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.
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.
all the reasons given are pure stupidity anyone who buys a gun and gets ccw permit is certainly by all intents going to undergo training, i have a 30 foot range in my basement with a bullet trap target and practice draw and fire regularly and i believe any intelligent gun owner will do likewise in some degree. as for # 1 in todays world the threat level is just as high in downtown major city as on frontlines of afghanistan or iraq every damn thug gang banger on the street is carrying concealed illegally and may draw down on you and yours at any moment in broad daylight and you better be prepared to act in defense or die, they are killing children just for fun to see what it is like to get the rush of taking a life #3 is just plain stupid to the max every pro gun control advocate out there is a lying hypocrit they don’t want us to have guns so they can be in control only they and their hired guns will be allowed to carry people like oprah winfrey, bloomberg, feinstein
“…in todays world the threat level is just as high in downtown major city as on frontlines of afghanistan or iraq.”
– Really? Really? Where the hell do you live? Roadside IEDs, suicide bombers, ‘foreign’ soldiers? All big / daily problems?
4,000 murders a year in Chicago. Compare that number to how many Americans were killed in Kabul since the start of the war. And none of those 4,000 were killed by anything other than a handgun.
EVERYONE SHOULD GET A CCW FOR THE LEGAL PROTECTION IT PROVIDES. IT GUARANTEES YOUR LEGAL RIGHT TO OWN A GUN EVEN IF YOU ONLY OWN A KEEP A GUN AT HOME FOR HOME DEFENSE AND NEVER TAKE IT WITH YOU.
We all have the unalienable right to carry a gun, but we still require legal ammunition to preserve that right and ourselves from the zealous anti-gun freaks
Guns are dangerous- every year trained police are killed with their own guns. Even they can have a gun taken away from them. A civilian who is absent minded, who misplaces his keys once a week, or maybe has kids running in and out of his house every 5 minutes probably shouldn’t carry.
I carried for about 3 years when I worked in a bad neighborhood in Philly. How bad? The city bought the building I worked in and made it into a police sub-station to clean up the hood. Before that happened I carried various guns- usually a .380- later a 5 shot .357. When OJ’s verdict was announced I had a Taurus PT92 and several magazines in case a riot broke out (doesn’t seem so crazy now with Baltimore on fire)
I got a new job in the burbs – didn’t carry. Got another job in Jersey- didn’t carry (NJ only allows criminals to carry)
Now- I have a new job in a rough section of Philadelphia- have a carry form ready to go–
Cars are dangerous. Over 33,000 people are killed by cars every year. So, by your logic, nobody shuold drive. BTW, far more people are murdered every year by “unarmed teens” than by AR-15’s or AK-47’s.
Hands are dangerous weapons, too.
More people die from hammers and knives than guns every year. Gun shots, in neighborhoods that aren’t like mine, probably are rare. Most criminals who are going to kill you just use a gun on someone to force them to be helpless. And they do what they want with his girl, friend, kids, whatever and strangle him or whatever.
I agree with one thing that this guy said… about how people don’t train to be the fastest gun in the west. When a gun is in a holster, and a bad guy sees it(especially how Texas just passed the open carry law), you’re giving up your hand. If someone doesn’t know you have a gun, you have the edge. It’s like a knife. Bad guys usually have weapons if they confront you unless it’s when it’s a four or five on one situation… a knock out game perhaps. Or anything like that… flash mobs. The media are not quick to cover these and how they should be hate crimes but a trouble teen who’s big for his size and fights all the time gets shot by a white cop or whatever… RIOT! I still refuse to carry a gun with me… I have two beasts of dogs, and since I don’t want them to be protection(they’re my boys)I have knife that’s freaking too dangerous. Used to have a butterfly knife just to scare or distract anyone or any pack of dogs so they wouldn’t get eaten by my pit and rott.
People should start carrying guns though; if these wannabe gangsters who can’t fight one on one, attack without being provoked, and you find yourself in a situation where you are very outnumbered(like that one guy who was beaten into a coma with half the crowd laughing while a few decent people tried to help and yelled for someone to call 911), you might as well put as many in the ground as you can before you are taken out. But if you carry you’re gun cause you’re scared, and it’s just one on one… pulling a gun makes you worse than the other dude. John Kreese at the Cobra Kai dojo could have taught you a thing or two.
