And some people wonder why some of us choose to carry.

The thing about carrying (and all the time, mind you) is not the likelihood of needing it, but the severity of the consequences if you do. It's true I may carry every day of my life (from 30 on at least) and never need it, but if that happens, then my consequence is that I've carried extra weight around for decades. If I do need it, and don't have it, then the consequences are much more severe. Severity vs frequency.
 
The thing about carrying (and all the time, mind you) is not the likelihood of needing it, but the severity of the consequences if you do. It's true I may carry every day of my life (from 30 on at least) and never need it, but if that happens, then my consequence is that I've carried extra weight around for decades. If I do need it, and don't have it, then the consequences are much more severe. Severity vs frequency.
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Well said and point taken. But my point is that most of your risk can be avoided by not being stupid and 99% of people will get by just fine without CCW. 2 news stories does not back up your choice. At some point being prepared turns into paranoid. It may be a fine line but one many many here cross. As stated, if I could, I might CCW but I don't go looking at a news article and think I'm gonna die tomarrow if I don't.

As for the car anology, you are 50 time more likely to get in a car wreck than have a violent crime if you live good and avoid troubled areas. Bad anology. If car wrecks were 1/50th what they are most of us wouldn't even have seatbelts in our cars. The sad part is that 99% of car wrecks could be avoided if people would just pay attention.
 
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Police ID serial killer suspect slain in N.C.

Police ID serial killer suspect slain in N.C.
http://www.thestate.com/local/story/854176.html

This story is not well written. It seems to say that neighbors saw "two people who sometimes visit the neighboring home get out of the vehicle, followed by a third man who matched the description of the killer: tall, heavyset, unshaven and wearing a baseball cap. The man appeared to be very drunk . . .

When officers went inside, Terri Valentine said she heard someone yell "put it down" and heard a gunshot.

Then "bam, bam, bam, bam. Next thing I know, all of Gaston County was here," she said.

Gaston County police said the other two people were in custody, but did not indicate whether they were facing charges."

I interpret this to mean that either the drunk guy who was following the other two was the serial killer and had kidnapped them and made them take him to this house where he was going to kill them; of that they were some sort of accomplices.
 
I live in western Colorado not far from Aspen. This is not at all considered a high crime area but yet I have been confronted by armed felons on two occasion while on the way to work. Once while putting gas in the car and once while stopping to help a roll over accident victim that did not want help at all. Both incidents ended without incident and the individuals were caught. I did not have my chp at the time and maybe I have met my lifetime quota but I feel much safer now.
 
Do any of you worry about that "shooting at shadows" line? People now arming themselves without training, without advance thought of how they will handle an intruder. I just hope some kid doesn't get shot by her dad for coming home after curfew or something. There certainly is potential for tragedy only tangentially related to the actual killer.
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Well said!

But 99.9% of the people that CCW will never need it. Going around seeing the boogie man around every corner don't sound like much fun.

Less than 1/2 of 1% people every year face violent crime of ANY SORT. Most of the so called violent crimes mentioned are robberies which no one was hurt and your CCW would be better served to stay in it's holster. You have a .006 of 1% chance of being murdered and .03 of 1% chance of rape. The murder stats also include the stupid SOB's that think it's cool to be in a gang and kill someone else for selling drugs on their street corner or living on the wrong side of the tracks. While I can't find stats to back it up a vast majority (not all) of murders happen in places that you shouldn't be anyway. Many of the remaining murders are by family members or close friends where your CCW is likely to do you little good. In other words it would take 166 years for 1% of the population to be murdered at the current rate and some of the victims are as bad as the killers or there is a good chance that CCW would make no difference at all. Tell me again why you carry?

Go ahead and carry. It's your right and the more people doing it should deter crime. But don't pull out a couple news stories and tell me you have to carry.
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Bravo!!!!!!!!

WildimspeechlessAlaska TM
 
Less than 1/2 of 1% people every year face violent crime of ANY SORT
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You are right...and that means about 1 in every 200 people. How many people are in you neighborhood, your office building, on your bus to work, etc?

Like I have said before, even in my time as an LEO, I never once saw anyone that was sorry they were prepared when something bad happened but I continuously saw people who were sorry that they were not...and that regret was almost always followed by a "but I just did not think it would ever happen to me."

I drive a brand new car. My odds of breaking down are less than 1 in 450 (according to a report by AAA I read awhile back) but I still keep road flares and tools in my car.

