Are we paranoid? Or is it just me?

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fyrestarter

New member
I just got finished reading a thread dealing with the various weapons we carry on an everyday basis. After reading all the posts, I thought about what I carry with me everyday:

Two Spyderco Delicas, one in right front pocket, one inside waistband, small of back on my left side.

Cheap push dagger I bought at a gun show on chain around my neck

Kubotan and Photon LED on keychain

Empty pen barrel retrofitted with a galvanized mason's nail clipped to my shirt

In my car I have an aluminium, 24" Little League baseball bat, Cold Steel Tanto strapped to the sunvisor, two canisters of OC spray in the center console, single shot .22 derringer hidden in "plain sight". In the past I had a sawed-off .410 double barrel loaded with .45 Long Colt inside a compartment in the back seat of my Jeep (gone are the days of wayward youth, however).

I'm not even counting the Colt National Match inside my right-side waistband or the Iver Johnson TP22 (the world's worst handgun, soon to be replaced with a Kel-Tec) in my left front pocket.

Plus about five years of Shotokan Karate and Boxing lessons buried in my head.

If I leave the urban surroundings, and venture off into nature, I have a Ruger .357 and a 12 gauge coach gun which travel with me.

My house has a loaded gun somewhere in every room, including a Ruger .22 in the bathroom.

I've had over 15 years of firearms training, in everything from defensive pistol to bolt-action sniper rifle.

My girlfriend thinks I'm nuts, but strangely feels very safe with me on the subway.

I am neither in law enforcement or the military, but I'm a Boy Scout when it comes to armament and training....

Is this overkill? (pardon the pun) Am I the only one prepared to take on a small army of crackheads? Please, let there be someone out there who goes around more heavily armed than I (besides Puff Daddy and Frank Castle)....
 
If it makes you comfortable and there is no danger of unauthorized people getting hold of your weapons then I see no harm in it.

RIKA
 
You are obviously paranpod and will comtinue to be unless you have a serious encounter. Then you will be well prepatrd!
 
Yeah thats more than you really need. Try to pare it down, especially the unsecured guns in your house and car. Thats just asking for trouble if the wrong person finds them. Keep in mind that if you have more guns than you can get to and they are not secured somehow, you have just armed your opponent.
 
Paranoid...definitely. Sounds as though killers and violent felons lurk around every corner waiting to ambush. In reality there is only a very small fraction of our population that chooses to violate our criminal laws. Of those law breakers, only a fraction of them are actually hardcore violent felons. Does that mean you won't run into one of them on the way home tonight? No! Only an idiot would be completely unconcerned about safeguarding their lives, their family, and their home, but one can definitely cross a line and obsess. By all means stay alert and be prepared...but lose the grenades and rocket launchers. Just kidding! Good luck pal.
 
Ok, the point about the unsecured weapons was very duly noted.

And as for evil villans lurking around every corner, well, I live in NYC (Queens, actually). I do have violent felons lurking around every corner. Maybe it would just be easier to move :)
 
I'm always amused when I see someone state that "only a small fraction of the population" chooses to break the law. Last year in the US, there were over 12 million serious felony crimes reported (FBI UCR). With a population of approx 290,000,000 people, that's a serious felony crime for every 24 residents, in one year.
In my city alone, there were 13 fatal justifiable shootings of criminals by citizens last year alone. Only about 1 in 5 shootings is fatal, so we probably had 60-70 justifiable shootings by private citizens.
One adult out of every 32 in the US is currently in prison or on parole/probation. There are several active criminals for every one in jail.
I could go on, but the point is that there are plenty of criminals, nut cases, and others out there willing to do you harm.
 
With a population of approx 290,000,000 people, that's a serious felony crime for every 24 residents, in one year.
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Sobering numbers. If we really believed that we had a 1 in 24 chance of having a serious car accident every time we drove, a lot of us simply wouldn't drive. We'd consider the risk too high.




Yeah, I think you're carrying a lot of excess stuff. Not because you are unlikely to need to defend yourself, but because you can't possibly use all the stuff in any conceivable situation. Tactically, you've got enough stuff to confuse yourself. That alone can be fatal.

I suggest you pare it down to the essentials, and learn to use those well.

Focus.
 
Paranoid? Just for having the usual tools?

I don't think so.

But if you start carrying frags and willie pete, well, MAYBE.


I'm not paranoid, quadro-noid, maybe.
 
