Fear factor or Why do you carry a gun?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Like many young men here in Utah, I spent two years as a missionary for my church. I was sent to the Bay Area in the Rebublic of California. Mostly in the Oakland and to the North in Richmond. This was back in 92 and 93. It was not uncommon to hear gunshots every night. I was usually in bad neighborhoods as I was assigned to a Laotian speaking mission. Most of the Laotians were recent immigrants and could not afford to live anywhere else.
One night we were out late changing the tires on a car for a widow lady who had 5 young kids. All of the tires had been slashed. I looked up just in time to see a slow moving car coming down the street with a guy leaning out the back window. I see a gun in his hand pointed sideways "gansta style". I tackled the other guy I was with as I dove behind the car. The guy pulled off 6 shots as I was doing this. The bullets hit all around us. Luckily due to the very accurate "gansta style" of aiming, along with a little help from above, we were unharmed.
I remember the first feeling I had was that I wished I had something to shoot back with. I felt defensless. I have always thought that next time, I will be prepared. When I returned back to Utah I picked up my CCW. From the time I was very young, my Dad taught me about guns and shooting for recreation, hunting etc.... He never had a CCW, but I don't feel bad about having one.
Just like the old Boy Scout Motto. I like to "Be Prepared". Not to mention, I have one hell of a good time keeping those shooting skills honed :D
 
DigitalWarrior

There is a little bit more to cost benefit analysis than personal cost/benefit. There is the "herd immunity" factor. This is tougher to analyze except using population statistics techniques such as the one Lott uses in his research.

Let me give you an example, vaccination against Diptheria, Whooping Cough, and Tetanus.

Together these three diseases used to kill many thousands of children. Then vaccine was developed. Now we all make a decision whether we want to immunize our babies against them. Since a large number of us do so we trade off the risk of great plagues which might kill half the children in a town one year and none the next for a risk of maybe 1/10,000 we might kill our baby or 1/1,000 the child might have perminent health damage.

A few folk may decide its too risky for their baby and refuse it with no risk to themselves. This will work only if a certain number of us, about 80% if I recollect right, continue to agree to the vaccination. If the percentage comes down too much below the magic number then the diseases come back and kill half the kids who weren't vaccinated and about 10% of the ones who were.

Getting back to guns we have a great need to keep up the number of active CCW in the community because if that number falls (such as what happens in communities like DC and Chicago with large Welfare populations or Fascist countries like Uganda and Mexico) the danger to both CCW and non CCW alike greatly rises.
 
Why carry?

Before the invention of computers and internet,
Ive been carrying a weapon of some sort. A snub
38 dropped in the pocket that stuff..word came out
you need a license to do this stuff legally nowadays
so just like sitting here an responding to your
question-I guess just keeping up with the times,son.
No reason needed,just like underwear.
 
Sure for defense, recreation, keeps me polite and on my toes, but not driven by a fear factor even though the possibilities exist and carrying has even saved me & mine's bacon before. Who was it? Heinlein? Said "A reasonably cautious and prudent man will take himself armed into society." It's kind of like 'A Given' to me, to be armed. Like he said:

Because I don't want to run into a situation where I am the only one without a gun.

That goes for recreation and street both. Good line. Very succinct.
 
Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. Pretty much sums up why I carry/collect lots of stuff.

Bill
 
I carry for self defense.

Having successfully defended myself against a deadly attack (When he realized I was drawing a handgun...my assailant halted his attack. I halted my defense.) The results of being unarmed on that day would have been brain damage at the best. I would not have liked that outcome. I have no means of predicting when such might happen again, therefore I carry whenever and wherever possible.

telewinz, I hope you do not carry.
 
I could give a long drawn out answer, but to keep it short.......
bad things happen. I grew up in Baltimore and saw lots of bad things happen to good people....all the time. I don't want to be another statistic.
 
telewinz,

The only good thing about elitists is that they think too much of themselves to hide their elitism so you can see/hear them coming.

As your comments so clearly demonstrate, at the heart of it, gun control is elitism.
 
telewinz,

The only good thing about elitists is that they think too much of themselves to hide their elitism so you can see/hear them coming.

As your comments so clearly demonstrate, at the heart of it, gun control is elitism.

Not a flame, but I agree completely.
 
I carry a weapon any time I'm out of the house. Mostly because I do good things to bad people professionally, and running into them at the grocery store while shopping with my wife (it's happened) isn't the place to find out whether they're holding a grudge.

On the other hand, I'd carry a weapon no matter what I did for a living. My life is my responsibility, and street cops have no duty to protect me.
 
I own enough that I am considering a second safe. It's partly a good investment. I can always sell them for about what I bought them for. The other reason is that they are specialized. Some are for birds, some are for varmints, some for large game, some for targets, some for self defense and carry. You use an axe to chop down a tree, not a pocket knife.

I carry 24x7. Fear of others is not a factor in my decision to carry even though I've been in several life threatening situations in the past. It is a factor in my decision to limit the places I travel though. I just like guns and I don't see anything evil about myself being armed. Why shouldn't I use my property?
 
I carry for several simple reasons...

1) Piss off the Liberals
2) Piss off the Liberals
3) Did I mention I carry to piss off the Liberals?
4) Gives me a good feeling knowing I won't allow some scumbag to hurt myself or my family.
5) Like we learned in Cub Scouts... a good scout is always prepared.

Tom
Minnesota
 
Individually, we do not bear arms because we are afraid. We bear arms as a declaration of capacity. An armed man can cope - either in the city or in the wilderness - and because he is armed, he is not afraid.

