How safe do you feel anywhere now?

[3dots]

I don't feel any safer than I ever have but feel more prepared and aware than I ever have.

 

[ClayCow]

Yes, straight from the FBI directors mouth, for one. That's just the terrorist connection.
Then there's the murders and rapes by illegals allowed to remain in country. They're on the nightly news.
So, if you really haven't heard these facts or studies yet I guess you're not following current events and news very closely.

Oh jessie. Those events have always happened. Have you actually looked at FBI trends and stats? You should, if you havent looked then i guess youre not following current events. Please dont discount FBI stats since they wont be in your favor, you certainly cant discount them since you decided to propose fbi directors statement.

If youre deciding to do your research based on cable news, then ive got to tell you, thats dumb. Its a fact that they sensationalize and blow things out of proportion, whatever gets them more viewers.

 

[pawngal]

I feel as safe as ever but I am much more conscious of my surroundings than I used to be. And have upgraded my security and surveillance systems at my shop, got rid of the sliding glass doors at home replaced with metal, new garage doors & openers, and upgraded the 4-leggged alarm/security.

The biggest change I made was trading my luxury SUV for a common looking 4x4 truck. Figured old lady, expensive vehicle looked like an easy mark.

And bought more guns! And shoot more.

 

[BIGDOC]

Now you have to be more aware of people and yes I scan people and the location of where I am, yes I look at suspicious people and those that aren't, why hell we may even be on the forum with a lunatic and we would never know it.....hmmmmmm, is it you ? As stated above, carry when you can. I always kept a gun NEAR... now I keep a gun on me.

 

[cmort666]

As stated above, carry when you can. I always kept a gun NEAR... now I keep a gun on me.

There are more than a few people, gun owners included, who would tell you that you don't need to do that, even that there's something wrong with you for doing so. Of course those same people can reliably be counted upon to NOT come to your aid if you were foolish enough to follow their advice and were attacked.

As I said previously, the MOST valuable thing my father ever taught me was to NOT worry about the opinions of strangers who could give a damn whether I lived or died, ESPECIALLY when they're advising me to do things which will cause me harm.

 

[David LaPell]

I think there is a difference in between aware and being paranoid. For instance, I have had long discussions with people that the old "it can't happen here" attitude needs to go away. I think its pretty safe to say things can happen and in some cases do. I carry a gun more often that not because I don't think someone will target me and mine specifically, but that I could be somewhere the day some guy got fired from his job and the squirrels in his head told him to end it all in dramatic fashion. I also can tell you where I am is pretty secluded and police response can be twenty minutes and I once watched a car accident with injuries get a one hour response time in front of my house. Bad things happen and with the value of human life seemingly up for grabs by some its safe to say that bystanders now are just as likely to get it as intended targets. Do I carry a gun, yep where ever and whenever I can. But the best weapon is that big sponge between the ears because that if you are paying attention can get you out of trouble on occasion as fast as you got into it.

 

[vytoland]

the news media loves to coat today's society with 24/7 fear..........

as long as I got these....I'm as happy and safe as a 4 year old on Christmas day.....

 

[ParadiseRoad]

...I feel pretty safe...of course I live at the end of a dead end road in a rural mountain county at 9500 feet elevation...we can go weeks without seeing a vehicle on our road...matter of fact the county hasn't done any road maintenance this Summer...so the road is beginning to grow back in...which is fine with me...it was two wheel tracks in the grass when we moved up here 32 years ago...when someone in the area spots a mountain lion or bear...I will strap a 44 Magnum on when I go walk the dogs...I'd still rather take my chances with four legged predators than two legged ones...we avoid the city as much as possible...

 

[.455_Hunter]

To me, a small/compact sidearm is just pat of my daily attire. I guess its just the preparedness my Father taught me, plus being Eagle Scout and former Army Officer. In Colorado, true "gun free" zones are very limited (signs at the mall/store/theater don't count), so unless your are entering a K-12 public school, post office, etc, you don't even have to really think about your gun.