My opinion (well, you asked) is that you have too many options, even with your training. I would (and do) carry one gun, one spare mag, one knife (more a tool than a weapon, but...), one OC (occasionally). All that stuff in the car is redundant, if your tools are accessable while you drive. I would lose all the other stuff, for two reasons:
1. In spite of your training, you may go to condition Black, trying to decide which tool to use for this particular problem.
2. If you do defend yourself, the plaintiff's lawyer will have a field day with 3 knives, plus all the other stuff spread out on a table in front of a jury of sheeple. Civil suits are won on emotion, and your display will not help you win the suit.
Yes, I own all kinds of weapons, but by limiting my choices I can focus on the problem, not the tools to solve it. My mind is my primary weapon.
 
I don't know if you're paranoid, but you're certainly unusual. Here are a couple of questions to ask yourself: Why do you have so many weapons? Is it because you mistrust people? Think people will hurt you? Or is it because you like weapons? If you mistrust everyone and think everyone is out to get you, then you're paranoid. If you just like weapons, and think about them a lot, it's more obsessive/compulsive. Maybe it's a little of both.

Sometimes, people can get used to things, like carrying one or two knives, or a primary and secondary. The next thing you know, you're carrying a light, baton, OC spray, and a third gun. You do it everyday, so it seems normal to you; but to other people, you're nuts. Let's take a less extreme example, some people who never think about defense or any kind of preparedness would think about someone who backs into parking spaces and carries a knife as nuts. Some people (sheeple) think that carrying any kind of firearm is nuts. So, a lot of it is just perspective--yours being accustomed to what you do, and others' who aren't accustomed to it.

Sometimes, you go through points in life when you think about things, like women, cars, guns, or guns, and guns. If I look back just fifteen years at some of the things that I spent all my time thinking about, I shake my head in amazement.

I'd do what everyone else suggests -- take a step back and tone it down. Less is sometimes more. You don't want unsecured firearms everywhere in your home. One or two are fine. Good locks, a dog, or an alarm are better deterents. One pocket knife is probably good enough for everyday carry. IMHO, OC spray is the best thing since sliced bread -- I have several and give them to friends as gifts. (An LE OC certification class made me a believer -- I still remember falling asleep in the fetal position under the covers, wet b/c I was hurting so much that I didn't bother drying myself off after the shower.) Once you redo your entire carry/defense plan, you'll quickly reset your perspectives and get use to having less. In another year, you'll look back and think: OMG, I really was nuts.

Just my .02. Your mileage may vary. This opinion is worth what you paid for it. :p
 
Milcaztra, thank you for that insightful post...Perhaps I should think about freeing myself a bit from the shackles of self-defense. I'm still going to back into parking spaces and sit near a window, facing the door, with my back against a wall :)
 
One way around the gun in every room (although I do not think that is a particularly bad idea) is to make it a habit to wear one handgun when at home. This is what a handgun is designed for. A decisive long gun (or two) should be readily available somewhere too. Wearing a handgun means that if you go out to your car for some reason, or in the yard to water the grass etc, and trouble comes your way while you are outside you have something at hand.
 
I kinda thought you were nuts.... (in a good way :) ) until I saw where you live.... still I think the idea to focus is excellent advice.
 
Milcaztra, It would have been better if you had in fact dried off... The quicker you can get dry after washing the stuff off the faster it goes away. I'm going to assume that the stuff you got hit with was the OC/CS combo...felt like satan himself had camped out on my face. After I got it washed off they sat me in front of a fan to dry my face. Once it dried it pretty much quit burning...but I bet you had fun taking a shower for the next couple days. A word of warning though, a person that is drunk or high will probably not be affected very much by it. Tazers always do a good job though. :)
 
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean no one is out to get you. Carry all you want man, there's nothing wrong with it.
 
well, I live in NYC (Queens, actually).
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So is all that stuff technically legal in Queens for you? I don't want to hijack the thread and I carried "illegally" (underage and no permits available anyway) for many years myself, but your daily armory, to my mind, would seem extreme even in a gun-friendly state.

In NYC, in the case of actually having to USE a weapon, I would think a more minimalist gear list would make it easier for the Grand Jury to excuse you for your Sullivan Act transgression rather than bringing visions of "Taxi Driver" to mind.

.oO(Taxi Driver.... ohhh that wacky Latka ;) )
 
No, 90% of what I carry isn't legal. But then again, neither is carjacking, rape, murder, or armed robbery. I do what I do to survive. And if you know wher I can get some springloaded forearm holsters, a la Travis Bickle, I'd be much obliged :)
 
No judgement here, my sis and bro-in-law just moved to Queens and being a hick from the sticks, I worry about them in what I percieve as a wretched hive of scum and villainy. (ok, make that geeky hick :rolleyes: )

Taxi Driver was on the other day, that's why it sprang to mind.

Heck, I'm not even sure how he built HIS. :D
 
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