many characters, I copy and pasted and made a mistake.

 

[Brian Williams]

Thread Title change
"Do you give notice to homeowners before you concealed carry in their home?"

 

[machinisttx]

I voted #5.

Anyone who knows me well enough for me to be invited into their home also knows I carry. If they don't want me to carry, they need to tell me up front, to which I will reply "some other time then".

 

[misANTHrope]

I don't tell. I assume that it's OK until told otherwise; I already know that I am not endangering anyone. Basically, I don't treat carrying as if I'm doing some ethically marginal thing. As someone else said, it's a lot like my choice in underwear. If I want to go commando in someone's house, I don't ask them about that either, I just do it.

 

[Monkeybear]

I will impose on no one anymore than I would have them impose upon me.

If I know someone well enough to be invited into their house I can usually guess how they feel about me carrying without having to ask. If I think they may mind I simply leave it in the car or politely decline the invitation. I respect the property rights of others and I feel that we all have the right to tell people what they can or cannot bring into our homes.

Its not the same thing as whether or not I am wearing boxers, have a pocket knife or any other silly comparison that someone might make. Fact is that the people I associate with have no strong opinion about my choice in underwear or pocket knives but they may have one about firearms. Because I am in their home, on their property, the fact that it matters to them makes all the difference.

ETA: I guess what I am trying to say is that I am more concerned with respecting the wishes of my fellow men and women than plausible deniability. Sure I could say to myself "well they didn't specifically say I couldn't carry" or I could justify that "since my under pants serve a function and my firearm serves a function then surely no once could reasonably object to my possessing one without objecting to the other" but I choose instead to understand that many feel strongly about firearms. By accepting their invitation into their home I agree not to impose, however passively, my beliefs upon them.