What caused you to start carrying?

[Trlsmn]

What caused you to start carrying?

That's easy, having kids to protect instead of just myself.

 

[hm1ing]

The main reason was to be legal! I like to shoot, travel, Business and relax...Don't have time for jail or a ticket.

It's my right and I'm sticking to it!

 

[twoclones]

For me it wasn't seeing reports of crime on the news so much as it was the surprised look on victim's faces. "We never thought it could happen here." This told me I needed to be prepared in the most unlikely of circumstances. Which I guess means to always be prepared...

 

[PeakResources]

When I turned 21, I applied for a carry permit, and started carrying. I didn't have any particular reason, except it was a right that I had that I intended to exercise. I feel this is as legitimate as any other reason. Our Founding Fathers place the right to keep and bear arms explicitly in the Constitution so that future generations would have this right protected at the highest level.

 

[Sawdust]

What caused you to start carrying?

I have ALWAYS carried. Whether a knife, handgun or personal resolve that I will not allow bad things happen to people if I have the ability to prevent or stop it. No, I'm not some vigilante or some sort of "wanna be". My father (who died when I was 9) and my maternal grandfather both instilled in me that men especially Gentlemen have a duty/ responsibility to those around them. Starting with your family then friends, co-workers and the public at large. We are the protectors, we are the helpers of others-if not us (gentlemen & ladies) then who else?

Just some other things that my grandfather had taught me(Rules for a Gentleman):

• Never leave the house without a pocket knife-great tool for many uses
• Never leave the house without a handkerchief.
• Always have cash and coin in your pocket (before cellphones needed change for payphones and to give exact change when possible.

• It's never "Not your fight" Be involved! If something does not seem ok then it's probably not.

Just a few ideas, I don't want to sound too preachy. Bottom line is that we have responsibilities as citizens of a free country to get involved and not let the scumbag criminals think that everyone is an easy target. Step up! Put the fear back into them instead of the general population.




OK.....OK.....OK..... Rant over. I'll go lay down now.

 

[simpleguy]

What caused you to start carrying?

I have ALWAYS carried. Whether a knife, handgun or personal resolve that I will not allow bad things happen to people if I have the ability to prevent or stop it. No, I'm not some vigilante or some sort of "wanna be". My father (who died when I was 9) and my maternal grandfather both instilled in me that men especially Gentlemen have a duty/ responsibility to those around them. Starting with your family then friends, co-workers and the public at large. We are the protectors, we are the helpers of others-if not us (gentlemen & ladies) then who else?

Just some other things that my grandfather had taught me(Rules for a Gentleman):

• Never leave the house without a pocket knife-great tool for many uses
• Never leave the house without a handkerchief.
• Always have cash and coin in your pocket (before cellphones needed change for payphones and to give exact change when possible.

• It's never "Not your fight" Be involved! If something does not seem ok then it's probably not.

Just a few ideas, I don't want to sound too preachy. Bottom line is that we have responsibilities as citizens of a free country to get involved and not let the scumbag criminals think that everyone is an easy target. Step up! Put the fear back into them instead of the general population.




OK.....OK.....OK..... Rant over. I'll go lay down now.

Well said. I think the terms, "it's not my problem" and "somebody should do something about that" led to a lot of what we see now.

The reason I started carrying....I live in the Portland Metro area....I grew up in small town Oregon. After many years here, not all the people are as scary as they once were, but you cannot be too careful........besides I have a family to go home to, they come first.

 

[PlayboyPenguin]

This is why I got my CHL: I turned 21

This is why I continue it: (Sorry for the plagiarism PlayboyPenguin)

Hey, I do not mind at all. At least I know one person took the time to actually read my long winded speel.

 

[BooKilla]

The men that carried before me.

"A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks."

-Thomas Jefferson

"We say that the hour of death cannot be forecast, but when we say this we imagine that hour as placed in an obscure and distant future. It never occurs to us that it has any connection with the day already begun or that death could arrive this same afternoon, this afternoon which is so certain and which has every hour filled in advance."

-Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

 

[.45's and .38's]

I just watched a show. 3 guys go in a bar pistol drawn. They start waving it around at the cashier. Civilan who was carrying blew all the guys away and saved everyone. Thats why I'd want one. Stuff happens randomly even to good people. I think myself and my girlfriend will be getting our CCW's. I say "take no chances"..

 

[parsons_12b]

I turned 21. I have always been around people who carry it just seemed natural.

 

[RAWII]

The incident at Lubby's Cafeteria in Texas. The idea of watching your family die around you and having a gun in your car. The only reason for not carrying it was because you didn't have a CHL. That was enough for me to get mine and protect mine.

 

[clearconscience]

I turned 21.