If your a complainer dont carry a gun. If your relatively smart you will carry one.By the way a toothpick can kill you too.All are ineffective it is the Idiot behind the tool.
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.
I am 69 years old and was a Sniper in Viet Nam for 25 months and I have had CCW for well over 45 years I shoot on a regular schedule as I do all my own reloading and I have been trained here in the states also which I feel is important not to carry or to carry is a personal choice for me will carry period and if you who do not don’t call me when your life is in danger you are responsible for it not me……
Sad, idiotic and racist comments here. I am amused that the author thinks that anyone who is pro gun control should not be allowed to carry. We need even minor psychological evaluations before the purchase of guns, this is fact. If you are against this then you should not be allowed to own guns. And yes I own firearms myself.
There are so many things wrong on that gun, I don’t even know where to start. What’s with the scope offset, what is that, like 3-4 inches off of bore, that’s good for losing probably 20 MOA of adjustment. The lines of that stock, who designed that, a first year CAD student? could it be any more boring, and well, ugly? A polished compensator on a “tactical” rifle, brilliant, and a $4000 rifle, and that cheap bipod……… How are these guys still in business?
Its just pure logic. You carry a gun because it can make the difference between being a victim and being alive. You carry a gun because the mere fact that you could possibly have a gun reduces crime overall. You carry a gun because you have seen alot of movies where you think “Man, if they only had a gun they would be fine”. You carry a gun because you have something to protect. Did you know you are 6.5 times more likely to be accidentally shot by a police officer than a concealed carry holder? Did you know that when a mass shooting occurs, the average kill count is 14. When a concealed carry holder is present, that average drops to 2.5. Did you notice that mass shootings occur almost exclusively in places where concealed carry is not allowed? Civilians with concealed guns are a stabilizing force and anyone who disagrees, please just do a little research on places where they have taken away civilian weapons. Crime rates skyrocket as a result.
I have been a firearms instructor since 1959, shot copetition since 1973(L.E. disciplines), I have been teaching CC classes in Missouri since its inception. I have come to the conclusion(my opinion) that many of the people who carry should not be carrying at all. This includes “some” LE people as well. I get a mix of of all kinds, ages, and mentalities. Unfortunately some do not have enough common sense to come in out of the rain and want to carry a gun. In my class the prerequisite is some firearms, handgun experience at least. Do people lie, boy do they! As soon as they hit the range to qualify, and our state qualification is a joke in my opinion. Some due to age or physical impairment cant handle or shoot a handgun(both revolver and semi in our requirements). They do not know how to load or unload a gun. They do not shoot, practice and still want to carry a handgun in the general public. If you try to talk them out of carrying they get insulted and angry.I have that right. True, but they have an obligation so they can be safe and not get themselves hurt or killed by someone else or their own hand.One other thing, the law does not require them to take a refresher and requalification once they take the initial course(8hours). Range time and qualifications is 40 rounds each gun. 20 to practice and 20 to qualify(15 hits on a B-27 target(anywhere) out of the 20 rds) to qualify, no time limit. They can borrow a gun if they dont even own one to use.Any calibre. Some come out with guns they own and have never fired, dont even know to load or unload it.Dont know if it has a safety or not(semi-autos). Difficulty in loading magazines, or cant load them at all. Some do not know how to open the cylinder on a revolver to load it, and they want to carry. I offer beginning classes as do many of the gun ranges, for safety, as well as shooting skills. Very few take it before taking the regular CC class.
Some states-Utah, for one does not even require range time.Go figure. I believe in the 2nd ammend rights and am not by any means anti-gun, but some real changes need to come about for concealed carry guide lines and restrictions. People come in all different shapes and sizes. Age effects us all sooner or later. Being able to carry and use a firearm should be considered the same as driving a motor vehicle(some cases as evidenced in the news about uncalled for deaths and injuries related to age)should be tightly governed.As long as money is involved and politicians have controll on our laws and restrictions and public opinion that may effect their careers things will go on as usual. Carry and stay safe and shoot straight.
Well Said.
