Any Good Come Back Arguments when People Say You're Paranoid if you Carry Concealed?

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vitesse9

New member
I've been beating my head against the wall arguing with a rather smug fellow whose logic goes something like this:

1) anyone who carries a gun exagerates the threat of criminal attack;

2) anyone who exagerates the threat of criminal attack is paranoid;

3) anyone who is paranoid is not fit to carry a gun;

4) therefore, anyone who carries a gun is not fit to carry a gun.

Frustrating. I already tried to discuss my own experiences as a crime victim and why I choose to carry a gun. Nothing doing.

Anyone else had a similar argument with someone who is just convinced that us folks who carry are "paranoid."

My only remaining argument is, "once you've been a crime victim, you'll understand why I carry a gun."

Got anything else?
 
However they argue, they can never claim that the statistical likelihood of a violent attack on me is zero.

Once I have that concession, I tell folks, "It's not the odds that bother me, it's what's at stake."

They have the right to bet that it won't ever happen to them, and wager their life in the process.

I have the right to not make that wager.
 
Anyone who takes out an insurance policy is paranoid. A whole industry is based on people having insurance more often than needing it. Some consider it prudent and socially responsible not to be a liability to others when things don't go well. Everyone has the responsibility to help protect society from predators. Hiring police does not relieve you of this. Some are more proactive than others.

How about the old "Just because I'm paranoid does not mean that they aren't out to get me". :eek:
 
Do they carry a spare tire? How about cash instead of just credit cards? Got a fire extinguisher at home? Insurance? Do they make the kids wear bike helmets? Do they lock their doors? If going out of town, do they put that on the answering machine?

Ah ha! Who's the paranoid one?! :cool:
 
Personally, I'd just point out that I always wear seatbelts in my car. Obviously I'm planning to drive unsafely and wreck my car.

Or, use the Clint Smith approach. Paranoid? I have a gun. What do I have to be paranoid about?
 
Parinoid for carring ?

Tell him not to call a cop the next time he needs one, They carry guns to. I fact ask him to call a cop and call for a Pizza and see which one gets there first. If he has that much confidence in him self ask him to go out walking at night or just go to the neighborhood Stop and Rob after dark,after all nothing is going to happen to him he's a GOOD Guy. After all there are no bad people that want to rob or hurt him. He just hasn't met one yet!!! After he does his tune will change. :p
 
Hhhhhhmmmmmmmm.....

I just tell them that it is a right that I have, and that I am exercising it, the same as speech or religion. I respect the dicisions of others and ask that they respect mine.
Polite, to the point, and honest. I can't be any more or less than that.
 
Vitesse9 said:
I've been beating my head against the wall arguing with a rather smug fellow whose logic goes something like this:

1) anyone who carries a gun exagerates the threat of criminal attack;

2) anyone who exagerates the threat of criminal attack is paranoid;

3) anyone who is paranoid is not fit to carry a gun;

4) therefore, anyone who carries a gun is not fit to carry a gun.
Click to expand...

His circular reasoning breaks down if you simply attack his base premise:
"anyone who carries a gun exagerates the threat of criminal attack".

Exaggerates? Based on what evidence? How does someone carrying a gun automatically "exaggerate" vs a person who always keeps their door locked with both the regular lock and a deadbolt?

Ask this idiot if he and his family were driving on the freeway and his car started overheating if he would lock the doors of the car if he found himself in a seedy part of town looking for a gas station. Would he tell his wife to lock the door after he got out to tend to the problem? Isn't he being paranoid about the threat of criminal attack?

Honestly, if someone asks me why I carry concealed, my first and final answer is simply -- Because I can.
 
Arguing with anti’s especially dense or uneducated anti’s can be a laborious task at best, best advice is to agree to disagree (if they already know you carry) don’t engage them anymore and never tell another person outside your inner circle that you do carry.

People who believe that a call to 911 will save the day has never had to call 911 in a true life or death emergency.

I carry a gun at work because I’m a cop.

I carry a gun off-duty because I am a very distrustful person, which I guess comes from seeing first hand what other people have experienced at the hands of criminals and stupid people. I don’t like people knowing I am a cop when off duty; I don’t advertise and intentionally dress way down, don’t shave etc… just to make me less “cop-like”.

When the SHTF folks will know I’m carrying when the gun goes off, I don’t plan to give warnings. Even as a cop off-duty, out of uniform I have no duty to act unless I either identify myself as a police officer or I am reasonably certain people know that I am an officer.
 
If the threat of a criminal attack is exaggerated, why are there people in prison for murder? How come some of those crimes started out as something else and ended up with dead people?
Why are there people who died before their time, not from suicide or accident?
Why don't rape victims want it to happen again? Did they want it to happen to begin with? If not, how were they forced to except with the threat of force? Was the rapist going to negotiate or talk sports (for instance) rather than rape?
If a criminal is intent on using force to commit a crime, what is the method best suited for changing their mind at minimal risk to you?

On a side note, why are these the people who are the loudest for the death penalty when a guy like Peterson is convicted? Loud and annoying. Stick with your beliefs please.
 
If someone ever knows I carry they already know me well enough to know that I'm not paranoid so first of all I point out that such arguments are mere sophistry. I got my first carry permit after a woman I was testifying against threatened to shoot both me and the judge just like she'd shot her sister...loudly and in open court. I probably wouldn't have done it, but the judge kept following up with monthly letters telling me all the terrible things she was threating from her prison cell.

In your situation I would point out that his desire to overcontrol the world might demonstrates a good bit of obsessive compulsiveness but he lacks the insight to recognize it. I might point out that a shrink could help him to learn to deal with the uncertainties of living in the real world, but buying me an hour of range time (where he could get used to watching watch me shoot and work through all his fears in a safe place) would probably be cheaper.
 
Since TheBluesMan has already seconded what Marko Kloos said, I'll have to be satisfied with "thirding" it.

In fact I'm going to pay Marko the compliment of "stealing" it.

1) I agree completely.

2) The argument is elegant.


Thanks,


matis
 
Once you get used to it, there's very little cost to carrying. Done correctly, you hardly even know it's there. But the benefit, if you ever need a gun, is tremendous.
 
Are you arguing with him for fun, or to actually change his mind? Either way, you're not going to change his mind and you're not going to stop carrying........I'd show him some hold-up videos where bystanders or customers who "look like him" are executed. Visual aids are always good....
 
"Its Better To Have It And Not Need It"

words of wisdom.....

i treat guns just like i do condoms... having them when you need them is great... when you need them and dont have them it really sux :D so always carry....... both :D

if thats not enough for them... disregard their comments and take it with a grain of salt.... their silly and the only way they will see your point is when its too late.....
 
My wife didn't like it at first. Then I began to quietly point out some of the folks I've had to deal with when I see them at the grocery. Try being one of only two guys that does the evictions and sheriff's sales in you county. In my line of work I've had occasion to become aquainted with the less-than-savory side of our society.
 
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