Why did you start carrying a gun?

[C0untZer0]

Before I started carrying a gun, my pants would ride up on me, all the way up to my belly button, and people would make fun of me for wearing "Flood Pants"

I looked like a nerd.

A gun causes my pants to ride down by my hip bone - where they belong.

Its really improved my life.

 

[countryflyer]

I have enjoyed guns and shooting since I was a child in New Hampshire. It was a common thing for kids to get a .22 or a shotgun at 11 or 12, and almost all of my friends and their fathers hunted. I moved to the Midwest later in life, and live in an urban area. Not too many friends now are gun guys or hunters. I brewed beer as a hobby for years, and then found out that I can't eat gluten, which means no beer. I know, poor me, lol. I needed something hobby wise that would satisfy my technical, tinkering side, and I remembered how much shooting was as a kid. Bought my first gun in years at a gun show, and devoted myself to training with it, and getting good at shooting like when I was a kid, and did it all the time. I took classes, and deepened my knowledge and skills, and took up reloading to help lessen the cost of feeding my new hobby.

I realized, that as a mid 40's man, with a wife and 4 children to protect, I didn't really have any realistic expectations that I could do that with my hand to hand skills, and with now 2 metal hips, I couldn't even reliably run away from a threat either. I decided to get my CHL, and continue to study and practice with my guns, so that I could have a good chance at protecting myself and my family if I need to. I realize that there just aren't any "safe" places now, and you can't just avoid "dangerous" ones, and negate the need for a weapon. Almost any place someone would have considered a safe place, has already suffered a mass shooting. My greatest hope is that I will die, kicking myself for carrying an uncomfortable piece of metal on my hip for so many years, but I will be glad I was ready that whole time in case it ever is needed

 

[Seminole]

When my son was born I realized I would do anything necessary to protect him from bad people. That realization prompted me to buy my first handgun and, shortly thereafter, to get my CHL. I've never looked back.

 

[Blacksmoke]

In 1973 I was a Mercedes-Benz mechanic working at the MB dealership in San Francisco. I worked the night shift, from 4 in the afternoon until 1 in the morning. I lived first on Nob Hill and then Pacific Heights and always walked to work and walked home at 1AM. Around October of 1973 the Zebra killings started. These were racially motivated killings of white people by a group of Black Muslims calling themselves the "Death Angels". Not wanting to give up my way of life I started carrying my Bob Chow modified Colt Combat Commander and continued my 1AM walk home. Guess I just never stopped carrying from those days.
These were pre carry permit days and I always thought of a German expression I learned while there in the Army. Legal, illegal, egal. (Legally, illegally, doesn't matter)

Stu

That brings back some memories. At that time I walked a patrol route for Bank of America covering their facilities south of Market Street which was not a good neighborhood back then. It was a night job paying for my days as a college student. I would have felt uncomfortable without the S&W Model 10 and that heavy old Motorola VHF on my belt.

 

[p95]

cause I am too old and tired to carry a cop.......

 

[HOWARD J]

I carried a gun for about 61 years
.25 auto when I was on my cycle
After 67 riot in Detriot I carried a 1911 45 ACP ,Later on a Glock 26 9 MM
I carried to protect me & mine

 

[P5 Guy]

I moved from New Jersey to Florida where I could exercise my GOD given rights even though I have to have buy a license to do this.

 

[Spats McGee]

I opened my own law practice in 2007. Shortly thereafter, I realized that having my own practice meant: (1) lots of time downtown after dark; (2) a 3-4 block walk to my car in the aforementioned dark; (3) a not-insubstantial homeless population downtown; and (4) dealing with many more (alleged) criminals than was normal for me. I have a wife and daughter who mean more to me than life itself. I had to do something to help ensure their safety and mine. After I shut my practice down in 2010, I took a job that involved: (a) defending police officers from folks that sue them; and (2) suing crack dealers. That certainly didn't seem to be a good reason to quit carrying.

