What (And Why) I Carry

I don’t carry all the time. I do when walking the dogs because we live where there are animals that might attack them. I do when I go to the big city. Usually don’t in the small town and never at home. I have a shotgun at bedside and a rifle in the pickup. Like you I may change my ways sometime but not yet.

The beauty of the internet is there are always people there to tell you you’re stupid. When it comes to firearms you’re stupid if you carry off body. If you carry a revolver you’re stupid because you’re going to run out of ammo. If you carry an auto you’re stupid because it’s going to jam. If you carry an auto with a safety you’re stupid because you’re going to fumble with it when you need your gun. If your auto doesn’t have a safety than you’re bound to shoot yourself with it. And God help you if you’re not carrying a firearm designed by John Moses Browning!

I carry one of these; http://www.ruger.com/products/gp100DE/specSheets/1753.html

I’m pretty sure that makes me stupid.

I started carrying a weapon after a guy tried to mug me. We fought, I won, barely.

I started carrying concealed a Ruger P101 .357 magnum revolver. Then I went to a Glock 30, compact .45ACP a year later.

After ten years; I started to OC a Kimber 1911 for about seven more years.

I can’t carry at work, but I have the Kimber on me the rest of the time. I only take it off to take a shower with the gun at arms reach or when I go to bed; then it’s under the pillow.

I have only pulled a gun once in that time when 4 pit bulls attacked my dog, they ran away without me firing a shot after a pointed the gun at them.

anytime i’m in public, except work it has to stay in the car(supposedly because of a threat from an employee.why they would want everyone else to be disarmed is beyond me! the policy didn’t change when he left either)

I’m hardly without my LCR on my side, even at home. It’s so light and small it’s barely there. I also carry a Glock 17 in a messenger bag that rides shotgun everywhere I go. It’s easier to reach than the LCR while driving. The bag, which also has a first aid kit, often comes with me when I’m in malls, parks, etc. When at home, the Glock goes in the bedroom safe and becomes my go-to gun for home defense. Just mounted an Inforce APL on it yesterday so I don’t have worry about grabbing my flashlight or flipping on lights when someone is breaking in.

I live in a small college town. Violent crime is usually limited to fights between college students. Occasionally however there is a home invasion or armed robbery, not often but that stuff happens here (just like everywhere else) from time to time. Last month a guy shot four people (killing 3) in the town 7 miles east of me.

I carry everyday, you never know what will happen to you. Especially in my line of work with the late nights and occasionally furious customers I would not want to be without a weapon. My Kahr CW45 is usually (sometimes I carry other guns) on my person and at home it is within reach. If a gunfight, or any fight for my life, ever comes my way I want the proper tool to end that fight quickly and decisively.

Whenever I felt insecure for 35 years, 100% of the time for the 15 years since. Total waste of time (other than during participation in govt sponsored activities), which is fine by me.

Nice looking gun. Thought that was a 4 3/4″ barrel?! And nickel? I bought an 8 3/8″ .41 S&W in nickel, only because I couldn’t find a blue one, didn’t intend it for anything but target anyhow. It’s still around here somewhere.

Never had to fire a gun or unfold a knife for self-defense, thank God. I carry because I am an easily angered, bloodthirsty hothead with a hero complex. …Wait, no, I’m just a regular guy who loves my family. Almost got confused there.

I knew I was eventually gonna carry, but it wasn’t a priority for me. The procedure was more troublesome than my imagined need. Then I became a Truck Driver. Most of the time I was able to blend into the herd at the truck stop, numbers and probability being my safety net. Occasionally, I had to park alone in dark lots or side streets, so I started keeping a pistol in my truck.

A few months later I was in a small town making an early delivery behind a fenced in lot, when some lady walked right in and started asking for change. I told her that I never kept cash on me. She left without incident thankfully. On my way out of the same town, I was slowed behind the morning school bus when yet another lady jumped onto the passenger sidestep of my truck, knocking on the window, asking for change.

Both instances I didn’t feel in danger but it made me realize what could happen and that I needed to be a bit more self-reliant for security while making deliveries. Started the process of getting my carry license that next week.

