Joe Link
Member
I really can't stand it. It seems so derogatory; I don't think I've ever heard it used in a positive way. As odd as it sounds, I think out of all the words and terms I've ever used, this one gets under my skin the most.
Does the term "packing heat" bug you as much as it does me?
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Nitrogen
Member
"gun free zone" and "collective right" bug me a lot more 
BADUNAME13
Member
No.
Justin
Moderator Emeritus
No.
ArchAngelCD
Member.
Nope
It's telling, in a way. People put on masks to blend into their sociopolitical environment, and try to maintain them, but then they slip.
It always seems to come up in conversation with my New York friends at parties, and it goes like this...
Beginning of party: Blah blah blah, I support gun control, blah blah...
+2 beers: Blah blah, you "packin' heat all the time?" blah blah "Wolverines!" blah blah "Zombies" blah...
+3 beers: Can we come up and go shoot handguns next weekend?
+4 beers: When I move out of NYC, I'm buying a gun, and I don't care what my wife says. Will you give me a discount on the NRA safety course, teach me everything you know, find me a good deal, and hold my hand?
No one really thinks that they should be the ones prohibited from doing something that might be cool, like going target shooting with a friend on the weekend, and they constantly bag on the scary looking guns, but when it comes right down to it they're fascinated with them. No one ever wants to drive up from NYC to shoot my Savage 99 in .300 Savage, or my 1886 Winchester.
When I think "Packing Heat" I'm thinking about an airweight bodyguard in my jacket pocket when I run out to the convenience store, and they're thinking about the Desert Eagle in the safe.
It always seems to come up in conversation with my New York friends at parties, and it goes like this...
Beginning of party: Blah blah blah, I support gun control, blah blah...
+2 beers: Blah blah, you "packin' heat all the time?" blah blah "Wolverines!" blah blah "Zombies" blah...
+3 beers: Can we come up and go shoot handguns next weekend?
+4 beers: When I move out of NYC, I'm buying a gun, and I don't care what my wife says. Will you give me a discount on the NRA safety course, teach me everything you know, find me a good deal, and hold my hand?
No one really thinks that they should be the ones prohibited from doing something that might be cool, like going target shooting with a friend on the weekend, and they constantly bag on the scary looking guns, but when it comes right down to it they're fascinated with them. No one ever wants to drive up from NYC to shoot my Savage 99 in .300 Savage, or my 1886 Winchester.
When I think "Packing Heat" I'm thinking about an airweight bodyguard in my jacket pocket when I run out to the convenience store, and they're thinking about the Desert Eagle in the safe.
Monkeyleg
Member.
Yes, it bugs me. It's the phrase that the anti-gun media uses whenever a shall-issue concealed carry bill is up for debate.
It's an emotionally-loaded term. It implies some sort of reckless conduct on the part of those who go through the process of training, background checks, and licensing to carry a weapon.
I'm sure that many people here could come up with a similar phrase that describes the ethnicity or country of origin of those who commit the vast majority of violent crimes in the US.
But that wouldn't be PC, would it?
It's an emotionally-loaded term. It implies some sort of reckless conduct on the part of those who go through the process of training, background checks, and licensing to carry a weapon.
I'm sure that many people here could come up with a similar phrase that describes the ethnicity or country of origin of those who commit the vast majority of violent crimes in the US.
But that wouldn't be PC, would it?
It does bother me, but only because I'm a guy with a lot of pet peeves. I dispise most all of the "hippisms" and "trendisms" that people toss around trying to be oh so hip and trendy, look cool, and fit in.
I'll give credit where credit is do. At least that term has survived a long time. Unlike stupid things like the "knuckle knock" or terms like "phat".
I'll give credit where credit is do. At least that term has survived a long time. Unlike stupid things like the "knuckle knock" or terms like "phat".
Joe Link
Member
Haha ask my girlfriend how many times I complain about that ^
Davo
Member
Logan I know those types too. Seems alot of us have the signifigant other "feeling" things out for us.
Skibane
Member
It's one of a handful of sarcastic cliches that is often used to subtly reinforce the stereotype of gun ownership as a throwback to earlier, more violent times (i.e., the wild west, or the gangster era). Other examples:
Gun-toting
pistol-packing
Strapping on a gun (or heat/a piece/a rod/a hog-leg, etc.)