I purchased my first motorcycle in 1977. Stopped riding for 15 years, then bought another 3 years ago. Took a “beginners” class with a friend getting his license just to keep him company. I learned more in two days than I’d learning “just riding” in all the years I’d been on a motorcycle. Took two more advanced courses and learned more. You have to practice and keep practicing skills that you don’t normally use (like panic stops). Eventually age will take over my ability to safely ride.
Not much different from owning and handling a firearm.
^^ Preach. When I decided to own and carry firearms (later in life, around 38), I was actually surprised at how little it took to acquire both the firearm and a ccdw permit. In our state (Kentucky), it’s really more about tithing to the state government than anything else, provided you can put 11/20 on a silhouette at 7 yards and stay awake through 4 hours of some state government underling reading statutes off of cue cards (which my instructor was more than casually dismissive of). I personally underwent 20 hours of private one-on-one instruction where I learned the tenets of situation awareness, a well-practiced draw and the ins-and-outs of firearm maintenance. I practice my draw with snap caps and put at least a few hundred rounds of range time in a week. Also, as a father, I bought a two safes – one for my (admittedly burgeoning) collection and a second for my “go-gun” if something went bump in the night. I’m proud to honor the rights I’ve been given as a citizen – and part of that pride is not abusing them and keeping in mind that, at the end of the day, it’s still a push-button life-ender. I meet all walks of people who are considerably softer on many of these points and I hope that they don’t ever learn the hard way that safety, training and just general don’t-be-a-friggin-dumbass-ness are part of the code
No state or Govt .has the right to make you take any class to carry a gun,,,,no permit can ever be a right.Who are you to tell anyone they can not carry a gun..Everyone should train. No Govt. has the right to be involved with this. All Govt. should do is issue every American citizen a full auto battle rifle and get out of our lives.This is the right relationship of a Citizen and his Government'”.It is the birth right of every American to own every terrible instrument of war that the soldier has” Tench Coxe signer of the Declaration and Constitution.
In response to “Real Man”
First of all, if you need to identify yourself as a “real man” I get the feeling you and possibly others have some doubt as to your gender identity as, I assume, a man. That must be very disconcerting. Help is available to aide you in getting over this problem.
It seems you are suggesting with your comment that “guns are for cowards” that police officers and armed service personnel, to name a few, are cowardly. That’s not a nice thing to say to people who are putting their lives on the line for you. How ungrateful can you get. Often, people with a psychological problem known as Hoplophobia (an irrational fear of guns) deny this fear by mentally thinking of those with guns as cowards. Mental health people can help you get over this problem.
So you think that to legally obtain a gun you must prove to the authorities that you have an extremely small penis? Really?? Are you that poorly informed? To enlighten you, in order to purchase a handgun, one would be well advised to not show the seller one’s genitals, whether man or women, since that would likely result in one’s arrest for indecent exposure and eventually being labeled a “sexual offender”. Instead, one fills out a form that is sent to the Federal authorities that they use to make sure that you aren’t a felon, deranged, a sexual offender (see above) etc. If you aren’t disqualified by this process then you may legally make the purchase. Also this statement again seems to indicate that you believe police officers and armed forces personnel ALL have tiny penises since they have guns. Even women in these professions? Really?? You seem to be indicating that being a “real man” totally depends on the size of the penis. This might be something you might want to get some guidance on, say from a doctor?
Finally, you say that real men “use their brains”. For what? Putting down others? Labeling others who you don’t agree with with disgusting terms? This is your idea of using your brains? If you mean defending yourself in an actual confrontation with armed criminals intent on doing you or your loved ones great physical harm or death using your brain, just how does this work? Are you planning on shielding yourself and loved ones with your head (the place where your brain is located), or do you mean you’ll think to run (warning: bad guy bullets are really fast), or hide (are you thinking that you’ll get lucky and be assaulted by blind bad guys?), or maybe decide that cowering and begging for your life will do the trick? There’s a reason cops and solders use projectile weapons PLUS their brains to defend us and themselves…because the only thing that’ll stop a bad guy with a weapon is a good guy with a weapon.
