For those of you that carry and like to listen to music--

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Saakee

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--do you wear headphones to listen to music/podcasts or go without music when out and about and carrying? If you do, do you use headphones that let in ambient noise or do you use regular headphones that may block out the sound of a threat?
 
If I feel safe listening to the player without a gun, I feel safe listening to it while I'm carrying.

My favored headphones don't let in much noise because I wear them while working on machines, but I keep my eyes out.
 
I don't see what it has to do with carrying either

Single earbud or low volume - but I rarely go anywhere with music on anyway, headphones are for when you get somewhere and have time to kill or annoying noises to cover up.
 
My lack of headphones and music blasting my ears while out and about, has zero to do with carrying and everything to do with almost getting run over once by a police car...simply because the music playing in my ears was louder than his siren.
I find that I really do not need theme music playing when I am strutting down the sidewalk with a can of paint. ;)

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I don't worry my headphones have to be full blast for me to hear them,
but being as I am 70% deaf I have to depend on my eyes a lot more then my hearing..
Just be Aware
 
I control the fear, the fear does not control me. I do what I enjoy and that includes exercising my CCW rights.
 
do you wear headphones to listen to music/podcasts or go without music when out and about and carrying? If you do, do you use headphones that let in ambient noise or do you use regular headphones that may block out the sound of a threat?
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In my car, sure I listen to music or other audio stuff.

Out on the street? No way. Might as well wear an eye patch over one eye. You NEED that information you're getting through your ears -- our ancestors needed it to avoid the stuff that stalked them in the forests, and we need it today to avoid getting run over, or ambushed by those who prey on others. You don't have eyes on all sides of your head!

Surely we're all familiar with the victim selection process used by criminals -- we discuss it all the time, and how to avoid looking like a victim.

Somedood be-bopping along with his head in a cloud of tunes so he can't hear what's happening around him? Victim numero uno!

(Might as well have on a Hawaiian shirt, camera around your neck, shorts, socks and sandals with a big sign reding "Tourist -- Not From 'Round Here!" Just as bad.)
 
If you're walking around on the street with headphones on you are walking around in Condition white and very easy to close with from behind. You need to be aware of your surroundings with every sense you have. There are people out there looking for people in Condition white. Don't be their next victim.
 
Most of the time. I don't live in fear. It would stress me out to be constantly at the ready 100%. I carry, I feel that helps mitigate the issue.
 
Out on the street? No way. Might as well wear an eye patch over one eye. You NEED that information you're getting through your ears -- our ancestors needed it to avoid the stuff that stalked them in the forests, and we need it today to avoid getting run over, or ambushed by those who prey on others. You don't have eyes on all sides of your head!
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This!

I love music and I listen in my car and at home, but I'm uncomfortable walking around in public with my ears blocked and being potentially distracted. Same reason I don't wander around with a bluetooth in my ear, talking on the phone. Its pointless to carry a gun, if you are going to ignor your surroundings.
 
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Being aware and prepared does not mean "living in fear". "Carrying a gun" is not going to help you if you are completely unaware of a threat. I used to be a NRA instructor and the main thing we stressed in our self defense classes was to be aware of what's going on around you. The criminals are looking for people who walk down the street in their own little world oblivious to everyone around them. If they see someone who is looking around and not looking down they invariably will look for somebody else.
 
I could never understand people who intentionally deaden any of their senses while exposing themselves to what seems to be an elevated level of threat.
Ipods on remote jogging trails come to mind and locally here we recently had a woman run down by the AMTRACK with buds in her ears.
 
--do you wear headphones to listen to music/podcasts or go without music when out and about and carrying?
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Nothing to do with carrying, everything to do with safety and pure common sense. Reflect on these comments:

Out on the street? No way. Might as well wear an eye patch over one eye. You NEED that information you're getting through your ears -- our ancestors needed it to avoid the stuff that stalked them in the forests, and we need it today to avoid getting run over, or ambushed by those who prey on others. You don't have eyes on all sides of your head!

Surely we're all familiar with the victim selection process used by criminals -- we discuss it all the time, and how to avoid looking like a victim.

Somedood be-bopping along with his head in a cloud of tunes so he can't hear what's happening around him? Victim numero uno!
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If you're walking around on the street with headphones on you are walking around in Condition white and very easy to close with from behind. You need to be aware of your surroundings with every sense you have. There are people out there looking for people in Condition white. Don't be their next victim.
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I love music and I listen in my car and at home, but I'm uncomfortable walking around in public with my ears blocked and being potentially discracted. Same reason I don't wander around with a bluetooth in my ear, talking on the phone. Its pointless to carry a gun, if you are going to ignor your surroundings.
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Being aware and prepared does not mean "living in fear". "Carrying a gun" is not going to help you if you are completely unaware of a threat. I used to be a NRA instructor and the main thing we stressed in our self defense classes was to be aware of what's going on around you. The criminals are looking for people who walk down the street in their own little world oblivious to everyone around them. If they see someone who is looking around and not looking down they invariably will look for somebody else.
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Two other things:
  1. The issue is not confined to listening to music. Talking on cell phones (hand held or with earpieces) dialing, texting, looking at the Internet or reading email, and playing games are equally dangerous.
  2. While I have heard people who engage in such behavior described as "prey", and I don't think that to be far from the mark, the danger is not limited to mugging, slashing, or kidnapping. People using such devices are not infrequently run over and injured in falls. I've seen it.
 