The hoplophobe fears and, yes, hates us, because we are not afraid. We are overwhelmingly "other" than he, and in a way that emphasizes his afflictions.

Jeff Cooper
 
The good Colonel can use words more effectively than many men can use bullets. The quotation is a precise fit for this thread.
 
I don't buy insurance due to fear but rather to an acknowledgement that risk and loss are a part of life.

It is the same acknowledgement that prompts me to carry daily.

Prudence is the motivation-not fear.
 
Once up, I dress, including pants, shoes, holster, weapon and ect.

Why would I not get dressed to face the day?

And just exactly how should I cope if I weren't?

I think all points have been covered, but I think it necessary to stress that the carriage of tools is a normal human trait, and that a weapon is just another tool, no more, no less. Thus the misplaced emphasis on CCW is a distraction:
who doesn't carry a jack knife?
 
I'm curious and not trying to provoke but how do most folks on this board define an "elitist"? Because some folks here and on TFL have referred to the unarmed as sheeple, etc. Upon reflection some of what telewinz said is probably accurate; maybe not of the majority but I would think a significant portion of the CCW population. I saw some of those characteristics in some of the folks in the CCW courses I took in SC and here in VA. I don't CCW all the time because I work on a Fort and if I get caught coming through the gate with my weapon at the very least I lose my job. I agree with most posters that you can't pick the time of a confrontation unless you start it. If I could, I would carry all the time. Back in the 90's we were stationed at Bragg and were coming back from Charleston, SC up Hwy 17 to Myrtle Beach and then some other back roads for the scenic routes. It was dark and a car followed us pretty close for a while. Having the family with me and being one of the few times that I travelled with them like that without a gun, it made me extremely uncomfortable. I vowed never to do that again. A few months later, Michael Jordan's father was murdered not far from there.
Ultimately, it boils down to your right and that's generally good enough.
 
Viking6

I can't speak for everyone on the board, but I define an "elitist" as someone who believes themselves to be enlightened, and one of the "chosen few" who are not part of the "great unwashed" - that is, they believe they know something, and that about 99% of the rest of the population doesn't. They believe that the vast majority of the population needs to have their hands held throughout life, and needs to be taken care of, given helpful advice from those who are "in the know", and while they can't empathize with the common man, they can certainly sympathize.

Since these people believe that most people are generally going through life aimlessly and ignorant, guns are, of course, out of the question as far as being acceptable in society. They believe that freedom is a threat to the general order of things.

The epitome of such a person, in my opinion, is Peter Jennings.

When someone on this board refers to someone as "sheeple", they are noting that a good number of the population actually believes this themselves (about themselves), to their own detriment. But the big difference is, that an person who is not an elitist believes that they can overcome their blindness if they want to, but usually this only happens if the person in question has a close call of some sort - such as the police not getting to their house in time to take care of them. Only someone that isn't an elitist would believe that this sort of personal responsibility could and should be exercised.

TD
 
"
I have read that there are those who are always armed where ever they might be, in thier own home, out in public etc...

What lead you to this type of mindset??Are the chances of someone using deadly force on your person great?
? "


I have a carry permit but 99.999% never carry a handgun on my person. Why do I have one some may ask? For one thing I can buy a handgun on the spot at any shop or gun show with no call in or waiting period. The other IN permit was a hunting /target shooting permit which I thought was worthless. The carry permit allows me to have my guns in my car and I do not have to be in route to and from the range. I can be at the convenience store at 3AM with a trunk full of handguns and it is legal.

As far as fear of deadly force being used against me? If I actually feared being attacked to the point that I felt I needed a gun everywhere I went I would find a new place to live. Would have no fear of walking down any street in the town I live in at any time during the day or night.

Not to say that I disagree with those who carry all the time - for some the threat is very real! Back in my former town in NC I would see why someone would feel the need to be armed.
 
I've heard this story off and on for years, so here's a copy I picked up along the way:

In one of Richard Pryor's comedy concerts, he talks about filming the movie Stir Crazy. He says some of the scenes were shot in an actual prison. During a break in the shooting, he decided to talk to some of the prisoners. He thinks surely all these guys can't be crazy. That perhaps some fluke or miscarriage of justice has brought them to that awful place. He wanted to see for himself what was in the minds of the prisoners.

So, Richard Pryor asks an inmate, "Brother. Man, why did you kill everyone in the house?"

After a brief pause, the inmate replies, "They was home."

___________

And...

I saw In Cold Blood 30 years ago. The film was based on Truman Capote's non-fiction book of the same name. It followed the exploits of some ex-cons who drive 400 miles and wipe out a prosperous Kansas farm family while looking for the safe full of money that was supposed to be there. Bad intel - the wheat farmer even paid for haircuts with checks.

"Alvin Dewey: "Who would kill four people in cold blood for a radio, a pair of binoculars and forty dollars in cash?"

Roy Church: "These days, just take your pick on any crowded street.""
 
Part II - I forgot. Carrying just sort of came naturally - I learned it from many of the men in my family. My father was even a State Trooper after he returned from the Pacific after WWII. He's 81 and still carries. Shoots pretty good, too.

I think the problem I have is that I don't understand why someone wouldn't carry a sidearm. I just don't get it.

Now, I don't wear a belt and suspenders, but I can understand why some would want a backup. :)

John
 
Why carry? Too many close calls and potential life altering encounters in the years in Sydney, Australia. The country where self preservation is discouraged (having a utility tool is considered a crime worthy of imprisonment) and yet the police will pretty much refuse to do much if you're not of the upper class, and of white skin.

Also my religious beliefs of my role as a man to protect and provide.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top