“Why do you carry a gun?”

[Totem Polar]

I’ve been undergoing a bit of a conversion process on this as I hurtle headlong into the last probable third of my life. I’ve typically been an "ain’t nobody’s business" guy, and avoided the conversation; just super-discreet. This approach is made even more attractive by the fact that I’m either working in academia, surrounded by liberal artists, or out at work doing art—surrounded by liberal artists. There are real social consequences to be had by being too pro gun in those types of environments, sadly.

As others have noted above, there is a bit of a sea change being promulgated culturally though the media and educational systems that contains not just an anti-gun bias, but an anti self-reliance bias and pro-authoritarian bias.

So I find myself a little more willing to take the same tack as @NH Shooter in the OP, or the Steven Crowder approach, noted in this thread, here:

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....e-who-disagree

Ironically, the very fact that firearm possession is an immediately fireable offense in academia allows me to be cautiously academic about the argument. "Look none of us can carry a gun here, but these are the facts of the matter [insert facts, reason, stats, anecdotes, blah blah] given all that, do you really think that allowing individuals with a high level of commitment and training the tools to legally defend themselves, and you, is a net loss for society/campus/you? It’s really a human rights issue; think about it..."

If I’m on my own time with a J-frame, I just keep my mouth shut. Not my fucked up circus or monkey mind.

JMO. Everyone’s circumstances are different.

[41magfan]

Before addressing that question, I generally lay the groundwork for my response with enough logic and reasoning to compel a levelheaded person to at least accept the notion that personal security is a personal responsibility. If I can't get some buy-in at this level, I won't waste much time discussing the matter. If I can get them beyond this point (intellectually), I make it clear that "weapons" (of all kinds) are simply tools that allow me to effectively project that responsibility. Most people really do "get it" to some degree, even if they don't embrace the reality on a personal level.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

About Academia:

1. Owning guns isn't fireable. Having them on campus can be, depending on state laws and school policies.

2. Be tenured - then you can tell folks what you think. You can even tell the President who is a gun hater and go on TV to promote campus carry. Expect some social shunning. However, make sure your expertise is such that you can't be categorized as an ignoramus, gun nut. Expect your chair to get all fussy. Some faculty however will come to you on the sly for advice.

3. Schools opposed gun carry for seveal reasons:

a. Ideology - guns are totems of right wing nuts.

b. Risk management types have calculated that the costs of a bad shoot by an authorized employee or one allowed to carry (no ban) is more than paying off victims of a shooting. Went to professional presentations on this, so it is not speculation.

c. The moral heuristic that if you miss and kill an innocent, it is worse than the directed maliciousness of a a shooter. Weird, but that's the psychology.

d. Some folks will accept that the trained faculty are marginally acceptable. Advocacy by the untrained, zealot gun nut is a negative, esp. if correlated with ranting on social issues.

Campus carry will only succeed if mandated by state laws. Some private schools might allow but that's correlated with conservative politics of that school which poisons them as an example.

While competent with a J or G 42 (see other posts), my analysis of risk is a Glock and an extra mag. That's my .05 cut on the risk distribution.

[Warped Mindless]

I respectfully disagree.

With the growing levels of hoplophobia in the U.S. (and the growing number of hoplophobic politicians reaching office), I believe it needs to be actively confronted and challenged. Having an arsenal of reason and the verbal tools to deliver it is something IMO worth developing.

In the battle for 2A rights at the voting booth, I strongly believe that engagement (in whatever tone it needs to take) with the ignorant is far better that outright dismissal. It's our battle to lose.

You aren't wrong but for me personally, if I spent all day changing ignorant peoples minds on issues Im passionate about then I would have little time for anything else.

[Totem Polar]

About Academia:

1. Owning guns isn't fireable. Having them on campus can be, depending on state laws and school policies.

A) debatable; see below. B) Absolutely, on every campus in my region. Also, see below.

2. Be tenured - then you can tell folks what you think. You can even tell the President who is a gun hater and go on TV to promote campus carry.

Below:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/...rding-new-aaup

The game is changing. I expect those numbers to continue to slide. In one dept I am very familiar with, I've seen the numbers go from 14 tenure line (out of 40+) to 7, likely soon to be 6 (out of 40+). <ETA: in a single decade; exactly 10 years...>

Speak out against groupthink at your peril. It's not the same game for the generation entering as it was for yours, by a long shot. No different than many professions.

[Bart Carter]

The best way to protect a civil right is to exercise it.

[GardoneVT]

"Because when seconds count, the police are only a few minutes away."

No disrespect to Law Enforcement, but calling 911 to stop an attack in progress is like phoning Allstate to stop a car wreck.

I respectfully disagree.

With the growing levels of hoplophobia in the U.S. (and the growing number of hoplophobic politicians reaching office), I believe it needs to be actively confronted and challenged. Having an arsenal of reason and the verbal tools to deliver it is something IMO worth developing.

In the battle for 2A rights at the voting booth, I strongly believe that engagement (in whatever tone it needs to take) with the ignorant is far better that outright dismissal. It's our battle to lose.

While I agree with the principle, advertising arms is not the way to do it in ANY respect.

The grim realities of humanity’s violent nature are not known to most well adjusted people, and perhaps its for the best. So long as there’s a veneer of civilization there will be those who believe on principle weaponry is obsolete. You may convince them different, but it won’t be from conversation by the water cooler.

[AZgunguy]

No disrespect to Law Enforcement, but calling 911 to stop an attack in progress is like phoning Allstate to stop a car wreck.

Being in the law enforcement field, I couldn't agree with you more. What's the first question all cops ask when they get on a scene? What happened? I'm a freaking historian who sometimes gets to catch up to the bad guys and put them in jail. It's easier for me to catch the bad guys when a good citizen with a firearm has either detained said bad guy with his weapon or referred said bad guy to a higher court.......

[TMW Trav]

Answer, because I might have to shoot at someone...

Same with a fire extinguisher, I might have to shoot it at a fire.

(I really don't want to)

[TGS]

What's fascinating to me is when I get this question from fellow LEOs, asking why I'm armed off duty. Sigh...

Yes, usually followed with an explanation why they don't feel its prudent to be a vigilante when off duty.

I've lost my civility for such red herrings, and usually interrupt them and say something to the likes of, "I'll stop you right there, because I never said anything about purposely hunting crime like a vigilante in my off hours. If you have something productive or intelligent on the matter to share, I'm all ears."

It gets mixed responses, which is fine by me.

I'll still never forget a supervisor who asked what authority we had to intervene in an active shooter, and when I replied that we're federal agents and specifically written into the FLEO Good Samaritan Act with response to life threatening (natural or felonious) incidents being in the scope of our duties, he walked off after shrugging and mumbling, "Oh, that answer."

Like, dude, get the fuck out of here. Thank god he's retired. I get it was a different agency when he signed up, but we don't fucking need agents like that anymore.