You see, laws, regulatory signs, rules, and all the other things that make up a lawful, civil society only work with and are obeyed by law abiding people. This is why gun control laws don’t work: the only people who obey them are the law abiding folks. Criminals disregard them and prey on these good people and only they then have the guns. Hence the need for criminal stoppers….weapons. In the hands of law abiding people. Sad but true.
Just out of curiosity, if we were discussing the huge problem of drunk driving, would you suggest taking the licenses of sober drivers to get rid of the drunk drivers? Sure you would!
Hmmmm, the times I’ve been in dicey situations, didn’t have that penciled in on my calender. Hell, I live in a very nice mid-upper level neighborhood, with a next door neighbor’s adult son living with them, whom can best be described as “spooky” ! have lived long enough to pay attention to my gut instincts. Have an LCR in my pocket when I go out to street to get the mail., pocket carry every, all day, practice draw from pocket & shoot. I go to a gun range at least twice a month, 100 rounds twice a month + 5 rounds w/SD weapon. Will I ever have to use a gun in SF, I sure hope not, but I refuse to be a sheep in a wolf’s world.
“Anyway, a concealed weapon is a bit like Furry Fandom: if you don’t understand, it it’s not for you.”
Quote of the Day. 😉
Guns are not the danger. Criminals are. There will ALWAYS be evil people in the world who do not think rational. Carry a gun.Or do not. Its your life.
I’m sure that cobbler Smith never thought that there would be a revolutionary war… And just like that, red coats are raping his wife and daughters – before killing them.
But farmer Jones had a few guns, and so did all of his associates. So when a few Hessians came a-knockin’, Farmer and Friends let them have it – with their GUNS.
Lighting may, indeed, be more likely to strike you than encountering someone who necessitates the use of a firearm – if you are as blind as a bat, Robert Farago. The direction of this country is obvious. I/m sure that you’ll be cursing yourself when the Death Squads/Police come a-knocking on your door.
All of these arguments are moot. Read the 2nd amendment.
That is right make no excuses or reasons why you need or don’t need to own, have or carry but because of the efforts of a few and even gun advocates we are ever being faced with the loss of our RIGHT! I am sick of people who think what do you need a machine gun for and why do you need to be so rich to own one and the answer is because a republican president who was shot felt sorry for hi liberal press secretary and signed a unconstitutional law into effect and was suffering from dementia when he did it! TY Keith for making this known to the ignorant ones…whom I was once growing up in california!
I used to carry when I was much younger. I handled fairly large sums of money sometimes at night in some spooky areas. I never pulled it on anyone but my mind set as I would do so if necessary and once that barrier was crossed I knew I would pull the trigger and empty it aiming at center mass until the threat was neutralized. Carrying those large sums of money made me feel like a target whether or not anyone actually knew. My life changed over the years and my need for protection changed with it. When I had a family I still had a firearm In my house but did not carry anymore. I also locked the pistol and bullets in separate locations which pretty much defeated the whole purpose of family protection unless we were under siege. Statistically I know my family members were in much greater danger of being injured or killed by the family “gun”. I still have lots of guns….I love them even if I don’t shoot much any more….but I keep them locked in a gun safe. I have been under the gun twice in my life. First time I was a teenager walking through a creek bed and I heard firecrackers….nope….some kid was shooting a piece of junk .22 in my direction. I froze and all worked out ok. Just a meat head kid who found his dads Saturday Night Special….hence…guns laying around the house with no locks is just stupid. The second time was in 1988 I was a victim of a home invasion. Unless I had the gun in my hand, cocked loaded and aiming at both armed intruders…AND got several on the money shots off very quickly… any firearm I had access to would have been worthless. It happened way too quick. It was not my house….wrong place wrong time. I remember having a S&W Stainless .45 about one inch from my nose….no fear or panic…..not enough time. I was calculating whether to jump out the window if the shooting started or at least try to blind the SOB in one or both eyes and try to disarm the one closest to me. Fortunately no shooting…I don’t feel my personal risk factors for personal violence warrant me carrying a concealed fire-arm. The very best that would come out of it would be nothing and worst scenario…tragedy for myself….someone else or both of us AND our families. You cannot un-pull that trigger and the only thing at the other end is sorrow.