I’m relatively new to carrying. I’m still working out the bugs. I hope and pray I never need to pull, much less shoot. But my wife and I got our permits because the world seems so chaotic right now. Even my daughter (17) who loves to shoot asked me why I need to take a gun to the grocery store. Sure, the odds are low, but the consequences are so high. I equate it to insurance, something you would never want to be without but hope you never need.
I keep a Sig next to the bed at night. We have a large dog, well trained in the alerting arts. No one is getting in our house without being announced and that bark cannot be slept through. The wife is still wanting to purse carry, but I am trying to convince her that’s a bad idea.

I carry a Ruger LCP (strong-side, front pocket in a pocket holster) loaded with 90 gr Hydra Shoks all day, every day. I prefer this system for a number of reasons; it’s convenient, extremely unobtrusive, virtually invisible and can be utilized in all seasons, with all manner of dress (as long as I have a pocket). Not the fastest draw, but I have practiced it enough to be comfortable with it. I am well aware of the limitations of this system – only seven rounds of a marginal caliber in carry system that precludes a lightning-fast draw – but in my case, the drawbacks presented above are compensated for by the fact that I am *always* carrying as long as I am wearing pants. I carry a Glock 26 with a G17 mag in my car occasionally, usually in the center console.

Kahr in the car is just obvious . . .

Genius!

Hmmm. I wonder of there’s a brand that rhymes with “toilet.”

Obviously everyone’s circumstances will vary, there are no guarantees, and there are usually competing considerations. The test should be: can you articulate a reasonable explanation for carrying–or not carrying? That said, purse carry seems inherently risky, in ways that briefcase carry for a man just isn’t.

My guess is that a pretty high proportion of people who get a CC license do so with the idea of carrying in a car.

I work overseas so I can’t carry on the boat, but at home i carry everyday, everywhere. Full size Smith & Wesson Sigma .40 in a shoulder holster. Had an office job for a while with a no firearm policy, but I still carried my .380 Kel Tec.

I’m in Canada, where carrying a sidearm is limited to LEO’s and bank money transfer personnel only. There have been more times than I could possibly count in my near 60 years on this planet that I would have been greatly comforted knowing I had a firearm on my hip, but did not. The best I can do legally is a knife, something I have multiples of in my pockets. In bed at home; different story. a compact 9mm carbine clipped under the bed, and a 9mm pistol on the nightstand. a 12ga. in close proximity to the front door, other tools in other locations and overall, I’m comfortable and comforted.

If something were to change up here and personal carry were legal, I would. Likely not 100% of the time, but close. Not at home; I think I’m pretty well covered. Do restrictive gun laws help? I suspect they may make a small difference in the sheer number of firearms on the street, but not a lot. Nor do the heavy penalties for carrying illegally. A fundamental difference north of the border is significantly fewer instances of gunfire during robberies, break-ins, etc. It’s pretty much assumed by the populace in general that to shoot a BG for kicking in your front door and pointing a weapon at you will result in YOU serving more jail time than the BG (assuming he lived).

The reality here is that regardless of circumstance, regardless of how justified you may be in shooting said BG, doing so WILL result in you being arrested, it WILL result in you being charged, and you WILL be incarcerated. It may only be a short time, but it may be much longer than you’d ever dreamed of. While self defence is a recognized legal principle here, exercising the right to self defence is NOT something that can be assumed.

I don’t like it, but short of leaving the country I was born in and love, I have no alternatives, except to protect my home and loved ones while IN our home. Outside…that’s a “crapshoot”

Screw em. Far too many gun guys are just as bad as the judgmental busybodies we fight against.

Since this seems an appropriate thread I have a question. First, Nice article . Second there is always someone ready to call you stupid. Third the question. When appropriate what is the best method to store a weapon ( long or short) in an unattended vehicle. I am aware this is very broad with few details . I am hoping to generate a discussion and learn something. For those who want to call me or this post stupid we can just go right ahead and check that off as done no need to waste any more of your time.

Back in the late 70s someone stopped at my grandfather’s and told him that some guys were shooting cows on a farm a few properties over. The sheriff was called and showed up at our house. He told us to grab our rifles and come with him. When we got to the scene they were passed out.

That is the closest I have ever come to having to use a gun for defense.