 

[Grayfox]

I have always tried to keep a fairly good eye on what's going on around me. If I leave the house, 99% of the time I am armed.
But I also used to think that it won't happen here. These mass shootings always take place in the anti-gun cities and states in gun free zones where the BGs know there won't be any resistance. Hell, this is the South. Guns are everywhere and lots of us carry everyday. Crime, yeah, that could happen. Especially in the big cities. But terrorism/ mass shootings? Nah, they wouldn't be that stupid.
Then Chattanooga happened, a crazy old white guy shot up a movie theater, home invasions, rape and murder out in the boonies, etc and so on. The unthinkable seems to be happening more often. I have come to realize that no place is safe anymore. Anything can happen anywhere at anytime.
The media loves to sensationalize these isolated incidents and prey on our fears. Thus adding to them.

I am a bit more vigilant these days, but I refuse to live in fear. The odds are still in my favor and its highly unlikely such things will ever happen to me or mine.
I stand prepared, but unafraid.
Because the day we fear living our lives in a normal manner is the day we lose humanity as a whole.

 

[the ringo kid]

I feel about the same asive always felt. When I see more people carrying guns as a norm--like it USED to be,I feel even safer. However,there is always one in the croud who feels unsafe--when armed folks are near.Case in point--a car dealership owner said on the news he feels unsafe when he sees the three or four guys carrying long guns--wh are actually watching over the Armed Forces recruiting center. This is based off the one negative report from a story of what happened at ONE recruiting station I think somewhere in Ohio??where an idiot discharged his weapon--caused no injuries thank God.

If this car dealership owner mentioned his fear to me?id simply tell him to look the other way. Im tired of stupidity when it comes to somes beliefs on wood and metal objects. Where I live--im not supposed to have any guns on property--but--what they dont know--will not hurt them. I just traded for--this past Sat, a SAA Colt fourty five and this baby is stayin on property.

 

[Jessie]

Oh jessie. Those events have always happened. Have you actually looked at FBI trends and stats? You should, if you havent looked then i guess youre not following current events. Please dont discount FBI stats since they wont be in your favor, you certainly cant discount them since you decided to propose fbi directors statement.

If youre deciding to do your research based on cable news, then ive got to tell you, thats dumb. Its a fact that they sensationalize and blow things out of proportion, whatever gets them more viewers.

Whatever, Mr. Cow

 

[rock_castle]

I have carried every day since I got my CHP a few years ago. I don't feel any more or less safe now than I did when I first got it, but I do feel safer than I did before I got it though.

 

[shouldazagged]

...I am a bit more vigilant these days, but I refuse to live in fear. The odds are still in my favor and its highly unlikely such things will ever happen to me or mine.
I stand prepared, but unafraid.
Because the day we fear living our lives in a normal manner is the day we lose humanity as a whole.

That says it very well for me.

I've carried daily since very soon after it became legal in Kentucky. It just made sense. There were some people on the street whom I had helped to put in prison, and the neighborhood where I lived was deteriorating. It became a habit, so a gun is just part of my wardrobe.

The principal reason I'm a little more cautious now is that I'm old and half crippled, with bad lungs, and walking with a cane.
Otherwise I'm only doing what I've always done: I stay aware of my surroundings and avoid known dangerous areas.

If I change my routine and live perpetually at condition orange,
the buggers have won, whether they are would-be terrorists, head cases or common gangsters. I just won't give them that little victory.

Like Grayfox, I play the odds; but I'm always carrying outside my apartment, and have a gun within reach inside it. To me that's just being realistic, not pessimistic or paranoid.

 

[ClayCow]

Whatever, Mr. Cow

Another person falling victim to media and refusing to research the claims they put out. Thanks America.

 

[GatorFarmer]

FBI crime stats are based off what is reported to them by various agencies. These numbers get cooked for various reasons before they are turned in. I remember one year in Lansing, the FBI reports tally of murders was less than half what the State Journal reported for that same year.

People are not stupid. If crime actually was at low levels and decreasing, gun sales would not be in the millions every year. When I was a kid in Michigan, guns were mostly associated with hunting and farming. Since then defensive firearms have become much more common. Military styled semi automatic rifles have become many times more common.

