Teuthis said:
Like many others, obviously you don't know what real paranoia is. I do because there is a guy who has been threatening to kill me for a while now because he believes--with every fiber of his being--that I've been doing all of these rotten things to him, without a shred of evidence or any motive on my part. He even believes that I've been doing some very implausible things such as crawling around in his attic in the middle of the night, as well as beneath his floor, when his house happens to be built on a concrete slab.
This is clinical paranoia that was brought about initially, as far as I know, by an unusual but documented type of reaction to the weight-loss drug Phentermine. I don't know why his paranoid delusions have persisted for this long--maybe something in his brain got "fried" or he's still taking Phentermine.One of the key things that makes this a real form of paranoia is that it involves delusions and irrationality. Do you now understand what paranoia really is? Do you now know why some folks were offended that you called them paranoid? There is nothing paranoid about believing that one could be the next undeserving victim of random violence because guess what, it really happens to some people--no delusions are necessary. The vast majority of us realize that the odds of this happening to us are slim overall, and we are therefore still quite able to derive pleasure from life even without having a firearm strapped to our side, contrary to what you suggested. That said, carrying a gun at all times gives some of us a little bit of added peace of mind, much like an insurance policy, as others have suggested, or wearing a seat belt while traveling in an automobile, and there's nothing wrong with taking such precautions.
Personally, I think that some people make too big of a deal about carrying a gun around. It's nothing out of the ordinary for most of us, just like carrying a pen in case we need to write something down, or tissue paper in case we need to blow our noses. We like guns, which makes it all the more natural for us to want to carry one around, just in case somebody tries to do us and our loved ones harm, however unlikely that may be statistically. In fact, I think that making such a big deal about carrying guns around may itself be a form of paranoia. What, are you afraid that the gun will go off all by itself? Does carrying one make you feel as though you'd more likely need to use it? That's not the case for most of us--it's just another EDC tool that we carry in order to be prepared.
Teuthis said:
Maybe for your lifestyle, but is there anything irrational or delusional about it? Do people not sometimes get attacked in their own homes? There's nothing paranoid or "far out" about being prepared for real events that do sometimes happen to real people, even if it's unlikely. It's not that unlikely, though, as there have been home invasions in my neighborhood, and attempts have been made to break into my own house while I was home--fortunately all it took was a locked and reinforced door to thwart them in those instances (maybe not next time), but somebody has been threatening to kill me lately, and that's no delusion on my part.
Teuthis said:
The "ghetto" is perfectly capable of driving to my perfectly-landscaped suburban neighborhood to rob and terrorize its inhabitants whenever they feel like it, with virtual impunity. The only thing here that could stop them is breaking into my house while I'm home.
Everybody else here, as far as I know, is just waiting to be a helpless victim because they're afraid of guns (probably have some paranoid delusions about them).Teuthis said:
That's because javelina and coyotes suck at breaking into houses. But what if they were really good at it?
Teuthis said:
No, you're not paranoid--you just didn't understand what paranoia is, and hopefully now you do. It's perfectly fine to think that keeping a gun "handy" is a good idea, and even that carrying one around on your hip all day long is probably not worth the effort for you. I currently do not carry a gun while at home myself because my house is pretty well fortified, although I always keep one handy for determined home invaders. But just because others take it one step further and wear a gun basically as part of their wardrobe or EDC kit doesn't mean that they're paranoid in the slightest. It just means that they choose to sacrifice a little bit of physical comfort and effort in order to be a little bit more prepared than I am in the event that somebody does successfully break in. I'm thinking of carrying while at home myself now because I can envision myself or somebody in my family compromising our usual defenses for a period of time, such as when carrying things in and out of the house with the door unlocked, working on something out front, or going outside to check the mail, which in my case involves walking to the curb in front of a neighbor's house. In such cases, I may not be able to get to my gun, either quickly enough or at all. Besides, I like guns and the feeling of being prepared for anything at any time.
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. I have a MI CCW and carry every possible place/ moment I can. Unfortunately That does not include anywhere in NJ, except my own home. Even then I would be treated like a criminal in this state because I defended my family and hurt the poor bad guy if he broke in. No right to self defense here. I have had complete strangers show up here looking for random people one guy even opened my screen door when my wife answered the front door. Lucky for him he closed it real fast and went on his way, as I was waiting at the top of the stairs with my 870 and 6 slugs. I live in a decent part of town on a road that only other military members live but we are close to the sketchy folks. I usually have my Sig P229 on me every where in my house. It's even accessible from the shower, only an arms length away. The way I look at it is; I could live with my self if I went to jail because some clown tried to carry out evil deeds on my wife or daughter and ended up getting a couple of 150gr attitude adjustments. I could NOT, however live with myself if I did not prevent that because my gun was tucked away in a closet or safe or on the opposite side of the bad guy as me. Watch the beginning of law abiding citizen, If that doesn't set your mind right about a home invasion, nothing will !!! It's a crazy world out there, especially with all the drugs and i'm not just talking about meth heads, I'm talking about all the crap the FDA and pharmaceutical companies try to shove down peoples throats to"FIX" their problems too. You never know when it's going to go live, so you need to keep yourself in a constant state of readiness which is not "paranoia" as some may think, especially if you have loved ones to protect. Also from dusk till dawn, make sure you have your Surefire or other trusty illumination device within reach and ready as well. It's nice to be able to tell the difference between your dog or a loved one and the bad guy, in the event you do have to detonate.
that could have been a bad day... here I am prancing all over town with what I thought to be a firearm ready to rock and roll on my hip..yet it was not. Two days earlier I had taken all ammo out of the gun and separated the live mags to another room while I practiced drawing from my concealed location and completing reloads with my empty mags. After my "training" was complete I retrieved my loaded mags and put one in the gun however I forgot to rack a round in, as I put my other mags in their pouches. Now with no loaded chamber indicator on the gun it didn't catch my attention until I went to unload two days later. Since then I have never put my gun it's holster until an admin check for a round in the chamber has been completed. It doesn't matter if I know 100% that there is one in the tube, and I pull it out set it on the counter spin around in a circle and pick it right back up... It does NOT go in the holster with out and admin check for a round in the chamber. This may seem like common sense for most but I didn't think I would forget something like that either. Luckily I learned I was a dumb ass the easy way and not when I went to pull the trigger.