All Americans should be able to walk into a store, buy a gun, buy some bullets, insert the bullets into the gun, place the firearm on their person and walk out. Just like that. Of course, I would NEVER suggest that criminals or mentally challenged people should be able to buy a gun. Protecting the weakest members of our society from the strong is what separates us from despotic governments and/or total chaos. Or so I’m told. Anyway, a concealed weapon a bit like Furry Fandom: if you don’t understand, it it’s not for you. I repeat: a hidden gun is not for everyone (although God knows we have enough of them to go ’round). Here are three reasons why you shouldn’t carry a gun . . .
1. Your Threat Level is Low
Guns are dangerous. As you mother would say, you can put your brains out with one of those things. That said, if guns weren’t dangerous, they wouldn’t be much use. There’s only one good reason to take the risk and carry a gun: the danger of not carrying a gun is greater than the danger of carrying a gun.
Good luck making that calculation.
To complete a personal threat assessment you have to crunch more variables than Apollo 13′s flight planners. (And we all know how that turned out.) You have to consider your income level, neighborhood, the monetary value of your possessions, your known and unknown associates (i.e. your associates’ associates), your travel habits, recreational drug use and on and on.
And then what? Determining when your risk level justifies a concealed weapon is about as easy as determining when it’s time to give up blue jeans or blond hair dye. Have a look around. Plenty of middle-aged people missed that moment by decades.
Some people come at the “to carry or not to carry that is the question” question from the lightning bolt perspective. They understand that encountering a threat necessitating a firearm is less likely than getting hit by a bolt of lightning. But they want to be prepared for the worst. Especially when it comes to their family.
As is their right. Who am I (or you or the government) to ban concealed carry because the risk of a spree killer taking out someone’s progeny is a thousand times less than the chances that their child will be killed or seriously injured in a car accident? As far as I know, not one of the framers of the U.S. Constitution was a statistician.
Then there’s the other side of the equation: the danger posed by having a gun on your person and, thus, around your house, hotel room, car, etc. Gun control folks have this one right: you can’t have a negligent discharge from a non-existent gun. Common sense says concealed carry increases a firearm’s inherent danger by upping palm time with your weapon (so to speak).
Your gun storage and handling skills, or lack thereof, are key to our calculations. Will you put your gun away in a locked safe EVERY TIME? Will you ALWAYS check the chamber EVERY TIME you handle the weapon? Will you KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER AND THE MUZZLE POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION 24/7?
Again, you may not be the best person to make that call. Show me someone who says “I’m unsafe around guns.” Someone? Anyone? Bueller?
As I said at the start, I’m not in favor of deferring this “shall I carry concealed?” decision to the police or a duly elected or appointed member of our federal, state or local government. But if your threat level and/or firearms experience are both minimal, give serious thought to not carrying a concealed weapon.
2. You’re Not Prepared to Train
If you’re beginning to get the idea that concealed carry is PITA that requires significant commitment, true dat. Not shooting someone you shouldn’t shoot in the normal process of storing and handling your weapon is just the half of it. The other half is not shooting the wrong person if you DO use your gun.
Or shooting the right person in the wrong place. Or not shooting the right person soon enough. Or too soon. Or not being able to shoot anyone because you forgot to take the safety off. There are dozens of ways to screw up a gun fight. And lose.
Training is the only way to minimize your potential F Ups. I’m not talking about standing still and firing a gun at a paper target. For example . . .
In a gunfight, the first best hit wins. Logic says you’ve got to actually get your gun out from your holster, in your hand and aimed in the right direction. So why aren’t all these concealed carry folks practicing their draw? I have yet to see a civilian practicing drawing their carry gun from a concealed holster at the American Firearms School.
Bottom line: if you’re not going to train the how, what, when, where and why of concealed carry, maybe you shouldn’t do it.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m all about the right to bear arms. Hundreds of thousands of poorly trained people do it every day. I’m entirely open to the possibility that it may be better to have a gun than not—even if you’re clueless on the gunfighting front.
But it may not. People tend to get pissed off when you shoot them. Cops aren’t the only ones who get shot with their own gun. You could shoot yourself.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well. If you’re not prepared to do the concealed carry thing well, given the risks, maybe you shouldn’t.
3. You’re pro gun control
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has not one but several armed bodyguards. As does New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Both staunch advocates of gun control have helped their supporters get otherwise unobtainable concealed carry permits. That ain’t right.
Nor is it right for someone who believes in gun control to carry a concealed weapon. It’s the worst sort of hypocrisy—the sort that has life-threatening consequences for other people.
You gotta walk the talk. Otherwise, your whole belief system is a complete and utter sham. You have no credibility whatsoever, on anything, ever. Just like a politician. You wouldn’t want that would you?
As for those who espouse gun control lite—favoring only those gun control laws that don’t exclude them from concealed carry—try again. Before you strap on a deadly weapon, use your experience to gain a better understanding of the purpose of the Second Amendment, and the motivations of those less financially or intellectually gifted than yourself who seek to exercise their right to bear arms.