DRF, Thanks for the write up. We do see a lot of POTG vs POTG throw downs here at TTAG. No matter what you carry, how you carry, what you own and don’t own. There are no winners/losers. We are all from the same cloth. Peace.

Glock 19 or Glock 26 unless I am in the woods during bow season where it’s a Glock 29 with milled Deltapoint. I’ve had one non-eventful run in with a black bear at ground level at close range during turkey season, hence the 10 mm. They are a bunch of ugly sisters but they go bang every time and I shoot them well.

Most of the time they are IWB at 1600 but sometimes on my ankle if I am dressed up.

I live in Florida. I carry in public at all times. Home carry til I go to bed, then my chosen carry pistol is accessible from the bed. All concealed of course, since Florida effectively has no open carry. I also carry in states where I have reciprocity. I’ve got a good EDC/holster combo going and it’s just habit now. The gun is on my person when possible. It’s not bothersome, it’s just there, as much as my cell phone or keys are. No big whoop, no discomfort. I don’t knock anyone’s choice of carry method/piece. It’s a pain in the butt to get it just right and my way may not be your way. Us POTG need to present a united front and petty BS squabbling divides us. Debate is fine, but badmouthing other POTG over details isn’t helping our cause.

As a 125# 60yo cancer patient — i would love to carry all the time but live in the SW corner of VT — only a few miles from Mass or North Korea — I mean Northern NY State. I would MUCH rather face a drug crazed homicidal maniac than a NYS DA — at least I can *REASON* with a BG. A BG does not have a “mandatory minimum beating”.

I could not survive ANY prison sentence.

I have decided that I will carry 100% of the time I am off in the middle of nowhere to take pictures — safely into the interior of (still) civilized VT.

There would be no debate on carry method, make, model or caliber if everyone just picked up a Ghostgun V 1.0. Mine shoots 30calbermagazineclips in 1/2 a second. Carry method is second to none. Since it’s a Ghostgun I don’t have to carry it. I just summon it from beyond by calling it’s name 3 times ( I named mine Beetlejuice). Also, if I ever have to kill someone with it I can send it to the netherworld & kill their soul too. Man I love this thing.

I have a Remington 870 Police magnum with magpul furniture, and a tac light at bedside, loaded with winchester 2 3/4 inch magnum buckshot. Glock 22 Gen 4 carried at work, with 180 gr winchester t series, ruger lcp for house carry, or light clothing carry, loaded with Underwood 90 gr xtp, my lcp is also carried as a backup gun at work. My primary ccw, is my Sig P938 carried in crossbreed apendix holster, loaded with winchester ranger t series, 147gr. Stay safe out there guys, it’s getting crazy. I hope all of you carry as often as you can, especially the ladies.

I carry 100% of the time, regardless of where. Too many stories of ‘I normally would have had my gun, but there is a sign’ for me to worry about signs. Now if it’s a restaurant or some other non vital place, I just stay away and go where there isn’t a rule/sign against it. But the Post Office, work, or picking my kid up at school? Yep. It’s concealed. It won’t be discovered unless I need to use it, at which point, well you do the math on that one.

At home, I keep my sidearm on the end table by my chair. If I go out, it goes on my hip. At night, it’s on my nightstand.

I can’t recall a time where I felt close to needing to draw my gun. I’ve been in a few situations where I felt better having it on me, but I’ve been fortunate to never need it during my 16 years carrying. I’m hoping that continues for the duration.

I think a car gun is a necessity. Mine’s kind of like your Model 19. It’s a 3-inch S&W Model 65 I picked up for a song, and therefore I won’t cry (much) someone other than me takes it out of the car. The good thing about a revolver in a car – if you have to shoot it hot casings don’t rattle around. And the full-power loads can handle four-wheel bad guys.
Oh, by the way, the Model 65 went immediately to hand when that crazy driver decided to get out of his car at the stop light and puff himself up with threats to kill me. He didn’t get to find out that you don’t bring a cellular telephone pointed like a snubby revolver to a gun fight.