 

[ikari2_2000]

After I came back from Iraq in 05.

I no longer felt safe walking around without a firearm know that anything can happen at any time. They call it being hyper vigilant, but I think it’s normal. It’s like, why didn’t I see it before.

 

[jack1122]

I got my concealed carry liscense because I wanted to and because this world is a bubblegumty place to live in no matter where you are, you are never safe. I love the feeling of a pistol on my side no matter what...

Jack

 

[ragr]

after the "election" I realised what's left of our gun rights is now at risk, and decided to begin arming my home whilst I still could, thinking it unlikely they'd be able to find/seize ALL of them should they so choose. Once we HAVE them, its a lot harder game to get them than to make it impossible to GET them. Simple logic. Then I began to study the current laws... and was shocked at just how bad things have got in this regard. I realise that having a CPL would go a long ways toward minimising the possibility of becoming a "criminal" for some minor oversight (getting back into my car with a handgun in open carry.. I am not INSIDE a vehicle with a LOADED weapon, a no-no for a normal citizen, but lawful for a permittee.

Then, read one of Ayoub's amazing books, learned a lot, began studying about handguns, carrying, using, situations, etc... and so proceeded to get some, working on carry methods, etc.

Perhaps the clincher is this, though: I am an avid road cyclist (pedal bicycle, no motor...) and often will take long trips, sometimes multiday, often on rural roads in remote areas. Made me a bit nervous, I've been harrassed by strangers who know nothing of me beyond that I am riding a road bike on the highway. Assaulted thrice (punks throwing things at me whilst riding.. one hit, trying to knock me off the bike with their door... that sort of stupic stuff... Four tuffs in the car, had they decided to come back and "finish the job" I would have been toast. Then I read of a few assaults where gangs of toughs were accosting cyclists coming across the I-90 bridge at Mercer Island... hiding outside the tunnels, assaulting/robbing cyclists. Decided alright, I'll begin carrying. If anyone decides to get up close and personal, at least I'll give them some additional factors to consider. Call the cops? Sorry, by the time they'd answer the 911 call, I could be already bloody and broken. I'd far rather turn the tables, holding the perps at gunpoint until they do get there. I find it a form of bizarre humour that Seattle's mayor, the disgusting Chim Change Nickels, supposedly "pro bicycling" in Seattle, attempted to impose an illegal ban on all firearms in Seattle's public places.. which would certainly have included the bike path on the I-90 bridge. Yeah, I'd have felt REAL safe riding in HIS city with no chance of being armed against all the loonies his city government coddles and accomodates... on the public's nickel.

Now I have begun to get after getting legal to carry in other states into which I travel on business.. Oregon, California ("good luck" as the saying goes) Idaho, Nevada..... thinking about th Utah and/or Florida permit, taking the required class for Oregon's ticket, and exploring some options in California..... I've one contact there who may prove helpful, though I'm not going to be holding my breath on that one.

I'm in the exact same situation, exact same location. I still commute 12 miles each way to work in Seattle/Redmond and occassionally go from Redmond to Seattle via I-90. Curious to you and any other bike riders out there what you use to conceal carry in your biking clothes. I wear cargo shorts over my bike shorts and have my Glock 30SF in one of the cargo pockets during my rides but it gets a bit heavy on one leg during long pedals and I don't feel comfortable carrying condition one in that position. Shoulder holsters seem like they'd print pretty heavy through thin sports wear. Any suggestions?

 

[m1gunr]

One Monday a guy came in to work with an AK cause he had been laid off that Friday. After holding the manager and some other staff hostage I determined I would never be in a situation again where all I had was a keyboard for a weapon. The company I worked for at the time was a "Gun Free Zone."

 

[Oldfart]

I was leaving a ballgame one night when three guys jumped me, hauled me into some bushes and started kicking the $h!t out of me. I was well past 65 yrs old and all I could do was roll up in a ball and scream like a little girl. Fortunately some of the ball players heard me and came running with their bats causing my new-found "friends" to run off.

After that I pretty well stayed at home, afraid to go out for the next year or so. Eventually though, I decided to stop being in jail and bought a gun, stuck it in my belt and went back to the ballgame. I didn't bother with a permit and in time I was arrested. Originally I was charged with carrying concealed without a permit but that was tossed since-- had it truly been concealed, they would never have seen it and arrested me. I was convicted of carrying a loaded weapon within the city limits. I was sentenced to forfeit the gun, take a 2-hour gun safety course ($40) and not do it again.

Two weeks later I bought another gun which I carried for several more months until my hands got so screwed up with arthritis that I was more of a danger to myself than any bad guy. Now, while I no longer carry, I have a gun somewhere nearby most of the time. I let the bad guys worry about when I might be carrying.