Not trying to sound disrespectful in any way, but where do you all live that you have this fear mentality. I'm not trying to down play anything here or be ignorant that things happen no matter where you are, and I am a huge CC advocate and I'm all about being prepared for that 0.001% chance I may have to defend myself. I live south of Kansas City and every night on the news you hear of at least 1 or 2 shootings that happened in the inner city. But I don't fear taking out the trash or going on walks with my wife and daughter unarmed. Sure if I'm going to be anywhere near a place I know is shady like downtown KC I'll go armed for the "just in case". When I go unarmed however Im not walking around in fear thinking the bad man is waiting to jump me. Its about being aware of your surroundings and knowing whats around.
 
Be careful you don't forget to enjoy life while you're so concerned with preserving it. I run with earbuds because I enjoy it. I probably wouldn't go running at all if it was silent. Does it increase the risk? Sure. Is it worth it to me? Also yes. I'm not going to stop doing the things that make my life enjoyable just to live longer.
 
I'm not going to stop doing the things that make my life enjoyable just to live longer.
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And every one of us makes some choices that are similar in some way.

Just make sure you know the stakes and decide consciously what each risk is worth it to you.
 
i do enjoy life

and the fuzzy line between prepared and paranoid is not crossed,
not even approached.

i am trying to give the advantage to me...
not a pack of 'domesticated' dogs that gets lose from time to time
nor the odd person who takes the bus from the city to its last stop, mine--looking for a bike or a car to take home.

i would no more leave the garage door up while i went for a walk than deaden the ambiance of the world about me.
 
I carry, I feel that helps mitigate the issue.
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Uh huh! The meme of "gun as talisman." I have a gun so nothing will happen to me. Or, I have a gun so I'll be able to respond somehow if I need to. This is a pervasive mindset fault that is waaay too common.

Another such fault may be seen in the original post (though, hopefully, only if one reads too much into it).

"do you wear headphones to listen to music/podcasts or go without music when out and about and carrying"

The subtle implication here is the concept of risk being somehow related to whether or not one is carrying a firearm. As in, "when I strap on a gun, I go to Condition Yellow." No one really says it outright, but as Kleanbore points out, risk and awareness are wholly independent of whether you are armed with a firearm. Just as you strive to never willingly do anything or go anywhere WITH a firearm that you would not do or go without one, the inverse is true, and important! Folks do tend to slip into a way of thinking that allows them to behave as though the world becomes more dangerous when they are armed and somehow more benign when they are not!

In paraphrase, "Normally I go walking or jogging with my tunes plugged in just enjoying the beat and breezing along...but when I carry a gun I leave the 'phones at home and focus on awareness and risk assessment because the world is a dangerous place!"
 
Posted by Godsgunman: Not trying to sound disrespectful in any way, but where do you all live that you have this fear mentality.
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What does "fear mentality" have to do with it?

Sure if I'm going to be anywhere near a place I know is shady like downtown KC I'll go armed for the "just in case".
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Many of us recognize that we cannot know when we may need to defend ourselves, so we make it a practice to carry when we can. Many of us also believe that if one would not go somewhere unarmed because of a perception of a higher than usual level of risk, it is prudent to not go there at all, if it can be avoided in any way. For example, I do not go here at all; I have first-hand knowledge that the statements that the area had become "virtually problem free" were erroneous, and I believe them to have been self serving.

Its about being aware of your surroundings and knowing whats around.
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That's a very big part of it, and when one is distracted, whether by a cell phone or by concentrating on the operation of an ATM or by getting the child in or out of the car, one cannot be aware of one's surroundings or know "what's around", and that's the point of most of the responses here.

Of course, the other part of the equation is being prepared for the unpleasant sudden realization that "what's around" may constitute a serious imminent threat.
 
I cannot say that the teacher from Montana that was killed had ear buds in but she was probably caught off guard when the men abducted her. Those same men resided in my community that for the most part seems quite safe. This whole notion that one arms up when going to a bad place but knows with some certainty that they are without danger in others begs the question of why go in the first place? it's much like believing you can put on a seatbelt or helmet prior to a crash.
It isn't a matter of carrying and being distracted it is a matter of being distracted.
 
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