Maybe I lead a charmed life. I have never been in a fight with someone I don’t know. I have never been mugged, robbed, raped, been in a bar fight, had my house broken into or threatened with physical violence. (I did have a couple of stare downs in New Orleans because some bros didn’t like the color of my skin, but I was with others that precluded anything further.) I’ve lived in Chicago, New Orleans and San Francisco. I have never drawn a gun or a knife, I have never threatened anyone with violence, and thus I have never had the need to resort to weapons for my protection.
Maybe its in the genes. My brother has had the same luck, and I understand that when someone wanted to take on my son at the high school, that young man was counseled that that would be a really bad idea (which was actually true–at 6’2″ of muscle and gristle, and able to do one handed pullups on his finger tips, he’d have been more than most can handle).
But I do live in an area that is now overrun by homeless drug addicts that burgle to get their next fix, and some aggressive panhandlers. My wife is either in a wheel chair or using a walker; she has a big fat target on her back. A Kahr in my pocket accompanies me everywhere except to bed and in the shower, not because I anticipate anything bad happening, but just as insurance if it does.

I carried wherever legal and almost always at home. When I went to bed the AR came to my bedside with electronic ear pro and a pistol in the little safe under my bed. AR had the magazine in and no round in the chamber. Then in the morning the AR went back into the safe and the pistol into my holster, then I went about my day.

Great, entertaining article with lots of twists & turns…

“Note to you young people out there…don’t sell good guns. Just don’t. At 21 I had a decent selection of sidearms,…”

Ditto, I funded some of my Freshman Year @Mizzou with firearms proceeds of which I regret to this day.

as large a handgun as I can comfortable conceal depending on dress and weather, Might be anything but as of late the fire arm that accompanies me most is a Ruger LCP. 30 years ago it was a 6 inch security six 357 in a shoulder holster when I was collecting cash LOL

I carry either a S&W M&P 9C or a Shield on my hip with a Kahr P380 in a pocket as a BUG 95% of the time. Every once in a while clothing considerations force me to go with the Kahr in a pocket and the Shield on an ankle, or just the Kahr. I carry everywhere but at work. At home I have an M&P 9L in a bedside safe and a Mossburg 500 in my main safe at the other end of the bedroom. In my car the Kahr stays on-body but I usually tuck one of the Smith’s in a center-front console with a quick flip door. It is much easier to access there than on my hip.

Regarding off-body carry: if you can do it and ensure the safety of those around you, go for it, it’s your natural right. It’s not for me.

I only ever had to draw once: I was walking my schnauzer (RF isn’t the only one with a mini) and came upon what was either a big dog or a small coyote (hard to tell in the dark) in my side yard about 20 feet away. It wasn’t happy to see me. I drew my Shield and for some reason (dumb luck?) it stopped advancing on me. I was able to get in the house without firing a shot. I then confirmed my suspicion that animal control is totally useless (2.5 hour response time!).

That really is a beautiful model 19. That’s all I’m saying.

Kimber full size 10mm 1911 in the car, sometimes a second Kimber Aegis 9mm 1911 in the car as well. Keep a Kimber Solo on my person at church, out for errands and at work. Thankful I work at a small company where EDC is encouraged.

I experienced two events where I would have drawn — but that was before I carried.

Since I have been carrying, I have had one interesting event. I was parked in the “pick-up lane” in front of a grocery store waiting for someone to come out with a shopping cart full of groceries. For whatever reason, I had my everyday carry handgun on the center console. While waiting, a strange car pulled up behind me and stopped. I watched the driver get of the car, stuff something in his belt at the 2 O’Clock position, and then start walking up from behind and to the right along the passenger side of my car on the other side of a half-wall … all the while looking at me intently. (And I was watching him just as intently in my mirror.) When the person got to my blind spot, they ducked down. At that point I grabbed my handgun and pointed it in their general direction — although below window level so that no one could see it. Suddenly the man popped up looking straight at me. He had to see me looking back straight at him with my arm extending in his direction. He promptly turned around, went back to his car, jumped in, and sped away.

I carry a full-size semi-auto handgun (in a substantial caliber) pretty much everywhere. I put it on when I wake up and take it off when I go to bed. I often have a Kel-Tec SUB-2000 pistol caliber carbine available for near immediate access as well. If either of those prove insufficient, I also have long guns available at home should the need arise.