 

[phil dirt]

I started carrying when, due to an injury, I realized there was no way I could outrun the bad guys.

 

[JJE]

I carry a gun because I like guns. I like the way many of them look. I am fascinated by what they do: propel a hunk of metal to supersonic speeds with a controlled detonation. And getting a carry permit is so easy where I live, there's no reason not to carry.

 

[jerryd]

uncle sam told me too!

 

[mbok1947]

In 1969 I went to work right out of college as a newspaper reporter, and within a few months I was assigned full time to the police beat. In those years the regular police station reporters and the cops got along quite well, including ridealongs, going along on drug raids, etc. From the first nights I saw instances where people were shot, stabbed, beaten, raped, robbed, burglarized, etc. Several times a year I covered homicides where the victim (often a store clerk executed in a robbery) could very well have survived had he or she been armed. I also covered a number of cases where victims who were armed stopped the crime, sometimes fatally. Over almost 11 years I saw crime up close, probably at least 500 homicides and who knows how many other non-fatal crimes.

Very early on a number of the cops quietly suggested I begin carrying. This was many years before legal CCW, but police then and now tended to offer "wink and nod" permits to people who really merited self protection. Several also noted quite bluntly that if I was going to be out there on the street at midnight with them they had better things to do than worry about protecting me. In 11 years I was present twice when police officers fatally shot suspects, and on many more instances when shots were fired and/or suspects barricaded themselves in buildings. Ate some tear gas, heard a few rounds go by and was grateful for the 4 inch Python on my hip. I never fired my weapon but did display it on several occasions to short circuit potentially violent encounters.

Fast forward many years, long after my newspaper career had ended, and I noted that my graying hair made me look more and more like a pushover victim. So got the CCW and now have a handgun in the SUV console at all times and on my right hip under most circumstances. I frequently encounter retired officers from my era and we inevitably wind up retelling war stories from long ago. I am sure they assume I am armed, as I assume they are, since those who have experienced crime up close tend to be pretty realistic about the threat and how to deal with it.

 

[ericuda]

For me I live outside of town, am outside working in garden, on vehicles or whatever. What put me over the edge now is a neighbor although a mile away or better has a couple pit bulls running lose that have killed calves at the neighboring farm. Won't start a species war, we are all free to read the news. I also have upgraded my vehicle weapon.

 

[goodhope farmer]

Well, Roy and Hoppy and the Lone Ranger needed some back up when I was in grade school and twin caps were in order.. From there any self respecting ranch kid graduated to a single action .22. That lasted until I went in to law enforcement.
Been packing a real sidearm for over 50 years.. It's kinda gotten to be a habit.

Well, Roy and Hoppy and the Lone Ranger needed some back up when I was in grade school and twin caps were in order.. From there any self respecting ranch kid graduated to a single action .22. That lasted until I went in to law enforcement.
Been packing a real sidearm for over 50 years.. It's kinda gotten to be a habit.

 

[goodhope farmer]

I'M 68 YRS. OLE,,TOO YOUNG TO DIE AND TOO TO TAKE AN ASS WHOOPING

 

[Yanus]

Legally or otherwise? Legally with a CHL, since about 1997. Otherwise, since I was 16. I'm 59 about to turn 60.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Why do people admit to committing a Felony on an open forum? Do you really think the Feds can't find you if the want to?

 

[Yanus]

Why do people admit to committing a Felony on an open forum? Do you really think the Feds can't find you if the want to?

At 16, I carried in my vehicle which was legal at the time. I no longer own that gun or the vehicle. After 44 years I think I'm pretty safe.

 

[skoro]

Why did you start open or concealed carrying a gun?

I'm near the Mexican border. Back about ten years ago, the cartel violence was ramping up south of the river, but it hadn't spilled across to the US side. Eight years ago, a young couple driving a vehicle identical to mine were gunned down in traffic. A case of mistaken ID. At that point, I got my concealed handgun license and I've carried daily since.

