Why carry concealed

[1911 guy]

I carry because...

I can.
I want to protect my family.
I may be put in a position to protect someone else.
I want to protect myself.
Crime goes down with CCW. I want to be part of that.
I may not be able to escape every danger presented to me.

 

[Mastrogiacomo]

I hope to get one but my permit has a restriction on it that only allows me to carry for work purposes. I asked if I'll be upgraded to "all lawful purposes" and was told it was uncertain.... the detective did say previously that I would be, but now it seems what people say and what they really mean are two different things entirely.

I think, especially for women, that this is a major concern and I'd like to try and convince my anti sister to think of getting one (she's applied for pepper spray in the city of Lowell). I've know of three violent acts on my street, a rape, a murder, and an attempted murder by beating. Still in the city, a girl was taken in front of her house and brought to a prostitution ring in Revere, and fortunately escaped and go the police. A former school mate was killed by her boyfriend and still another followed home from work one night - assaulted and killed. Anyone that thinks they'll be safe because they live in a good area and have a cell phone needs to get their head examined. I'll be carrying 24/7 when I get mine.

 

[neoncowboy]

Most of the reasons I carry are purely practical: in the event that I (or someone else) desperately needs a defense against violence, my training together with my .45 is about the best defense I can have.

But there's also a more philoshophical reason for daily carry. It seems to me like as our gun rights continue to shrink, one of the most effective things we can do to preserve them is to exercise them. By doing so, I add myself to the numbers of folks who carry and add my weight to the statistics. Also, it seems like more bad guys carry guns than good guys do...so by carrying I am adding strength to the side of the good guys.

 

[mokster]

Thats another reason I carry. Our rights are shrinking weekly. We should carry if able just so we can exercise our rights, and maybe show through statistical research what our forebearers knew, that the right to bear arms is a good deterrant to an oppressive government( and an exceedingly oppressive criminal element in society).

 

[fb]

Mannlicker has it about right!
Carry the damm gun for your own reasons, not mine.
Guns are a hobby for me, also a insurance policy. Not only pride of ownership, but taste enters into it.
Violence is not alwys a bad thing, you just have to manage it real well. If you must use it, open the spigot all the way!

 

[Tom Servo]

So, the question seems to be, "why do folks own guns, but not carry them." Where I live, there are probably more guns than people per square mile. Still, folks who carry are in the minority. For many, there seems to be the mentality that "I've got a gun, so I'll be safe." Even if the gun is sitting at home in a desk drawer. It's sort of a safety-blanket mentality, that just having a gun at all will somehow make them safer. Many folks aren't even trained.

Of course, the gun at home in the desk drawer won't help if a meth-head tries to shoot me so they can "borrow" a car with clean plates (as happened here a couple of weeks back), but most folks just don't think that far ahead. When the Fulton County courthouse shootings happened a couple of months back, people told me that if they ran across the guy, they'd be ready because they had guns. I'd ask what they were carrying, and I'd get an odd look, followed by, "well, I've got [insert gun] at home." Tons of guns in Georgia, yet this man carjacked numerous people, none of whom had their guns with them at the time.

 

[sssteinkamp]

I put up a web page that I refer all my friends to here:

Why I Carry A Gun

Shane

 

[gbelleh]

sssteinkamp,
Good site. Lots of good reasons expressed logically.

 

[38SnubFan]

Because it is my responsibility to defend myself and my family

Says it all right there!

I don't necessarily understand that if you have the tools, and the ability, to not carry (where legal to do so). I actually feel a sense of "personal pride" in the knowledge that I have the tools, training, and ability to defend myself or those I care about, should that time ever arise (I should hope it never does).

Just my $.02

-38SnubFan

 

[MikeIsaj]

Because I can.
Because I have a job where you make enemys with BG's regularly.
Because a recent knee injury makes a safe retreat an improbability.

 

[LynnMassGuy]

20 different street gangs operating in my hometown. That's why I carry. Not to mention, I've never heard of the cops showing up before crimes are comitted.

Regards
John