I don’t carry a gun anymore.

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Originally Posted by Chance

Most folks in this community go in cycles with regard to how much they're carrying. I started with a stock G19, worked my way up to carrying more shit than Batman, dropped down a clinch pick and a snubby, and am now somewhere in between.

With regards to not carrying any firearm at all: if throwing a j-frame in your pocket takes as much effort as putting a bottle opener on your key chain, I don't see why someone simply wouldn't bother (laws permitting, et cetera). It takes literally no effort.

Which isn't to say that I'm thumbing my nose at anyone who chooses not to carry, just that I think differently about it.

ETA: My younger self used to carry a condom around in his wallet. Did he ever need it? :rolleyes: Did it hurt having it? No. Would he have used it if warranted? Definitely.

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Steve?

https://static.onecms.io/wp-content/...2/6c_2_20r.jpg

I carry a gun when I can and don't worry about it when I can't. It doesn't cost me anything to carry when I can. I don't find it uncomfortable or burdensome. There's no fashion statement I'd like to make that carrying a gun hinders. I don't give my gun any more thought than I give my wallet, which I also carry even if I don't intend to buy something. Actually I may think about my wallet more, I bought it in Spain and I like owning it as opposed to just viewing it as a tool.

But if there's some activity or place that precludes carrying and I want to do that activity or go to that place, I accept the risk and go on living my life. I had this discussion elsewhere recently about a theme park. I'm not wearing a gun on a water slide but I like to go on water slides and I like to take my family to enjoy those things as well. I am at more risk driving there than I am being there unarmed, so I'm already willing to accept some level of risk to do the thing. Obviously I'm not carrying abroad, but I enjoy those trips.

Thank you for sharing your experience. As newbie who knows nothing my choice to continue to carry daily (including home carry) has been driven by two things.


- Cultural/Familia: Everyone around me carried guns where I was raised in Arizona. All of my family carried including my grandfather. It was my grandfather who first taught me to shoot. Though I lacked real training I would call him and talk guns for hours when I got older. Since his passing I feel closer to him when I carry. As strange as that sounds. Same reason I can never be without a snub. His gun of choice. I just love them.

- Experience: Outside of a military context the only time I have been threatened with a firearm occurred when I was on the first floor patio of my friends apartment in a safe area grilling brats. Two drunks came around the corner in a white pickup and proceeded to hold us at gun point. We managed to pull back into the apartment and they attempted to make entry. We had said not a single word to these two and none of use knew them. We weren’t in a bad neighborhood, weren’t engaged in criminal activity and didn’t instigate any fight.


For these reasons I choose to carry and recently have taken training seriously. I wish I had started years ago as I should have.

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Originally Posted by Duke

Feel free to shit on me and tell me how wrong I am. You’re probably right.

I don’t envision my self ever wearing a gun again daily on my person. For a variety of reasons. Truthfully I care almost nothing about weapons at this point.

it’s just not that big a deal security wise.

Alertness, avoidance and de-escalated aggression is better than shooting.

This one of a long list of belief system challenges I set to disprove.


At one point I was the most fervent of believers - all the gear all the time. Never unarmed, weekly training. Several classes each year.

Then I found myself on a rushed family vacation to then ocean. No time to plan the extra baggage to fly with the gun etc.

So we went. Had fun and didn’t think about it again.

I didn’t die. No one needed to be shot etc. That’s been over a year ago.

What’s my point ? Well I’m not sure. This won’t be a popular life style adaption here. But if you’re in a place where you aren’t willing to risk the legal fall out of carrying in a no carry zone - I bet you’re still going to be safer than you’d be in the rest of the world.

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I would not presume to shit on you for making a rather personal and high stakes decision such as this. I personally do not carry everyday either, but that’s due to the fact that I do not wish to suffer the consequences of being made at work. What are those consequences? Felony charges, jail time, revocation of my CPL, and probably confiscation of all of my guns (I happen to work at a military installation at the moment as a civilian contractor). On the days I’m able to, I do my best to.

Each of us needs to make the decision to carry or not. And if you choose not to, then well, don’t. I don’t think anyone here would think less or you, nor should they.

