Obligation to Disclose That You Carry When at Someone's House

[toolmanroberts]

The way I look at it this: by have a concealed carry permit, I have allready shown that I can handle a gun and I'am responsible with it. That should be al that is necessary. Don't ask, don't tell. If someone doesn't want me carrying in there home I will leave. There loss. Like roo ster said, it is only a tool and I'am in control of it and it won't come out unless it is needed. If it is needed they will be happy that I have it along. Hopefully I will never need to pull it out. But it is nice to be prepared.

 

[ozarkgunner]

I see no reason to inform anyone that you are carrying unless asked specifically. Recently I was over at the house of one of my daughter's friends, who is also a teacher at her school. The subject of guns came up as the husband didn't have any but wanted to get one for home defence. My wife quickly informed them that I had a variety and that I always carried. I produced my carry piece and showed it to rhem. They made no objections or weird eactions ro me carrying or carrying in their home.
I would only make it known if there were a specific reason.

 

[stevelyn]

If you enter my home and are armed I wonder what you are up to, I am not a scary person and do not believe one should need to be armed and feel threatened by me so you must be planning to harm me. I can secure my own home (or choose not to), and in my home I expect you to respect my policies.

I don't imagine that you are scary or threatening, but did you consider what kind of no-man's land your visitor may have had to traverse to come and visit your safe, fortified abode?

 

[Joe Demko]

Once we, as gun owners, stop treating firearms differently than other personal property, the better off we will be.

There's all kinds of personal property you may have that I don't want you bringing into my house. I don't want you bringing your heroin. I don't want you bringing your *****. I don't want you bringing your cat. I don't want you bringing your clown costume. I don't want you bringing your collection of Star Trek TOS dvd's. The fact that they are your personal property means nothing. It also means nothing whether my reasons are rational or irrational. In your house, you can shoot up while dressed as Emmet Kelly and amuse yourself with pets and sex toys as Shatner emotes in the background all you want. If the rule in my house is that those things are not to be brought into the house, then your only choices are to leave them at your house or not come to my house. If you know that I don't want those things in my house but choose to smuggle one or more in, on the pretense that what is lodged in your body cavity is none of my business...well, you are a dishonest sort that I won't ever trust at all, should I find out about it.
You don't get to choose which of my household rules you are going to follow and which you are not. If you don't like my rules, stay away. I'll have more respect for you staying away than I will for you being a liar.

 

[22-rimfire]

+1 Joe Demko. You said that very well with quite colorful examples.

 

[ironhead7544]

If its legal I wouldnt mention it. If the state thinks you have the moral and practical sense to walk down the street carrying a firearm, then what difference does it make where you are? You will have to determine the risk of not carrying when you go somewhere.
This incident happened here. There is a mall that doesnt allow CCW. A woman was kidnapped from the parking lot. She was found in the woods, raped, nailed to a tree and beaten to death.
Another incident: A woman was on her way home from a university where she worked. Car broke down. She was later found in the woods, decapitated. The perp was caught and it was determined he had done this to at least 2 other women.
This is what I think of every time I hear that property rights trump personal defense rights. If you own and carry guns, expect other people to do the same.

 

[whalerman]

Joe, colorful examples. However, extremely irrelevant. If this person is a friend, you've no doubt become aware of his or her feelings. You just wouln't find yourself in their home in the first place. Same with the cocaine. You would have become aware of the situation, and wouldn't be in the home in first place. If the guy/lady doesn't take baths, you wouldn't be in their home in the first place. All this talk of the screening process and being respectul of everyone makes no sense. Don't you know your friends? Obviously you respect them or they wouldn't be your friends. You guys are making perfect sense to me if you were going door to door selling vacuum cleaners, but not visiting personal friends who you've supposedly known for awhile. Then again, I'd carry if I were selling door to door, and I wouldn't ask if they minded. But please guys, if your so concerned about polling the neighborhood about their views on you being armed, leave the gun at home. Leaving it in the car is unacceptable.