Plugging (or ventilating) someone
Blasting (or blazing) away
Getting the drop (on someone)
(virtually any reference to) The OK Corral or High Noon
ETA: Logan5, if nothing else, your description of New Yorkers confirms my own conviction that they are pushovers when it comes to tolerating alcohol!
Gun-toting
pistol-packing
Strapping on a gun (or heat/a piece/a rod/a hog-leg, etc.)
Plugging (or ventilating) someone
Blasting (or blazing) away
Getting the drop (on someone)
(virtually any reference to) The OK Corral or High Noon
ETA: Logan5, if nothing else, your description of New Yorkers confirms my own conviction that they are pushovers when it comes to tolerating alcohol!
Jacka L Ope
Member
Is that a submarine in your pants or are you packing heat? 
Cosmoline
Member
I've used it before. I don't see the problem.
What's wrong with that? I pack iron, stow a hog leg, and burn down rogue ptarmigan. This *IS* the frontier.
What's wrong with that? I pack iron, stow a hog leg, and burn down rogue ptarmigan. This *IS* the frontier.
Robert Hairless
Member
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How could it bother me when I'm wearing my trench coat and slouch hat, have my piece in my waistband, and am going off to solve a caper down those mean streets with my frail? That gat is what keeps the gunsels from drilling citizens with their Chicago typewriters.
"Is you packin' heat?" she asks while flashing her gams. Her hair flows over her shoulder like melted butter and the look in her eyes is wicked.
"Do your eyes hurt you?" I ask right back at her. And before she can answer I say, "Well they're killing me."
"Oh, big boy," she says right back to me. "Hubba hubba."
In the summertime, though, we call it packing cool.
"Is you packin' heat?" she asks while flashing her gams. Her hair flows over her shoulder like melted butter and the look in her eyes is wicked.
"Do your eyes hurt you?" I ask right back at her. And before she can answer I say, "Well they're killing me."
"Oh, big boy," she says right back to me. "Hubba hubba."
In the summertime, though, we call it packing cool.
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
Heat
Nah. I don't sweat the little things. It just don't mean nothin'...
Nah. I don't sweat the little things. It just don't mean nothin'...
I was just thinking the other day that I really disliked the term "packing heat." (Almost as much as I dislike "packin' heat.")
I think it is too too casually hip and I associate it with the old late 1950s gangster movies (Raft, Cagney, etc.). I never use it. It's kind of caricature-ish to me.
OTOH, some very responsible, conservative and unhip gun guys use the term.
I think it is too too casually hip and I associate it with the old late 1950s gangster movies (Raft, Cagney, etc.). I never use it. It's kind of caricature-ish to me.
OTOH, some very responsible, conservative and unhip gun guys use the term.
It only bugs me when my brother (an anti) blurts it out in public.
"Are you packin' heat?"..... and all I can think of is, "Well, technically it was called CCW'ing until you just blurted it out!.... now, yes I suppose I am!"
it bugs me from him.... I wish he realized the potential that can come from blurting that stuff out. It seems no matter how often I explain it to him, he doesn't get it and just says I'm overreacting.
But anyways.... that's the only time the answer is yes. Otherwise I couldn't care less.
"Are you packin' heat?"..... and all I can think of is, "Well, technically it was called CCW'ing until you just blurted it out!.... now, yes I suppose I am!"
it bugs me from him.... I wish he realized the potential that can come from blurting that stuff out. It seems no matter how often I explain it to him, he doesn't get it and just says I'm overreacting.
But anyways.... that's the only time the answer is yes. Otherwise I couldn't care less.
tinygnat219
Member
I HATE cliches in any size shape and form.
eng23ine
Member
if packing heat bothers you...
Would you rather be "strapped"? Homie.
Would you rather be "strapped"? Homie.
The term "packing heat or iron" does irk me. Usually read in books, heard in movies, used by the media to sort of downgrade gun or gun owners in a subtle way, or by people trying to sound more knowledgable about guns that they really are. I carry a gun or a concealed weapon, no "heat" or "iron". Maybe I'm just getting to be a contrary old fart
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