These days, the cartel violence is practically nil, thank goodness. But I intend to keep carrying until I'm too old to.

 

[Piedmont Plinker]

My story is a little longer and more complicated than some others here.
I've always been pro-gun and pro-RKBA. Hell, I was posting on this forum when I was 12 or 13 (don't read my older posts, they're the mindless ramblings of a 12 year old who just thought "guns are cool!). I did do a decent amount of shooting, mostly skeet and rimfire rifle.
Anyway, I have a genetic condition known as Marfan syndrome. It affects connective tissue mainly, especially that of the heart. Relevant for two reasons. 1: Although I am tall and packing a hard-earned beer gut, I am not physically strong, and if I hit the weights I would endanger my life. 2: when I was fourteen I had to have open-heart surgery to replace me aortic valve with a metal one. I'm on blood thinners and if my blood gets too thick my valve can throw clots.
(Sidebar: that's when I became less involved in shooting. Hard to handle a shotgun when your chest has recently been cracked open).

Anyway...flash forward until summer 2014. I had recently turned 21 and started my senior year at Carolina. I was trying to drop a few pounds and had started eating healthier. I had gotten rather complacent and had pushed to the back of my mind the fact that green vegetables can negate the effect of the blood thinners. I was riding an exercise bike at what is, for me, a safe speed, when I had a stroke. I lost all feeling in my right side and lost the ability to speak. I was absolutely, completely, terrifyingly helpless. After I recovered, I decided that I would never be helpless again, when my actions can prevent my being helpless. I couldn't make my body a weapon due the aforementioned heart condition, so I decided to re-acquaint myself with my old love of weaponry. I bought a couple of handguns. My friend was taking an NC CC class and I went with him and rediscovered how much I loved shooting.

Life, as it tends to, got in the way of my being a hardcore carrier. Then, about this last time last year, jihadists attacked Paris.That was the wake-up call I needed to get really serious about carrying.

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

I grew up shooting bolt action rifles and revolvers on my pops farm. After about a 15yr hiatus from guns of any sort, I had a newfound interest in hand guns in particular at the beginning of '16. I bought my first pistol in Feb '16 and a few months later got my CHP.

Given the current social climate along with a sense of awareness not present in my 20's I decided it was a good idea to start carrying. Initially though it was stemmed from a renewed interest in just shooting again.

 

[CoalTrain49]

I was hassled by some drug dealers in Seattle about 26 years ago. They basically tried to run me out of a parking lot behind a business that was open. I've had a permit to carry concealed ever since and I carry. Sometimes you just can't reason with folks.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

While living in Maryland it is next to impossible to conceal carry. One of many reasons to leave that state and moved to Virginia. I ask students all the time if they have ever encountered an active shooter situation. I always get a small percentage who answer in the affirmative. I then decided to carry.
Granted I haven't felt the need to conceal carry in this state like I did in Maryland.

 

[Blacksmoke]

While living in Maryland it is next to impossible to conceal carry. One of many reasons to leave that state and moved to Virginia. I ask students all the time if they have ever encountered an active shooter situation. I always get a small percentage who answer in the affirmative. I then decided to carry.
Granted I haven't felt the need to conceal carry in this state like I did in Maryland.

I lived in northern Virginia in the early 1980s- out the Georgetown Pike not far from Leesburg. It was fairly rural back then. Houses here and there. People were very polite. I hope it stays that way!

 

[1911 guy]

Two reasons: First, I've seen enough to know that violence can happen at any time, any place, with no warning and no reason. Staying away from dumb people, places and things can indeed lessen your chances, but there absolutely no guarantees. Secondly, I have a family and I cannot bravely run away and leave them behind. Avoiding trouble is most preferable, escaping from trouble is the next best thing. But sometimes those options are taken away from you or simply not available. So I carry a gun and maintain my ability to use it effectively.