Why did you decide to carry

[loknload]

Why did you decide to carry and what was your first CCW.?
Of course I started the minute I turned 21 for concealed carry, at 18 I could open carry for hunting.
But I really started CCW because of my job at the time, which took me out on night service calls into parts of the city I did not like to go. I also became the Treasurer for a community organization in which I was making night bank deposits. I would do a lot of my book work at night and then take the bank bag to the night drop.
Never had any issues and never had the need to pull a weapon.
My very first CCW was a S&W #37 3" it was a great first handgun and I still have it yet today.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Got my Pa licence in 1978 just out of Law School..... my Dad was a Police Capt. and I though a licence "might come in handy".

But my primary purpose was to carry a handgun concealed (2 1/2" Model 19) while roaming around Penn's Woods on my time off.......open carry was legal but IMO seemed ill advised...... for a young looking 24 year old.

Didn't carry concealed in urban life until I moved into the City of Harrisburg in 1985 and my house got broken into..... also had a 30 man armed security dept reporting to me and I up their training and trained/qualified with them for 7 years...... as the only unmarried Administrator on Call seemed like the ER needed me to come in late at night... 3 or 4 times a month. Suit gun was a Walther PPK (later a 3913) and a 3" Model 65 nights and weekends.

Today......just seems like common sense.......over a million concealed carry licences in Pa.

 

[federali]

Concealed Carry

My first concealed carry was a government owned S&W Model 36, followed a few years later by a Colt Detective Special, also government issued.

My private concealed carry started in 1995 when I retired. Initially I carried an S&W Model 37 but switched to a Glock 19. For a time I also carried an S&W 99.

Today I mostly carry a Kahr Arms Model P9 but I always carry a full frame, high capacity handgun when visiting malls or any other place that terrorists and wackos tend to strike. Having a gun does not guaranty survival in a confrontation but it sure beats that helpless feeling of being at someone else's mercy. I would like to add that as long as I keep my mindset, judgment and tactics at a razor edge, it will likely help me win the best possible gun battle: The one that can be avoided.

 

[robertrwalsh]

I am too old to carry a cop around with me.

 

[jbtrucker]

I decided after the movie theater shooting Aurora, Co. 2012 .First CCW was a Taurus .38 spl sub. sold it and bought Shield 9 my EDC now.

 

[Rustyt1953]

In April of '04 when Ohio gave the OK to CC. It was a Bersa Thunder .380.

 

[snubbyfan]

It was shortly after my life was threatened for being born the "wrong" color.

 

[prplbkrr]

In '98 I rode my bicycle from Madison, Wi. to Chattanooga. Straightest route took me through the south side of Chicago.

Not a place for a man like me!! I was, and felt like a minority. Called every racist slur in the book for 3 hrs. Cracker, whitey, get your white a** outta the hood, etc. You get the point.

I realized, that day, that the world really was dangerous place. I was truely concerned about my safety and had no way to defend myself.

I prayed that I would not get a flat tire.

Bought my 1st handgun 5 mos later. Had to save up some cash. Colt Officers 1911 .45 acp.

No way in hell will I ever go to S. Chicago ever again.

 

[keith44spl]

Peer pressure........

All the other ranch hands were doing it.

Colt SAA 44 Spl.

.

 

[dwh]

I started to carry as soon as I was eligible. I also started training and competing in the same time frame. I carry because bad things happen to good people at the most inconvenient times.

 

[Coot47]

Got my CCW back around 2014 when it seemed like open season on old white guys. Picked up a police trade in model 10 from Bud's and haven't looked back. Added a 1911 A1 since.

 

[bigwheelzip]

After three events combined , it just seemed logical to CC.

1. Retired to the free state of South Carolina.
2. Friends hubby, Colonel Richard, took me shooting for the first time and I loved it.
3. A new friend in SC who managed a local gun range, offered to help get me started with firearms training, and gave me private lessons.


Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[ContinentalOp]

It wasn't any one thing for me. I've seen and experienced violence firsthand, so I knew how dangerous the world could be.

The state I grew up in allowed concealed carry, but in my county the only people who could get CCW permits were the wealthy and/or politically well-connected.

Then I moved to a state where, technically, people could get carry permits, but the process seemed onerous to me at the time, since I was a broke college student.

I finally made it to a genuine shall-issue state, but put off getting a permit for several years because I couldn't carry at work or school, and I didn't go out much so I didn't see the cost as being worth it. I made some pretty dramatic life changes in early 2011 and decided to go ahead and get my carry permit. My first CCW was a 642-1, which I pocket carried because the only holster I had at the time was a DeSantis Nemesis. Eventually I would end up carrying a 3" 65, a 2" 64, and a Glock 23 (but not all at the same time... ), and adopted IWB as my primary form of carry after much experimentation. Shortly before leaving I started carrying my Beretta PX4 Compact, a 642-1, or both.

Now I live in a Constitutional Carry state where I don't need a permit within the state, though I will be getting a permit so I can carry in reciprocal states if/when I travel.

 

[Old cop]

I started my LEO career in 1968 when we were required to carry off-duty. During the next 30 years I went through a lot of stuff that taught me it's better of have a gun and not need it than the other way around.

 

[Murphy's Law]

I carry because of all the crazies out there.

 

[Sayoc01]

REASON?? I live in Miami Fl.& drive thru Miami Gardens....frequently!

 

[garddogg56]

Too many flatlanders moving to my state and bringing there out of state ways here

 

[bigwheelzip]

Too many flatlanders moving to my state and bringing there out of state ways here

Ayuh, spoken like a true Mainah.

 

[pharmer]

I had been carrying junk .22's and .25's until the law changed here in Florida in '87 or '88. I have had my permit since May of '88 for the same reason as before, to keep my hide intact. Joe

 

[AZretired]

Since the day I graduated the Police Academy in 1978. It's become a habit. My backup/off-duty/CCW has always been some sort of J-frame (M60, M49, M640, and most recently a M638 and/or a M642). I wish I still had my M60.