 

[brboyer]

There's all kinds of personal property you may have that I don't want you bringing into my house. I don't want you bringing your heroin. I don't want you bringing your *****. I don't want you bringing your cat. I don't want you bringing your clown costume. I don't want you bringing your collection of Star Trek TOS dvd's. The fact that they are your personal property means nothing. It also means nothing whether my reasons are rational or irrational. In your house, you can shoot up while dressed as Emmet Kelly and amuse yourself with pets and sex toys as Shatner emotes in the background all you want. If the rule in my house is that those things are not to be brought into the house, then your only choices are to leave them at your house or not come to my house. If you know that I don't want those things in my house but choose to smuggle one or more in, on the pretense that what is lodged in your body cavity is none of my business...well, you are a dishonest sort that I won't ever trust at all, should I find out about it.
You don't get to choose which of my household rules you are going to follow and which you are not. If you don't like my rules, stay away. I'll have more respect for you staying away than I will for you being a liar.

 

[Joe Demko]

Friends,family, it doesn't matter...and the issue is that if I know you like H/guns/clown costumes/etc. and I have told you that I don't like those things and don't want them in my house you cannot consider yourself a man of honor if you come to my house concealing any of them. You are, in point of fact, nothing but a liar if you do that. Whether I discover the clown nose in your pocket or not doesn't matter. You are in my house under a false pretense of abiding by my rules, ergo you are not somebody to be trusted in any context.
My house. My rules. My rules don't have to make sense to anybody but me.

If grandma doesn't like guns and doesn't want any in her house and told you as much, you cannot sneak a gun into grandma's house and consider yourself an honorable man.

 

[Bernie Lomax]

Yeah, that was puzzling to me, too. Maybe he knows someone who has a KSP fetish.

 

[22-rimfire]

I generally have little problem with folks carrying anywhere. If someone does not want someone to carry in their home, that is their rule. If someone knows I routinely carry and ask that I not bring a firearm into their home, I have no problem with that. I don't care what the state or federal government has to say about it. Life is full of choices and I accept the consequences of my personal choices.

The fact of the matter, in my home, it depends WHO is carrying not IF they are carrying a handgun. Yes, I discriminate. Truthfully, I don't invite someone into my home unless they are family or I know them fairly well.

 

[rodensouth]

ArmedBear said it better than I could. Some are showing their lack of experience with concealed carry by their responses.

There is a big difference in one who carries daily and one who sometimes does.

I would never carry into a home that made it known to be unwelcome, but I never talk about the weapon I carry either.

 

[sansone]

if your gun is well concealed say nothing. Everyone in the room would be more comfortable without a discussion on the matter. If the homeowner is the type of person to get angry about it, I simply would not be there regardless

 

[Joe Demko]

Yeah, that was puzzling to me, too. Maybe he knows someone who has a KSP fetish.

Nope. I'm just making the point that, although you want to convince yourself it's okay to deceive your host(ess) because guns are special, they aren't and it isn't. It isn't your house, you don't get to decide which rules have to followed and which don't. If you can't live without your gun for a few hours on Thanksgiving, then just don't go to Grandma's house. It disgusts me that so many of you could happily sit at someone's table, eat their food, and be such a lying sack of **** while doing it.
People with such a fundamental lack of integrity would not be welcome in my house no matter how much lip-service they give to the concept of rights. In the end, the only right they really recognize is their "right" to do as they please and **** everybody else.

 

[Zach S]

1) No. Its no different going commando IMO. Unless the SHTF, weather or not I'm carrying concealed effects everyone as much as wearing drawers or not.

2) No. If they know about my concealed handgun, they know me pretty well. If they dont want it in their house, I dont go.

3) No. If they're inside my home, well, I trust them enough to be inside my home. Technicians, repairmen, etc, are few and far between, aren't trusted, and aren't left alone.

 

[Voimakas]

My close friends and family know I carry. My close friends and family know if I am there, I am armed. You don't want a gun in the house, don't invite me. For casual acquaintances and customers : no I don't tell them or ask their permission. Concealed for a reason.

Short story: before I married my wife, my grandma didn't want us sharing a bed at her house. So I didn't sleep there until after I married my wife. If my grandma said no guns, I wouldn't go. I don't tell her no religious crap in my home (and religion is much more dangerous.) So I expect her to respect my decisions about something important to me.

 

[whalerman]

Roden and Sansone, Thank You. You've settled some very strange lines of thought. It could very well be that many equate concealed carry with dressing in a tuxedo, ie and unusual event.

