So you are retired?

B

Brit

New member
Just now? Or for twenty years. Does not really matter, retired is retired.

Not getting up every morning, 5 days a week, and trudging off to that predicable 40 hours.

You have read the Gun Magazines, break in's, home invasions, so you keep a pistol on your bed side table, there is just you and your Wife at home, no worries about children messing with it.

But now there are those story's of concealed carry retirees, using their pistols to protect themselves, and even protecting others?

So now, the question arises, should I carry every day, and what do I carry?

Quite a question, yes.
 
brit,

Should you carry everyday? Only you can answer that. As you get older you become more vulnerable to crime- you're weaker and slower with worse vision and hearing. So you have the choice of being a victim or being prepared. The choice is yours.

What should you carry? It depends on what you shoot best, how easy it is to conceal and how often you'll practice with it. If you let us know a few of your choices and options maybe we can help a bit more.

best wishes- oldandslow
 
only carry a gun on those times when you and your loved ones lives are worth defending. for some people that's always, for others, not so much.
 
I am 75, will be 76 in a couple of months and I carry everyday. Seat belts saved my wife and I once, hopefully I will never have to use my sidearm to save us.
 
I think that if you're asking this question, you probably aren't solidly into the idea of self defense. If you are into this mindset, there's no question.

I've been retired for 7 years next month. I carry concealed every day/every time I leave home. At home(on the farm) I'm seldom beyond arm's length of a rifle. I may become a victim at some point but it's not for want of a defense tool.
 
I "retired" in 2012 (at 60) cruise on my boat in the summer, and have been working as a contract engineering consultant most winters.
My current contract has had me working the past year continuously.
I don't feel threatened in my normal travels or activities, hence I choose to not carry.
I do have a loaded .380 and a .38 revolver in my home, but heck I rarely lock the doors so I guess I don't feel very threatened there either.
I feel fortunate.
 
You have read the Gun Magazines, break in's, home invasions
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, there's also stories of folks getting surprised, "jumping the gun" and shooting non threats.
If you decide to carry, please get suitable training.
With advanced years, comes diminished awareness and response.
 
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Brit, I retired last September, but have carried since the late 60's, and it's 24/7. There is no difference in self defense whether you are retired or not. I would suggest a CCW course first thing, don't even buy a gun yet, most good schools will have weapons you can try, and then decide if CCW is for you. They are a number of good weapons today (versus 1967) but I always recommend a full size gun in a caliber that you can manage, and not a 2 finger sub compact that is very difficult to manage.
 
Most retirees are old. (68 hear). Some have health issues that means they aren't in good physical shape. Maybe heart problems that may be life threatening if they get into a physical altercation.

So old folks are easy prey.

Should you carry?

Lots of us, upon retirement, move to rural locations. I personally don't like towns. LE response times aren't rural areas. Here, it may be 30-45 minutes assuming the sheriff is on my side of the county, 1-2 hours if he's on the other side. Both assume the sheriff isn't tied up with something else.

Should you carry?

Rural areas have drug problems just like urban areas. Old retired folks have a medicine cabinet full of all sorts of meds. Easy pickings for those who cant afford meth.

Should you carry?

It takes about 3-5 seconds to kick in a LOCKED door. It takes me a bit longer to get off the couch, let alone to the bed side table where a gun normally would be kept.

Should you carry? I think the answer is plain.

But the answer is CARRY, not stashed.
 
I've been retired since 2005. I started carrying concealed back in 1970, right after I was discharged from the U.S. Army.

I always preach that if you are going to carry concealed, ALWAYS carry concealed. Much better to have a gun and not need it than to need one and not have it. I live in a 55+ community. A percentage of my neighbors (1430 homes) felt since they lived in a "gated" community, they were secure and exempt from crime...until we had our first robbery.

As the VP of the community gun club and Director of Personal Protection, I run a concealed carry class for those wishing to obtain the CCW Permit on a monthly basis. I limit class size to 5 participants. There is now a waiting list to attend my class since a crime has come up and smacked them in the face. Don't be that person that gets smacked. Only you, and you alone, are responsible for your safety and the safety of your family.
 
Retired 7 years. Turning 63 this year. Fighting the ravages of aging (and glad to remain a cancer survivor, coming up on 6 years cancer-free). With a life time interest in martial arts, I'm trying to keep everything from rusting away into obsolescence. Aging isn't for sissies, right?

Can't offer a definitive answer for someone else regarding when to lawfully CCW.

As a retired cop and firearms trainer, I'm familiar with most of the usual arguments.

I'm armed most of the time I'm away from the property. Unless one of the grand daughters are visiting (usually every weekend), I have a gun outside the safe or a lockbox.

Sure, there are times I leave the house and I'm unarmed. I have my reasons. I enjoy playing in the surf with a local grand daughter, for example (although I bought a Spyderco Salt lockblade for that purpose).

