Amazed at the number of folks who carry

[Erich]

Hey, how do you like my reading comprehension there? I read it; I just didn't process it.

Anyhow, I like the argument and think that it could be a very useful one to make in the right circumstances. Sorry about my thick-headedness!

 

[jframefreak]

I wonder if she'd feel more at ease if you ran into a "deranged lunatic" carrying a butcher knife when you're NOT armed?

My mother lives one suburb over from the Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, Illinois where the guy shot six women in the head, killing five of them. He's never been caught. I'll bet if you could ask any of the five (and probably the sixth), they'd rather be "deranged lunatics", than corpses or victims of permanent brain damage.

I don't pay her much attention, she works in an office every day with the same people. She leads a sheltered life so to speak. She's not seen some of the things that go on in the world.

 

[tom turner]

I remember doing a gig with my seven-piece combo a few years ago over in Savannah. It was at the Train museum near downtown AND near where a bunch of low lifes live on the fringe of the tourist area.

It was going to be a wedding reception OUTDOORS at that location. One of the guys in the band said, "man, this could be rough after the gig trying to pack up and not get robbed," or something to that effect.

I replied that I wasn't worried, for I was "packin' heat, AS USUAL. One of the other members said sarcastically, "Yeah, sure you are!"

So . . . I showed him my Kimber Ultra CDP .45ACP automatic. He said, "Wow, I never knew," and I told him I'm ALWAYS packin' at our gigs.

Turning to the drummer I asked, "Hey James, what did you bring?" He replied, "My trusty J-frame with Rogers grips that I used at Massad Ayoob's Lethal Training Institute." The sax player then replied, "I've got my .44."

In that group MOST of us hunt and fish . . . and we love guns. The bass player though, is from Chicaaaaa-Go, and his eyes got real BIG, then he said, "I guess someone would be mistaken to mess with you guys." We all said, at the same time, "You've got THAT right. You are SAFE with us!"

T.

 

[38-44HD45]

Interesting post, Tom. My older son is lead guitarist for an up-and-coming young Texas country artist. He also recently renewed his CHL. Of the three others in the band, no one else has a CHL, but all know he carries (and are glad), and all plan on obtaining their licenses. Two others grew up shooting and hunting, but one is from Boston, and has never fired a gun. We're going to fix that when the band comes to my house in August. Given the hours and places that performing artists ply their trade, they need to be armed as much as anyone, and more than most.

 

[glenncal1]

I used to live in the mountains of Colorado (now live near Denver). Whenever I was hiking I would always open carry, sometimes I would do some plinking and sometime not. I had friends who would always ask why, being in the mountains, nobody there but people enjoying the Rockies etc. I would then remind them that Ted Bundy, buried a few of his victims (some who have still not been found) in these same mountains. You meet a bad guy away from civilization, what you got with you is all you are going to get for defense.

 

[jeffrey]

I was at a synagogue event last week and somehow the subject of guns came up and I assumed that I would be in a minority of one on the subject of concealed carry and 2nd Amendment rights. Boy, was I wrong! The discussion became one of "where are you buying ammo these days?" The only grief I got from these guys was over my preference for revolvers over semi-automatics! I also discovered that I am not the only one carrying during services every week and that the rabbi has given his "blessing" to the practice. Places of worship are "soft targets" that ought not to be.

 

[SuperMan]

Even being in LE for 30+ years it still amazes me how few LEOs carry off duty...even ones I know who like to hunt and shoot...easily 95%. But since 95+% of the population doesn't carry why be surprised...LEOs are just citizens in uniform... But you would think that seeing the violence against others every day plus the added possibility of being recognized by some BG you arrested they would have more brains...guess they are just playing the "it won't happen to me" odds like everyone else.

In the 18 years I've been teaching personal protection classes can't tell you how many sexual assault and robbery victims have come to the classes but it is several dozen and those are just the ones that would talk about it. A female instructor in our club gives a lot of women only classes and sometimes the entire class is made up of victims... My question to these people is "what were you thinking" as to why they never recognized the danger around them daily till it bit them in the posterior...

At least they smartened up before they died...

Bob

 

[jkc]

I, too, am baffled by the refusal of most people who otherwise could legally carry to do so, even to the minimally inconvenient extent of having a gun in their vehicle, home, and so forth. I guess most people are completely oblivious to the dangers of the world around them, or in denial of the manifest, ubiquitous danger.

Someone recently arched an eyebrow when I mentioned that I keep a fire extinquisher at both ends of my kitchen, and near the gas grill on the porch --- apparently thinking that I'm a worry-wart. I simply see these precautions as an acknowledgement of a realistic potential problem, and a simple, ready-to-hand solution. Why not be prepared?

I have never heard a cogent argument against carrying a gun for self defense, wearing a seatbelt, motorcycle helmet, PFD, &tc. The temptation is to ask, "What are they thinking?" The answer, I think, is, "They're not."

 

[Old Griz]

Afriqueart,

You should visit the western part of our state. Here in Memphis/Shelby County we have more gun licenses than any other place. Then probably a couple of 100,000 running around town without them (good and evil alike). In my neighborhood you can hear gunfire on any given night coming from the hood a block away. Last year we were #1 on the FBI's list of violent cities. This year we dropped in the rankings, but we don't walk the dog, or even take the garbage out without being armed. We also average 1.6 carjackings a day, and almost 1 murder per day.

I went into a shop last Saturday with my Glock on my hip, and the store owner thanked me for being armed.

On second thought, you might as well stay away from this end. Nothing here anyway.

 

[cmort666]

Afriqueart,

You should visit the western part of our state. Here in Memphis/Shelby County we have more gun licenses than any other place. Then probably a couple of 100,000 running around town without them (good and evil alike). In my neighborhood you can hear gunfire on any given night coming from the hood a block away. Last year we were #1 on the FBI's list of violent cities. This year we dropped in the rankings, but we don't walk the dog, or even take the garbage out without being armed. We also average 1.6 carjackings a day, and almost 1 murder per day.

Damned lazy Southerners!

According to a Chicago police blog, 132 people were shot there from 19 June through 26 June.

You need to get cracking! Look at what Chicagoans are achieving, and WITHOUT GUNS!

Actually, my father's family is from Nashville, and I'd rather live in a ditch full of water by the side of the road in Tennessee than a penthouse in Illinois.

 

[Old Griz]

Well, we've never done anything right. Lead the nation in something for only one louzy year and then get bumped off the top by a bunch of damn yankees. Oh well.