But let's make sure to make one thing clear. There is a huge difference between sticking a Seecamp in your pocket just in case the unforeseen happens and loading your self up with three Glocks and a S&W airweight strapped to your ankle because you think today is the day that the SHTF. If you can separate the desire to be prepared for the unlikely from the paranoia of actually thinking you are going to need it you are doing just fine.
 
You are right...and that means about 1 in every 200 people. How many people are in you neighborhood, your office building, on your bus to work, etc?
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Heh, there's close to that many people in my building.

My local PD has weekly maps on their website giving locations and types of crimes, everything from burglary, car theft, vandalism to murder and rape. I keep an eye on it, it surprised me that most crimes (of all types) are concentrated around the north (where I am) and the university down south, most of the sexual assaults, abductions, and run of the mill assault taking place around the school, with the remainder of violent crimes, home invasions, armed robbery and burglary centered pretty close to where I am.

And having been in an armed defensive situation at home in the past (shots fired, no fatalities), having a crackhead let himself in one afternoon (no shots fired), intervening in a burglary next door, and having been mugged twice, I think my odds of needing a gun are pretty high. And I live in a pretty nice area.

But I'm not exactly average, apparently :p
 
L Killkenny said:
"But my point is that most of your risk can be avoided by not being stupid and 99% of people will get by just fine without CCW. 2 news stories does not back up your choice. At some point being prepared turns into paranoid. It may be a fine line but one many many here cross."
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I believe I understand your point completely.

I respectfully disagree with it.

What you say regarding risk avoidance is true as far as it goes. The crux of our disagreement rests on what we respectively construe to be 'reasonable'.

In my opinion, a healthy degree of paranoia is widely under-appreciated.

Regards,

Doc
 
Not to change the subject but on the idea of being prepared. This happened very close to me over the weekend and enters right into the stats of something happening to the average person. This type of shooting seems to be more the norm than the exception in this part of the country so what do you prepare for?

http://www.scnow.com/scp/news/local...nvestigate_murder_involving_father_son/62260/

A Coward man accused of gunning down his son over the weekend appeared before a judge Monday morning.

Florence County Coroner “Bubba” Matthews says Dominic Lewis, 22, of Railroad Avenue was shot Saturday night in the lower back of the head and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Booking reports show investigators charged his father, Joe Julious with first degree murder in connection to the crime.

Coward police say they arrived on the scene just after 10:30 p.m. on the night of July 4th.

Police say they were responding to a shooting call, and upon arrival found Lewis lying on the ground located behind the home, with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.

South Lynches Fire Department and Florence County EMS crews attempted to resuscitate Lewis, but he was unresponsive and not breathing.

Paramedics then transported Lewis to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead by medical staff upon his arrival.

Coward police say Julious and Lewis got into a verbal altercation, which then escalated into the shooting.

Coward police chief Kevin Miller said of the incident that it “could have possibly been avoided if parties would have contacted 911 when the incident first began instead of allowing the situation to spiral out of control.”

Julious appeared before a judge Monday morning for a preliminary hearing. The judge refused to set bond for Julious.

He will have to go before a circuit court judge sometime in the future for a bond hearing.
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I have to agree with Killkenny ... I spent the first 58 years of my life in states where carry is all but impossible, mostly in California ... had a gun at home, but not on me ... nobody ever even hurt my feelings ... then we moved to Texas and I got a CHL as soon as I could ... I live in a dinky, peaceful town and the odds that I will need the gun I carry every day are miniscule ... however! ... being prepared is never a bad thing, and while I could deal with being injured or killed through my own laziness, if anything happened to my wife while we were out together and I left my gun at home, my life would be over ... being a responsible mate and citizen means I have to be ready if that tiny percentage suddenly includes me and mine ... whether I need it or not, I'll always be armed ...
 
People wonder why

Quote by Playboypenguin

It is not very likely you will be in a car accident either. Do you wear a seatbelt? In all my years I have never heard someone say "darn, I wish I had not been prepared when that bad thing happened to me."

Guess the only reason you haven't heard someone say that is because you don't pay attention to what is going on around you. A couple years ago in Texas a Lady walked into a Cafe in Texas with her parents. A mad man drove his vehicle into the building and began to kill people with a gun. The Lady had left her carry gun in her car, she was sorry she did, and told Charles Schumer and a group of Congressional idiots her concerns.

She tells the story best:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EdiTK4PRJM

Now, you've heard someone say "I wish I had been prepared"...
 