Hey Ron, I can see why you turned off reply comments to your post, wuss. >> Ron says:
January 30, 2015 at 22:25 <<
Fyi, the POTUS you accuse of being pro-terrorist has already authorized and eliminated 2 high value targets.
I didn’t turn off any reply comments. I turned off email notifications about follow-up comments as well as new posts. This should NOT turn off anyone’s ability to leave comments. If it does, then the system is screwed up.
As for eliminating 2 high value targets, #1 he did NOT kill Usama Bin Laden. He gave the stand down order four times. On the fourth time, he whiffed again, but he turned over the decision-making responsibility to Leon Panetta, who gave the Seals the green light. Seal Team Six took out USL and Obama took out Seal Team Six in the Extortion 17 shoot-down.
The “2nd high value target” Al-Alakwi was a US citizen when he was killed along with his 16 year old son and 12 innocent civilians by a Hellcat-armed drone. He didn’t fly the drone to the location. All he did was push the button. Wow! What a soldier!
Now, he’s totally created chaos in the Middle East by assassinating Qadaffi, deposing the leader in Yemen, Deposed Mubarak, our ally, armed Al Qaeda in Iraq aka, Syrian rebels, who became ISIS, who he continues to arm to get rid of Assad just like he got rid of the other secular regimes in the ME. Gave Iran the green light to build nukes and ICBM’s. Giving them $150 Billion to continue worldwide terrorism.
Set off refugee crisis in Europe by continuing to arm enemies of Assad who are the Islamists.
Let’s not forget the 165,000 convicted felons South of the Border that he relocated all over the country. 600, 000 citizens have been crime victims of illegal immigrants and 3,000 have been murdered by illegals.
Now, he wants to import 80,000 more Syrian refugees with no way to screen out the ISIS members.
He brought in 2 million more illegals into the country since 2012 including gang members of MS-13 and drug cartel smugglers.
Still think your brave President has made the US a safer place?
It changed my name from “Ron” to “Undefined” when I edited it. This comment system has problems.
Are we in a time warp or something? I thought the reference to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley was a bit odd, until I noticed the 2010 byline on this piece.
If you only carry when and where you think you might need a handgun for protection I think it raises the question of why you chose to go where you did when you did, if, God forbid, you actually have to use it to shoot someone.
If, on the other hand, you “never leave the house without it”, then, when and if trouble presents itself, you are merely carrying your everyday accouterments with you, just like you always do.
I get so sick of the left using this, “guns are complicated” stuff, and I think I even hate it more when gun owners do it. I always tend to think it comes from fat, middle-aged guys who think they are Navy Seals, or Dirty Harry, and hate it that the blonde neighbor lady with the pink jogging suit has just as much of a right to own and shoot the same gun they do. Kind of rough on the old ego.
And let’s be clear about this: if we’re going to say someone shouldn’t carry, then we pretty much have to say they shouldn’t own a gun at all.
I’m not buying that.
It’s a simple, simple tool. Point and click. Pretty much the same as your TV remote.
Yeah, it can kill you. It can kill others if you don’t use it with care. So can a car. It’s always amazed me how we let teenagers hurtle down the freeway at 70 mph, coordinating hand and foot movements, mere inches from other teenagers hurtling down the freeway at 70mph, but then we act as if putting a gun in their hands would almost assuredly end with them shooting themselves or killing another person by accident. Please.
We’ve all passed people on the road and said, “That person is going to kill someone.” But is there anyone out there suggesting that a large segment of the population should never drive? That a lot of people just don’t have the temperament or discipline to drive and shouldn’t even try?
No. Why? Because we consider driving a RIGHT, something that would drastically lessen the quality of life if we relegated it to a certain class of people who we arbitrarily deemed perfectly competent.
And that’s what bothers me when I hear opinions like this one. We don’t need to look for excuses to exclude people from carrying. We need to find a way to encourage everyone to carry. When it becomes more commonplace, more familiar, people will naturally be safer and more comfortable with it.
If your first driving lesson was the first time you had seen a car, you would have had no idea what to do with it. Same goes for guns. If you grow up around guns, like I did, you learn to respect and use them and you never, ever forget that.