I don't carry at work and sometimes when doing a quick run to the gas station i force myself too. I don't carry at work because at the very least I would get fired but more likely arrested and made into a felon. Whenever I'm not at work and not home, I have a gun and blade. But I get the urge to not care anymore. This life style, especially at the skill level most here are at can be obsessive and expensive. I balance it out with focusing on working out my diet. Helps balance out the two obsessions.

I've carried a gun all of my adult life, always professionally and into harms way on a daily basis. I can't imagine not being armed and I carry everywhere and fortunately, it's legally permissible to carry everywhere in my state given my profession. To me, it's not the odds but the stakes and my family will not be jeopardized by my laziness.

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Originally Posted by GJM

That non military/LE people are able to carry a personal firearm is one of the things that makes America great. Whether you choose to exercise that right today, is your own personal choice. Now if the government took that choice away from you, I bet you would feel differently.

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A free man can choose to be unarmed, but a disarmed man can never chose to be free.


I try to be armed whenever I can, and especially when I'm in direct oversight of my family in public. But I'm unarmed more days of the week than armed. The places I'm going - work and school - are NPEs of either "destroy your ability to feed your family" or "go to jail" variety.

We all have our risk profiles and everyone has to judge their own. And risk comes in matrices, not yes/no binaries.

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Originally Posted by 03RN

My job for 5 years was to deescalate violence every single day. Dozens of times a day. It's exhausting and doesn't always work.

Then you factor in shootings that we focus on a lot here. Yeah they're rare but they do happen and often in "safe" areas.

If I fail against overwhelming odds then so be it. I can live with myself.

If I fail my family out of being lazy I won't be able to live with myself.

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That honestly is it for me as well.

My Dad is currently being treated for cancer - I was thinking in the cafeteria at the hospital and they were going through his femoral artery and just thinking about his being treated. I thought I’d prefer he’d have an overnight stay because I could never forgive myself if my Father bled to death if that surgery site opened last week in the middle of the night.

Talking to the surgeon he’d never heard or seen that but that raw and distinct emotion and dread of failing my Father and the guilt of potentially losing him is probably the same emotion for my wife and kids. Man, I can’t imagine with my wife and kids.

I conceal carried a Glock 34 with Surefire X300U in my neighborhood after seeing those two dogs roaming a few weeks ago walking with the wife and kids.

I think that dictates to me that decision. I think I care less about myself and more about the feeling of I need to be there for my wife and kids. I honestly used to catch thieves for a living (for about a year) - so I think I have a bit of an eye for sketchy people based on that was my job 40 hours a week.

But what I also learned was the good ones - you’ll probably never see them coming, or they’ve learned to camouflage their behaviors or they work in teams. Which is probably true for violent criminals as well.

That’s what started Jiu Jitsu for me. My wife was whistled at and she indicated she couldn’t ever harm another human with a gun when I brought up carrying one. So, I pushed for Jiu Jitsu. She has kind of shifted with kids. I think for sure she’d do whatever she could to protect our kids.

I dunno - I'm stealing your line and just saying “but what the heck do I know?”.

Sorry for cluttering up your thread with my personal anecdotes.

I have learned in the forum that the tools of importance for self-defense is:

#1: The mind and the mindset.
#2: The body and good health & movement.
#3: Dead last is the gun.

@Duke your have treasures of #1 and hopefully #2.

I barely have any of #1, and definitely a deficit of #2, so I have to stock up on #3.

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Originally Posted by BehindBlueI's

I carry a gun when I can and don't worry about it when I can't. It doesn't cost me anything to carry when I can. I don't find it uncomfortable or burdensome. There's no fashion statement I'd like to make that carrying a gun hinders. I don't give my gun any more thought than I give my wallet, which I also carry even if I don't intend to buy something. Actually I may think about my wallet more, I bought it in Spain and I like owning it as opposed to just viewing it as a tool.

But if there's some activity or place that precludes carrying and I want to do that activity or go to that place, I accept the risk and go on living my life. I had this discussion elsewhere recently about a theme park. I'm not wearing a gun on a water slide but I like to go on water slides and I like to take my family to enjoy those things as well. I am at more risk driving there than I am being there unarmed, so I'm already willing to accept some level of risk to do the thing. Obviously I'm not carrying abroad, but I enjoy those trips.

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100% me too.