Where's the Correct Balance?

[mercop]

I think it is better to be of the mindset of "it could happen" instead of "it could never happen to me".

Our general orders in the police department said that you had to be "suitably armed" at all times while in the state. I actually kind of like that wording. Leaves it up to the person to define that.

I live in the country but about 20 min from the city of York which is pretty bad. If I am going out locally, say out to dinner with my wife I will probably drop my 38 and a speed strip in my pocket. If for some reason I go to York I will most likely be wearing a G23 or CZ75 and a spare mag. I equate this to the difference between camping in your yard and on the Appalachian Trail. You should always be "suitably equipped" but sometimes it just makes sense to have a little more due to environment and application. Also helps to keep you from becoming complacent by constantly evaluatiing your needs and likely threats. Every time you put a weapon on take a minute to consider why you are doing so.- George

 

[engineer88]

Honestly the larger the percentage of the time you carry it, the better your chance of having it when you need it and surviving. As far as "being bothered" to carry and situational awareness, let me give you a little scenario.

You are walking from the restaurant after dinner to your car (it is night and dark) with a small group of people who are slightly spread out (every group has the slow walkin' stragglers, ), you have your 6 year old child on your shoulders because she is "too sleepy to walk" (you are 6'5" and 350 lbs so your 40 pound daughter is no problem). Coming up ahead standing to one side of deserted street are 3 fellows talking hushed amongst themselves and darting glances in your direction frequently.

You decide to walk as far on the other side of the street as you can because something smells funny about the guys and you get that "vibe", so you hold onto the kids legs with your left hand, put your right in your pocket, pull the 637 slightly loose from the pocket holster and put your thumb under the hammer, ready to pull and hope the others will follow your lead. You keep your eyes on them and once you get past the guys you stop, and turn to make sure the stragglers make it and shake your head as they walk in close proximity to the 3 suspicious fellows.

Everything goes ok, you walk on and figure they were probably just selling/buying drugs or talking about things not nice for mixed company perhaps. You get to the cars, drive off and arrive at your secondary destination where one of your group proceeds to tell you they saw the guy mad dogging you and pull a knife out of his pocket and pop it open. Then when seeing he was made he put it up.

Yes, this happened, unfortunately I was not told about the knife until two hours later so calling the police was pointless. I can only hope no one else was hurt or robbed that night, but I learned a few things from the incident.

1. You don't always have the angle to see everything ahead of time, even when being very alert.
2. Trust your instincts, they will serve you well.
3. ALWAYS CARRY.

There is safety in numbers. If we had a smaller group, like say just my wife and I and my daughter I am sure these men would have tried something. Who knows how it might have ended. I am glad not to know how it might have went to be honest. I did have 5 shots of .38 and a P32 as backup so 13 rounds total should have saved my life I would hope, but if all three men had guns, I would have been lucky to walk away from that one, so again, I am glad I did not have to defend myself and my family.

I feel I did three things right in the situation though. Gave them a wide berth to keep space, turned around once I was about 30 feet past them and made sure everyone else was safe, and..... I WAS CARRYING A FIREARM. This happened about a month ago in a nice part of town in a tourist friendly area in St. Augustine, FL. Nowhere is truly safe, you cannot think that way. You need to be alert and prepared for loved ones and friends who "cannot be bothered" with such things.

Understand I am not picking on anyone by what I am saying, just sharing my story as it was positive reinforcement for myself to always be prepared. My grandfather used to say: "Always expect the worst and anything better than that is like a nice surprise." He was the wisest man I have ever known.

 

[JohnKSa]

I carry pretty much any time I can. Not because I expect something to happen, not because I'm afraid something will happen.

I carry because something could happen and if it does, I want to have the ability to respond with a firearm as one of the options I can choose from.

I like to be prepared to deal with real world problems, and carrying a firearm is one of the many steps I take to be prepared. A few of the other steps I take are:

• Carrying a small electric tire pump in the trunk in case the spare is flat when I need it or a tire goes low someplace inconvenient.
• Having a roll of paper towels in the trunk.
• Carrying a small flashlight.
• Keeping current on my First Aid/CPR certifications
• Having a spare set of glasses.
• Keeping my vehicles in good repair & properly maintained.
• Shredding personal information before throwing it away.
• Keeping the virus definitions on my computer current.
• Carrying a pocketknife with tiny scissors & tweezers.
• Carrying a cell phone and making sure it stays charged.

Note that several of the things on the list have absolutely nothing to do with self-defense or security. Preparedness, to me, is a general attitude, it's not just about trying to make sure no one robs or injures me.

Carrying is, frankly, a pain in the neck . . . or the hip.

You're making it too hard. Which is better, a smaller, more comfortable gun that you have on you when you need it? Or a large, heavy gun that's a pain to carry and makes you constantly question whether or not it's worth it to carry it?

I do various things to be prepared, but I don't let those things torture me either mentally or physically. I carry a gun that doesn't hurt me, doesn't significantly restrict my activities while carrying, and that I can conceal without changing my lifestyle or buying a new wardrobe. Similarly I am careful about maintaining my cars, but I don't drop everything and take time off from work if one of them happens to get a few miles past the oil change mileage. I don't agonize over whether or not maybe I accidentally let something with personal information get into the garbage without being shredded.

If it's running ME then something's out of whack. My preparedness is supposed to benefit me, not the other way around.

 

[cambeul41]

Are we missing something important here?

MisterMike (post 24)

Which brings me to the one set of circumstances that will cause me to go unarmed every time: those occasions when I'm not feeling "with it." I don't know that I can effectively describe a set of symptoms or performance deficits, but this is a practice I adopted years ago as a motorcyclist. Sometimes, whether as a result of illness, fatigue, or distraction, I would get the feeling that I could not operate my bike to the full extent of my abilities. I decided pretty quickly that those were good days to stay home, watch the tube, putter around the garden, or find some other diversion. I've done the same with carrying. Not because I fear harming myself, but because for me (under rare circumstances), I calculate that the perhaps almost imperceptibly greater chance of making a mistake that could harm another isn't worth it.

Is the real question whether or not there are times that we might feel less than competent to carry, so we might decide not to or decide to stay at home?

I am sure that there are a number on this board who would lock up their gun if they were to have even a single drink. Isn't it just as valad to decide not to carry when feeling less than fully competent for any number of other reasons?

 

[Grey_Mana]

I look at the concept in a somewhat different way.
Some posters and range acquaintances seem to be preparing for fantasy role playing scenarios, rather than preparing for what might reasonably happen. Not paranoia, but still unreality.

For example - a regular guy who might reasonably expect to need a loaded .45 and two spare mags today should change his plans for the day. In a situation where you need 30 bullets, a bullet-proof vest is going to be more useful. But wearing a bullet proof vest isn't fun or empowering. It is reactive.

Time spent practicing tricky draw techniques, racking the slide one-handed or with two broken thumbs, etc. would be far better off exercising. Being able to effectively run from an area of threats is more likely to pay off, than shaving another 1/4 MOA.

Time spent worrying about and devising strategies against a BG or police beating one to the ground would be better spent strengthening neck muscles, to better withstand those blows to the head.

It's fun to practice a bullet to each target, then go back and 3 more bullets to each target as fast as you can without missing drills. But you would be better or devoting some of your time to legal studies, since if you ever do shoot 3 guys with 15 bullets in 5 seconds, you'll probably be working on an appeal to get out of prison early.

If