I know this is long, but one more point here. I’ve known 20-year military guys, cops, lifetime hunters, even instructors who did something stupid and nearly killed themselves or someone else. I have a special forces buddy who put a bullet in his bookcase checking his gun one night. But then we read about a housewife accidentally shooting a lamp in her living room and people automatically say, “She should never have had a gun!” Everyone jumps on it.
i rather have it and not need it , then to need it and not have it, simple as that.
I keep hearing risk va reward. There is no reward except your or some innocent person. As a retired LEO I never had a run with a properly licensed gun owner. The people in the streets, bad guys, gangbang assholes have fully automatic weapons! So an honest citizen carrying a pistol to defend themselves is not an issue. While we’re at it, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the 2nd Amendment gives the average the right to carry a firearm. Some mayors don’t understand this like NYC, Chicago, and New Orleans who have NO concealed carry allowed and they are the top three in murders buy guns every year so explain that away should you choose!
I’ll defer to my brother on this one. He’s spent 20 years with our Sheriffs Department, and he’s been in some really bad situations. Back when I was in the deciding phase of concealed carry ( 1997) I asked for his opinion. He summed it up with this, I’ll paraphrase ” There are no crime free parts of town, that’s a common belief that has no basis in reality. Sure , there are plenty of local thugs that operate close to where they live. But most criminals prefer to make more than a few bucks in a robbery, and that means hunting in places where people have money, shopping malls, ATM’s, grocery stores, bars, high end restaurants, and hotels/motels that cater to tourists. I’ve investigated robberies and assaults in all those places, and most of them were in supposedly safe places. I’m not telling you to carry a concealed weapon. That’s a decision you’ll have to make on your own. What I am telling you is that most robberies involve assault , sometimes murder. It can happen anywhere, anytime, and in any number of ways”.
Reading this article and comments make me worried that the majority of people who carry concealed are delusional idiots who should not be carrying.
Anyone should be able to walk in buy a gun and carry. But you don’t want criminals and crazies to carry, so how does that work? It’s called gun control and background checks. But according to the author if you are in favor of gun control but carry you are a hypocrite?
I’m a gun owner but I believe I gun control to keep them out of the wrong hands.
I’m also not so delusional to think that more guns makes us safer. If I carry in a dangerous situation in safer. But as whole we have jackasses carrying who shoot someone else far more often than someone preventing a crime.
I feel sorry for the cowards who carry day in and day out. Who will likely never need it. And if they did need it what are the chances they’d be in a situation where they could draw?
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It is everyone’s right and responsibility to protect themselves and their family. Crime can happen anywhere in the country, from the big city to small towns. The police are not required to protect you and you’re family. Carrying a gun is one of the biggest responsibilities anybody will ever undertake and it does require 100% vigilance when carrying. It is true that some people aren’t suitable for ccw and shouldn’t carry for several reasons. If good law abiding citizens are carrying it does deter crime and can possibly save innocent lives. I have one question for pro gun control people. Why do cities that are gun free zones have high crime rates that almost always involve firearms??
Here’s another reason you might want to not get Conceaked carry permit, even if you’re going to carry.
Have a friend in LA …as you probably know a very difficult city to get a permit.
He had a in with LAPD..good friend high in LAPD got him a permit.
He still carries concealed but He turned jn hjs permit based on this advice from frim the same cop and two lawyers that had defended several folks who had used handguns in self defense:
They said if you ever have to use that firearm on a person , or even accidental discharge, not unlikely you’ll at least have to convince a DA you did nothing wrong, and may have to face a jury on criminal or at keast civics charges.
And if you have Permit you are likely by some to be viewed as a “gun nut”…trigger happy….and find the system biased Against you. That the risk of being caught and charged with illegal concealed carry …and the penalties if you have a clean record are small….compared to the risk of being charged with murder by a jury biased by the “gun nut” image.
When you put your life on social media it can get ugly…how many on TTAG use their REAL name or any identifying pictures?!? I’m constantly on FB but rarely post pics or personal information. Do all that at your peril…
Where have I heard about assigning colored badges to wear before? It was in the 1930s and 1940s if I remember correctly.
I think this guy needs to check out Serge’s Helicopter Tours.