When we are on vacation, I have an assortment of long guns with us for various scenarios. And when hunting or hiking, I almost always have a big .44 Magnum revolver on hand.

Relax, DRF. Do whatever works for you, because between that piece and the one Johannes Paulsen wrote before it stealthily suggesting we’re all stupid for not trading in our EDC guns for GLOCK-brand GLOCKs, we’re starting to learn not to pay much attention to him.

…What is it with Germanic guys trying to order everyone around, anyway?

I carry my gun on my body – Till I go to bed.
Then in the bedside bio-safe till I get dressed.
The End
That article was unnecessarily long…
Brevity is the soul of wit

Gen4 glock 19 spare mag and tlr 1 stay on me most all times if not that then a shield with a spare mag. Sometimes both. Shield is my at home carry as well. G19 is on nightstand duty. 223wylde pistol secured in vehicle with a few mags for good measure.

After being robbed at gun point while delivering pizzas, I vowed to never be caught flat footed again. 1st, I carried a 1911. Later, I switched to a Colt Detective Special. 3 decades and several guns later, I settled on an LCR for everyday carry. I know there are some that will disagree with my choice, but I’m confident in my ability with it, and I’m not prone to rash decisions.

You had to rub that Hi Power in, didn’t yahh?

“What have been your experiences in having a gun handy in worrisome times, using it to deter trouble, or, God forbid and thank you Jesus, firing it in anger? Or even worse than a gunfight, a fight that should have been a gunfight, only you were without a gun? […] I make the best of it, and may change it all up at any time. You?”

All my experience has been secondhand thankfully. My Uncle has beat beaten up and robbed at gunpoint repeatedly, though and now carries everywhere. My wife is not yet in the fold of armed self defense, so I don’t really have a way of carrying currently, but the gun would be my glock 23, maybe running a conversion barrel (in b4 someone kibbitzes about running only stock for self defense). Not sure on where/how. Probably in waistband. Maybe appendix. I’m kind of a tall skinny guy, so concealment is going to be tough, heh. Maybe I’ll just wear at 3:00 and wear baggy clothes. We’ll see. Probably when the kids are out of the house.

Luckily for me I live in quiet places and am only near the horrors of the big city in the early morn and afternoon. So I miss most of the stupid people at stupid times in stupid places. I am also at a place that asks us not to bring in weapons and in school. So there’s that, sigh. I think no one would care if I tooled up on the downlow and I had a permit, though.

Anywho. I’m still figuring all this out. Figure I have time, and the numbers are on my side. I just pray the dice never roll against me.

I have carried a bunch of different calibers for different occasions, favorite off body car gun is a .44 special loaded with 240 gr, hollow point bullets at 900 ft per sec. fairly stout load out of a 2 ” barrel, [big bullets make big holes} body carry varies from a .32 Keltec, to a standard size 45. my light weight .44 mag is my bear gun, .357 is wife’s gun, on body carry is a Sig .380 every now and then a Sig or Keltec 9mm. Keltec being slimmer is my motorcycle jacket pocket gun! Sig .40 is shoulder carried for Dress occasions or my wife’s car gun .45 is a Parts gun but main carry everything pistol. having had an altercation or two the saying having any firearm available quickly beat Fists or rocks is very true, except watch a knife man very closely!

“Note to you young people out there…don’t sell good guns. Just don’t…”

This one time, when I was shopping for a new gun, my [ex] wife told me that to get a new gun, I’d have to sell one of my old guns. Did I mention she’s my EX-wife? smh

I have been held up at a pharmacy twice, and lemme tell you, it is a hair raising experience. Before Vicodin/Norco was a schedule II controled substance we used an automated system that has a hopper full of +/- 500 pills. The roobers, both time, non nonchalantly walked up to the counter, pulled a gun to the clerk, and held out a jar, ordering them to fill it up with meds. Both times the clerk complied. The second time, the perp wanted the “good stuff” in the safe, and the pharmacist’s hands were shaking so bad he could not get the tumbler to open. I swore that the guys brains were going to end up on the wall. The guy eventually gave up and left. security cameras were in abundance, but apparently not set to record.

I enlisted in the USAF soon after. Figured it was a safer bet then a pharmacy technician, even post 9/11.

In the process of getting my CCW as I write this.