Demko, lighten up. No need to go into the "worthless pieces of .... " routine. I hope you listen up on the 'guns left in cars' practice. Another suggestion. When someone gets giddy about your gun don't pull it out and start showing people unless you're in a secured area and you've discussed this with the parents PREVIOUSLY. Producing a concealed weapon around kids shouldn't be done on a whim, no matter how proud you are or how excited the children are. Keep it holstered and concealed, whether the lady of the house is a teacher or not.

Maybe it's me. These lines of thought are contrary to all the training I've ever received.

 

[Cap'n Jack Burntbeard]

First of all it depends on whose house I am at.
I will not disarm myself to placate the vehemently anti self defense.
Nor will I change my religious beliefs, my taste in pornography, or my political beliefs because it may offend the ignorant.
If it is a contentious subject, I will simply not bring it up. My business is my business, not theirs.
The rights of an individual are only as good as that individual's respect for the rights of others.

 

[tooltech]

My close friends and family know I carry. My close friends and family know if I am there, I am armed. You don't want a gun in the house, don't invite me. For casual acquaintances and customers : no I don't tell them or ask their permission. Concealed for a reason.

This.

 

[General Geoff]

People with such a fundamental lack of integrity would not be welcome in my house no matter how much lip-service they give to the concept of rights. In the end, the only right they really recognize is their "right" to do as they please and **** everybody else.

If you lay out all your silly ground rules for entering your home from the get-go, I'm fairly sure that nobody would bother visiting you anymore, for fear of violating the fine print in your social contract. If that is your goal, more power to you. Your house, your rules, no argument there.

I gladly refrain from visiting anyone who makes it known beforehand that they do not allow firearms in their home or business.

 

[roo_ster]

Nope. I'm just making the point that, although you want to convince yourself it's okay to deceive your host(ess) because guns are special, they aren't and it isn't. It isn't your house, you don't get to decide which rules have to followed and which don't. If you can't live without your gun for a few hours on Thanksgiving, then just don't go to Grandma's house. It disgusts me that so many of you could happily sit at someone's table, eat their food, and be such a lying sack of **** while doing it.
People with such a fundamental lack of integrity would not be welcome in my house no matter how much lip-service they give to the concept of rights. In the end, the only right they really recognize is their "right" to do as they please and **** everybody else.

If you lay out all your silly ground rules for entering your home from the get-go, I'm fairly sure that nobody would bother visiting you anymore, for fear of violating the fine print in your social contract. If that is your goal, more power to you. Your house, your rules, no argument there.

JD, I think GG has your number.

I'd suspect that it is a rare event that anyone would ever get to that point, given the temperament displayed in your posts. Some folks are just too much a PITA to waste time on.

But, I do give you credit for truth in advertising:
"Location: Just two minutes from sanity."

 

[22-rimfire]

The only folks that come into my house that make me uncomfortable are the kids who I don't know other than perhaps their name. For the most part, the neighborhood kids stay outside however, my rule. My wife does not like it, but frankly, from a kid's perspective, my house is a gold mine of potential items to steal. My wife would say the place needs a bit of thinning. Kids talk too much and you don't know who they provide information to inadvertently or to try to make themselves feel important. They frequently do not understand the consequences of their actions.

 

[Joe Demko]

Spin it as hard as you want, there will be no way for you to rationalize slyly violating another person's house rules as anything but dishonesty. Do you carry the "if you don't get caught you didn't do anything wrong" idea over to other areas? Your marriage vows for example? Pilfering from work? Cheating at cards?
Integrity is what you do when others aren't looking, too.

 

[General Geoff]

Spin it as hard as you want, there will be no way for you to rationalize slyly violating another person's house rules as anything but dishonesty.

No spin intended. I do not intentionally violate any of another person's house rules of which I have been made aware.


I think the rub here is that I simply don't consider guns to be extraordinary objects requiring special house rules for simple possession, and thus don't assume that someone would bar others from carrying them in their home, unless they specify.


Of course, I typically open carry anyway, so if the homeowner does have a problem with me carrying, I'm sure they'll let me know, so that I can extricate myself from the premises in accordance with their wishes.

 

[smartshot]

you can always secure your gun in your car when going into a friend's house if that will make everyone more comfortable. If you feel that you need to have it with you 24/7, start by not telling people about it and they won't think to ask.