Even here, somewhat nearby, a good Samaritan family of Crow Indians were shot and killed when they stopped to help a Mexican fellow illegally in the country who had car trouble.

Even before I was a ghetto dweller as a young adult, the country side of Michigan had problems. A bear tried to eat my collie one night.

I might jokingly say that as purty as I am, a man is never truly safe in Wyoming....

But the truth is that as a matter of common sense here in the West one ought keep a pistol handy and have long guns devoted to both big furries and social problems. It has been that way since the days of Fort Phil Kearny. Though back then, you were only supposed to travel this area in a group with at least 25 or so armed men. It is much more sedate now.

 

[finesse_r]

With all that's been happening lately, do you feel safe without a concealed weapon these days?
In the past, it was the scum bags and robbers. Today?
It's more. At least to me it is. There are people who want to kill us just because we are who we are.
I've never felt the threat before as I do now. You just don't know where or when it will show.
I'm not paranoid, just aware as never before.
Any body else feel the same?

I would not know how it feels to not be carrying, as I am almost always carrying if outside my house. I avoid places I cannot carry like the plague. The rare occasions I have to enter the court house or the post office, I am not in there over a few minutes, and I don’t really worrry about it, as this is a very low crime area.

I suspect the stress levels on those living in places like NYC, Chicago, Washington D. C., or Los Angeles is pretty high, especially if they have to ride public transportation. I cannot imagine getting on a subway with hundreds of potentially crazy, drugged out people, not to mention all the gang bangers, and not carrying. I would prefer to play high stakes poker in Los Vegas as all you can lose there is your money.

However, this has nothing to do with terrorists. I figure my chances of encountering a terrorists are less than being hit by meteor. Muggers, thugs, gangs, and local drugged nut cases are the real threat to individuals.

 

[WuzzFuzz]

I don't feel it's is going to make me safer, for carrying a weapon all the time. I think by carrying a weapon, it gives people a false sense of security. It's not a do all to protect a person from harm. But I do feel like I can protect myself from physical harm, specifically a life threatening situation, should the occasion arise.

As many of the other old timer WuzzFuzz's mention, we still sit with our back to the wall, and are aware of the surroundings...

Much as shouldazagged mentioned, I'm not going to hang out in the dubious part of town at 2 in the morning any more, nor am I going to strut like I'm looking for a fight, day or night. You know the ole adage..."An ounce of prevention".......to me is better than a pound of cure....




WuzzFuzz

 

[BIGDOC]

Every day I live for the best.....but I am prepared for the worst.

 

[ClayCow]

FBI crime stats are based off what is reported to them by various agencies. These numbers get cooked for various reasons before they are turned in. I remember one year in Lansing, the FBI reports tally of murders was less than half what the State Journal reported for that same year.

People are not stupid. If crime actually was at low levels and decreasing, gun sales would not be in the millions every year. When I was a kid in Michigan, guns were mostly associated with hunting and farming. Since then defensive firearms have become much more common. Military styled semi automatic rifles have become many times more common.

Even here, somewhat nearby, a good Samaritan family of Crow Indians were shot and killed when they stopped to help a Mexican fellow illegally in the country who had car trouble.

Even before I was a ghetto dweller as a young adult, the country side of Michigan had problems. A bear tried to eat my collie one night.

I might jokingly say that as purty as I am, a man is never truly safe in Wyoming....

But the truth is that as a matter of common sense here in the West one ought keep a pistol handy and have long guns devoted to both big furries and social problems. It has been that way since the days of Fort Phil Kearny. Though back then, you were only supposed to travel this area in a group with at least 25 or so armed men. It is much more sedate now.

Uhm. People are stupid. People are buying guns out of fear, not necessarily due to increasing crime rates. Do you think the gun scares are due to crime? Lets think about the last 2 times people bought tons of guns, it was because they were worried guns would get banned or the government was going to kill them.

Sure FBI may be wrong, but unfortunately Jessir has to accept those statistics since he cited the director as a credible source.