CCW or leave it in the car?

[Frank Ettin]

...Having a pistol on your hip every time you go out because you think something bad may happen at some random point in your life is delusional...

Nonsense.

It is true that the odds of actually ever needing your weapon are vanishingly small. The vast majority of humans, especially in the United States, will go quietly to their deaths in bed without ever having to defend themselves in a violent encounter.

BUT there are still people who were carrying a gun when they faced an emergency and who were able to prevail in that emergency and survive because they had a gun on their person. Do you say to them that they were delusional to have been carrying a gun? That they should have left their guns at home and embraced their fate?

The rub is that there is no way you can know, as you leave the house in the morning, exactly what will happen. The odds are that your day will go along normally and safely. But every day things don't work out quite as well for one or more people. And you have no way, as you start your day, of knowing when or if you will be one of the unlucky very few.

...I would say "life isn't much without taking risks", but not carrying a pistol isn't much of a risk at all...

And if you wish to assume that risk, do so by all means. That is your choice. Don't carry a gun. But do not presume to tell me what risks I will assume in my life. That is my business and my choice and not yours. You are entitled to your opinion, but I am entitled to conclude that your opinion is uniformed and not worthy of my attention.

...Carrying a pistol on your hip to make you .000001% safer from the one BILLION things that could happen to you at any given time....

I suspect that you made those numbers up. If you did, they are meaningless. If you did not, cite your source.

But let's take a look at long odds. Just because the odds of losing are long doesn't make something a good bet.

I will offer you a bet. You must put up $1.00, and 999,999 times out of 1,000,000 tries, you will win. And if you win, you will receive a nice, bright shiny new dime. But if you lose, you must give me absolutely everything you have, including the clothes on your back.

So you have 999,999 chances out of 1,000,000 to walk away with a grand total of $1.10, i.e., a net profit of $0.10. But you have 1 chance in 1,000,000 of walking off naked and utterly destitute. How much do you really like that bet, even though your odds of winning are extraordinary?

...If you don't sense danger, there's no sense in bringing it with you.

How do you sense danger? Are you clairvoyant? Do you always know exactly what's going to happen? Haven't you ever been surprised?

 

[Spade Cooley]

One of my neighbor ladies carried a gun in the car. She visited her daughter in the city and left the gun in the car. The car was broken into during the night and the gun was stolen.

I also carry a gun in the truck but if I'm in for the night at a motel, or staying with someone, the gun goes with me.

When it comes to CCW in places that are forbidden, If I think I could be in danger I'll carry it anyway. No one should know you have it and don't let anyone see it. What's the old saying, "I'd rather be tried by 12 than burried by 6.

 

[thmsmgnm]

If I am awake and not in a court house or some other NPE where there are metal detectors then I am armed.

I know of too many people who though that they didn't need to carry a gun that day, and never go a chance to have another day.

 

[hogdogs]

One reason I do not CC is because I never like to keep a gun in my ride unattended. Even if my vehicle locks, It is not secure enuff. Likely though my trucks don't have window motors in the doors so locking is for looks only so no sense thinking a gun would be safe.
Brent

 

[Mello2u]

The purpose of having a conceal weapon's license is to HAVE the weapon in the event that you need it for defense.

If you leave it in your vehicle you do not have it to use in that event. Additionally, some places like parking areas outside courthouses and other places where firearms are prohibited to citizens are attractive to thieves who will do smash and grabs to see what they can glean from this potentially rich target area for guns in vehicles.

Even though I have a lock box in my vehicle for those times when I am by law prohibited from carrying my weapon into a building and must leave it for a time in my parked vehicle, I still do not feel good about the possibility of it being stolen from by vehicle. All this lock box can do is slow down the theft.

First rule of a gun fight is: have a gun.
Second rule is: shot placement.
http://www.sightm1911.com/lib/ccw/gunfight_rules.htm this link for 23 more "rules".

 

[armsmaster270]

Fortunatly here there are few places I can't go armed we don't have a private property posting problem, you can CCW in bars as long as you aren't under the influence, movies are OK, County Admin building is OK, City Hall except the Council Chambers is OK. Only Federal property and Some State buildings are off limits. The Coast Guard Station Commander allows me to CCW on it. If I have to leave a gun in a vehicle I won't go there too many guns are stolen from vehicles. If I go into the Courthouse I advise the Deputy's at the metal detector I am Carrying PRIOR TO THE THE SCREENING AREA and request to use one of their lock boxes and retain the key.
On the Holster question mine threads on to my belt.

 

[Don P]

Why leave the house with it if the plan is to leave it in the car Car gets stolen gun gets stolen along with it Please wait a minute Mr. Bad Man while I go back to my car that was stolen so I can get my stolen gun. This has to be at the top of the STUPIDITY list. Might as well leave the house with the gun unloaded this way it is as much use as leaving it in the stolen car

 

[MLeake]

Because the plan may be...

... to go from the places where one can't carry (courthouse, airport, etc) to or through other places where one can carry, and where one feels one should carry.

While I'd prefer not to risk having a gun get stolen in my truck (although this would require use of cutting tools, as the lockbox is hardmounted to the truck; otherwise it would require the theft of the truck itself), I'd prefer even more than that to not disarm myself if traveling in questionable areas, especially after hours.

So, I'll accept the mitigated risk of locking a gun inside a compartment, inside a locked car.

BTW, the local PD policy for its officers is that they shall be armed when off-duty, unless drinking, in which case they are to lock their guns in locking compartments in their vehicles when they go to a bar.

Either the PD is very irresponsible, or else a lot of members of the forum are particularly conservative.

 

[Southern Rebel]

I'm just not smart enough to know when I might need it, so I carry unless I am going in the post office or in one of the schools. In those cases, I reluctantly leave it in my truck. (I can afford to buy another gun, but I am stuck with this body, so I try not to let it get damaged!)