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Practically Shooting

“I live in a decent neighborhood so I feel no need to carry”. A Rant.


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Or…

“I only carry when I go to _________ (big city, bad places, etc).”
 

Or…

”I carry _______ (little gun) unless I’m expecting trouble.”


I might as well add in “I am not out late”, “I avoid those kind of people”, and “I avoid those kinds of places”.   

 

The following are my very strong opinions on this.
 

I feel the decision to carry a gun is a major decision that effects your entire life from that day forward.  


If you choose to carry a gun, then carry a gun.

Switching on and off from carrying a gun usually causes problems.  I realize there are times when you simply can’t carry one due to nonpermissive environments.  I’m not talking about these times.  I’m talking about when one choose when to carry and when not to carry based on perceived “need”.  

How do you know?   You can’t know.  A common attitude is that bad things happen in other places.  If you don’t think serious crime happens in your area, talk to a local law enforcement officer right after they come off shift.  Or better yet, listen in on a conversation between two or more after their shift.  Eating breakfast where they do is a good way.  
The stories from an average night in even a small town would be a surprise to a lot of people.  
 

There are several other reasons to stay in the habit of carrying.  For one thing, if it’s a regular habit, the gun won’t feel odd or uncomfortable (assuming there isn’t an effort made to be uncomfortable like carrying an AR pistol).  This is only a guess, but I truly think many or most cases of guns being left places like public toilets are done by those who don’t carry regularly.  It should feel odd when it’s NOT there.
 

When you carry a gun sometimes and not others, you can get complacent about it, carrying less and less.   
 

If you choose to carry a gun, then carry a gun.  
 

If you do carry a gun, carry the same gun(s).  I suppose carrying a different type of gun based on perceived need is better than using that criteria for choosing whether to carry anything, but it is still a big guessing game.  I think a lot of people who carry a small gun just to have “something” when they feel there is low risk are using it as a good luck charm.  
Not to mention the possible trouble coming from using guns that are different in feel or even operating systems.

 

I’ll close with one more comment on the “I live in a good neighborhood” thing:

It was a “good neighborhood”, plus it was the middle of the afternoon, the first time i needed a gun that way.  I walked in on a break-in, and they weren’t happy about that.   
Nobody can possibly know when they might need one.  
 

If you choose to carry a gun, then carry a gun.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/19/2023 at 4:46 PM, BarryinIN said:

If you choose to carry a gun, then carry a gun.

I completely agree with you on this.  I tell people who carry, that you should either carry or not, but don't get lazy and not carry sometimes.  The mindset needs to be that, "I carry all the time".

In my lifetime, I hope to never have to occasion to use the gun I'm carrying, but in the world that way it is, it is likely that I will need my carry gun at some point.  How would I feel if I had the option to carry, needed to firearm to defend myself, but left it at home? 

Besides, there is no safe place, none.  We live in a "Best place to live in the US" area and there is random crime, from arm robberies to car jackings, virtually every day. 

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