Funny thing about robbings, . . . muggings, . . . rapes: it almost always produces the same result.

Folks who live through those events seem to forever after have a heightened sense of their vulnerability, . . . some even get CHL's.

Haven't yet heard of a lady with her CHL who is successfully raped and then gets rid of her gun and CHL, . . . thinking "Hey, . . . it's already happened to me, . . . chances are it never will again."

May God bless,
Dwight
 
I'll still wonder why you carry. After all, how many people have ventured out before or since the posted incidents without issues? More than likely never will and the gun will be dead weight.
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L_Killkenny,
I understand your point, but in 30 years of driving I've never so much as scratched a paintjob (and that includes driving in DC and NYC) and even with that I'm not about to cancel my auto insurance even though it's a pretty heavy burden to carry. You see it has never been about the odds, it is about the consequences if you should win (loose actually) the bad luck lottery and find yourself unprepared.

Going around seeing the boogie man around every corner don't sound like much fun.
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Very true, but walking around in "condition white" doesn't do one a lot of good either in the long run.
In other words it would take 166 years for 1% of the population to be murdered at the current rate.
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Very reassuring, except for that 1% :D
 
More than likely never will and the gun will be dead weight.
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You could look at it as an exercise program. (Both in exercising your rights and body.) Carting around an extra couple of pounds on your belt sure beats carrying around an extra couple (?) of pounds around your middle!

You want to talk statistics? Look at the leading cause of death in this country. Now tell me that partaking in this CCW exercise program is a bad idea.
 
I vividly remember when we had a guy that killed four little girls here that were dearly loved by their familys in Fredericksburg,Va. just so he could get a sex thrill and he disposed of their bodies like they were tissue paper.

I remember when the two snipers ran all around the D.C.,Maryland and Virginia area and I used to mow my grass with a revolver on my side.

(not that a revolver would do much good against a snipers rifle but hey,maybe I could at least return fire by some miracle).

I remember that my trailer has been almost stolen twice after I bought it from right out of my driveway.

Now the tires and wheels have chains through them through the leaf springs and the trailer frame is chained to a hard point on my garage.

I remember that just at the end of my street,a sex offender is living homeless in a shed on someone elses piece of property and THE STATE OF VIRGINIA PAROLE BOARD KNOWS IT AND THAT'S ACCEPTABLE TO THEM.

It's on their internet website written up like that!

And we've seen him riding his bicycle to and from that lot.

My wife used to call me paranoid.

Now she does'nt mind when I escort her to her car in our driveway at 3:30 a.m. when she drives to work.

I have no interest in being a crime victim.

Or my wife.

That's why when I can do it legally,I carry.
 
Of course, few would need to be armed if any of us could predict who that few will be who find themselves in that small percentage.

I can't do that.

And I don't have much confidence in your ability to do so either.

I am a professional who lives in an upscale (if isolated) community. I fully expect (especially at my age :)) to go the rest of my life without having to use the weapon I carry.

But, I could be wrong.

Despite being members of the same kind of safe demographic as I, two close friends and one acquaintance have been murdered in three totally different scenarios with three different motives.

I deny being paranoid (and I am familiar with the diagnostic criteria) but I will not willingly be unprepared to find myself or a loved one in that small percentage.

Best,

Will
 
If I lived in Story City, Iowa - I might not carry either. Up until recently I lived in Atlanta and there are NO safe areas - period. With the state of the economy and the rocketing unemployment, things are going to get MUCH worse everywhere...
 
Yes your right NGIB, Story City is, for the most part very safe. But I choose to live here and you there. What's that say about good choices.

Take a look at the crime in Des Moines. While it doesn't have as much crime as other larger cities it does have it's fair share. Robberies every night, shooting and knifing every weekend. But 99% of those can be avoided by not working at gas stations late at night and staying out of the bad parts of town and bad bars. In other words, don't be stupid and the crime rate goes down. Way down, almost nil. When we were younger we used to go hang out down there for the excitement. Had more than our share of close calls, Wised up since then.

I will also add that most of the crime has been imported by the liberal's bringing in people from cities like New Orleans, Chicago and Kansas City. What kinda stupid move is that!!
 
Many times we don't have a choice where we go, for example our jobs dictate where we end up. Not only did I work in Atlanta, the place I worked happened to be in one of the worst areas of town.

Like everyone else has said - I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. YMMV
 
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