At the end of the proverbial English day, a concealed carry gun is an enormous responsibility. In many places in these here United States, you have the freedom of choice. Carry or don’t carry? Don’t discount either possibility.
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OK, at least one of your reasons makes sense. Although why anyone would actually be pro-gun control is something I just never figured out.
Your reason #1 holds no water, unless you can get everybody who might present some sort of threat of death or serious bodily injury to schedule an appointment with you. It's not that the overall threat level is low – it ought to be if society is operating properly. It's that on the one unscheduled occassion you run into you will need it right then, right there, not some time in the future. It's like wearing your seatbelt, or the spare tire in youur trunk or the fire extinguisher in your kitchen. You do wear your seatbelt even when you are not planning to crash you car, don't you?
stay safe.
I’m not arguing with anyone, I only read this because my girlfriend is determined to get a ccw and reason #1 is exactly why I think it’s a bad idea. Its the risk vs reward equation, just like the article is talking about. Playing the odds is what I live by and unless I plan on walking around in the woods or camping in northern Michigan where I live, the odds of ever needing a gun is so minimal that it’s almost embarrassing to be carrying one. The odds of forgetting to put it away and our kids getting ahold of it or an accidental discharge is extremely unlikely, but still much more likely than any scenario that people daydream about being in, people seem paranoid and full of shit, unless they live in a terrible neighborhood, only then would I think that it’s a valid choice.
Part #2 of my comment – Reason #2 is just so much hot air. If you think that cops train a lot, you are very sadly mistaken. They may fire for qualification as much as twice a year, but train? Not likely, beyond their academy days. It has been determined by various surveys (see John Lott and Mas Ayoob among others) that those who own firearms train more often than police go through firearms requalification. And even if they never trained, how does that enter into the dynamic? Cops have a "hit ratio" of less than 15% and are always being held as the exemplars of those who know how to shoot. As for your comment that you have never seen anyone at the American Firearms School draw from a concealed holster – have you inquired to see if there is a policy prohibitting it? Many ranges do not allow "draw and shoot" because of perceived liability issues. Those who are serious about their firearms training find ways and places to train exactly as you suggest they should.
In closing – kudos for noting that it is as important to know where and when you should not shoot as it is to know how to shoot.
stay safe.
I own a pistol, I have a ccw, and I carry. just last week I put 200 rounds though my pistol practicing my draw.
I’m not even going to touch the first two, because I’d be here for an hour or more picking your invalidities apart word for word, sentence by sentence. But on the topic of the 3rd repugnant argument you offer the more sensible majority of the world a peer into the lesser side. GUN CONTROL is not whatever any one person feels it is. That’s like saying they know what’s best for everybody. The method of pleasing the majority is finding an order that works effectively for more people with different situations. Not just yours. What do you consider gun control? Not carrying, only certain people carrying, not owning, only carrying with proper training, evaluations, or just abolishing the 2nd amendment? I can’t wait to find out how this fits in to your scheme of life, I always like hearing what anti-CCW folks have to say, but especially love hearing from those with strong feelings and weak thinking capabilities. Let me strap in and hear what you have to say, this is going to be great!
PS. – I like how you address your readers with your points as if you knew them personally, but neither of your 3 arguments apply to the likes of myself. You don’t know who is willing to train, who is knowledgeable with firearms, who is stable to own or carry one, and you also don’t know how I feel about guns in general. Maybe you’re pro gun control, but everyone’s views as I’ve stated before differ on the topic of gun control.
Plain and Simple, a well trained and well armed citizen is a criminal’s worst nightmare. It’s time America to stand up and protect yourself.
I work as a corrections officer and I never my house without my sidearm. I conceal carry my weapon as not to frighten anyone.
1 Your threat level is low? Guess that depends on what you do for living and where you live.
2 Training? I have to qualify to carry my weapon at work. Guess I don’t really have to say much more. Carrying a gun means continual training and practice!
2 Pro gun control? Gun control is hitting what you aim at!!!
Just remember folks. People kill people, not guns.
i dont beleive that people should have the right to conceal their weapons, like you said ” a hidden gun is not for everyone”. i dont belive that anyone has the right to hide their weapon. its dangerous, its wrong, and anyone/everyone is at risk and has the right to know if you have a gun on you or not. if you have a gun, it
should be either on your belt or strapped to your thigh and in plain sight.
Cody! Next time please use common sense before you make such an uneducated comment using on your own fear-based opinion. If concealing weapons was outlawed, the only people concealing weapons would be the criminals… and they would all know who to avoid. Use your brain!
first off, I work for the federal government in a law enforcement position and can honestly say that the only individuals that train enough to shoot in any situation may be the army or marines. Navy, airforce, and most law enforcement agencies only have to shoot and qualify semi-annually. In such case, many ccw holders train far more often than law enforcement and probably more safe to carry than many law enforcement officers. In addition, most people do not want or cannot handle people carrying their firearm in the open. For example, the state of Colorado has open carry which many individuals choose not to open carry because of panic or the fact that many Americans are basically sheep. In all honestly most people do not really want to know the truth.