I take 1-2 LEOSA weapons when on roadtrips out-of-state. However, since one of my favorite indulgences is finding and enjoying pubs and craft breweries, my LEOSA weapons stay secured wherever we're staying while I'm out enjoying my favorite pastimes. I'm not going to hide myself away and not enjoy activities just because it's inappropriate for me to be armed.

Do I carry the same larger belt guns I used to carry in my plainclothes assignment of the last 12+ years before I retired? Not as often. Then again, in the years leading up to my retirement I'd reverted to carrying one of my 5-shot snubs off-duty much of the time. I still get out one my belt guns for those times when my activities are going to take me places where I think it prudent to have something larger than a pocket revolver or pistol, but much of the time I'm pocketing (holstered) one of my snubs or LCP's.

There are even times when I may slip one of NAA's (.22LR & a .22MAG) into a pocket holster, as either a supplemental retirement weapon ... or even as a primary "Onion Field" type weapon for those times when I don't necessarily feel like being armed in my normal manner.

Spare me the "comforting versus comfortable" lectures, as I have a passing familiarity with the reasoning involved.

I lead a more sedate lifestyle in my retirement than when I was actively working and carrying a daily caseload which took me to all manner of places where there was an increased potential for danger. I can pick and choose where and when I engage in my activities nowadays.

No, I don't have a crystal ball that can predict danger, or the lack thereof. No guarantees in life. I do, however, have some experience in making prudent risk assessments and acting accordingly.

I don't get involved in telling other guys and gals in either active LE or retirement mode when they ought to choose to be lawfully armed on their own time. Nor do I pretend to be able to make the choice for private citizens. If someone needs it and doesn't have it? Well, TANSTAAFL. There are also going to be those times when being armed may not be appropriate, or might cause issues (preventing you from entering "restricted" locations, etc).

I do it for myself, for the reasons I feel appropriate, when I feel it appropriate. Suit yourself, using whatever reasoning you feel is appropriate for your circumstances.

Whatever it is you decide to carry, though, I do recommend taking steps to remain sufficiently skilled with it (or them), and keep the ravages of age at bay, to the degree possible. ;)

Take care. ;) Live long.
 
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fastbot nailed it, Retired means you get to pick and choose what, where and when you are doing what you do.....
 
Now that I've retired I can carry daily, couldn't do that at the office.

Still no event requires using a weapon, thankful for that.

Actually, there is a subset of the population that does care if you are retired. Once you turn 60 years old, your probability of victimization rises something like an order of magnitude, even before adding in personal behavior factors, something to seriously consider.
 
I am not sure I understand what the OP is asking. I carry daily, and have for probably 50 years. Been retired for 10. Why would I change?
 
Probably the OP realizes he can now carry without the restrictions from the work place. It's a reasonable question, which I have heard many times from recent retired folks. Then tend to believe they need a 2 finger subcompact gun, which I don't advise for a newbie. First thing is to get training.
 
I am now 70. I have been retired for 9 years. I have carried (100%), outside the home for about 25 years. My current carry pistols are a Sig P-230 SS, .380and a Sig P-938, SS, 9MM. I carry both concealed. I do not carry at home - I'll let the two 130# dogs chew on them a bit before a retrieve one of the many home weapons.
 
My ex-father in law has been retired for many years. He's always been a big strong fella who wasn't afraid of much, if he was afraid of anything at all. He had also never held much interest in firearms for the most part, not opposed to them, just not a personal interest for himself.

Several years ago he approached me as he was getting into his late 60s, and asked for some education and assistance in selecting a hand gun for home defense, and for transporting to and from the lake house. We did that together. He has since taken a CCW course but has not to date actually applied for the permit, but is till contemplating doing so.

Well into his 70s now, and having some considerable issues with his health, he's growing more aware of his inability to do the things he could before and his vulnerability because of it.
I will add that there were specific issues with another of his son in laws who was very volatile that one of his daughters was in the process of divorcing, as well as a boy friend of another daughter, (my ex-wife) who was much the same and at odds with him at the time he first approached me for help and advice. Those specific threats have passed, but his feeling of vulnerability has not.

I completely understand what has driven him to desire a handgun for the defense of himself and my ex-mother in law. I also believe that he will go ahead and get his CCW and carry daily or at least close to it, probably sooner than later.
 
brit said:
So now, the question arises, should I carry every day, and what do I carry?

Quite a question, yes
Click to expand...

You believe that question is somehow different for retirees than non-retirees?
 
I will also add that my practice of carrying on my person every day came about when I questioned the rationale behind having a loaded weapon in my personal vehicle and my company vehicle. I decided that was not a safe practice, and I was not actually going to be able to protect myself or anyone else in all likelihood, by doing so. I decided that I was in fact committed to carrying concealed for the purpose of protecting myself and my family, and the only way to do that effectively was to carry daily on my person, which is also the only reasonably safe way to do it in my opinion.
That will not change in another 10 to 15 years when I decide to retire.
 
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