When did you start carrying and why?

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sks

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As we deal with lots of CCW issues here regarding the gun of choice, caliber, carry method etc. I was curious as to how many of us here at TFL actually carry, when did we start and was there any singular reason that caused us to carry.

Also, if anyone has any special "nuggets of wisdom" on carry for the rest of us, plesae share them.

Here is my info. Began carrying about 9-10 years ago. Yes, I know that it wasn't legal in my state then but well you know how it is. Most LEO in my area just say "be cool about it and if asked be truthful".

I travel a considerable amount, 50,000 to 60,000 a year driving which doesn't include the flying miles and just wanted that little something with me wherever I went. There was not an event for me that convinced me to carry.

As soon as it was legal I got my CCW and been happy ever since. My only nugget is that I'm still searching for the perfect weapon and the search is FUN!

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The best weapon for self defense is the one you have when the need arises!
 
1986. I started because my family owned a rare book and antique shop in York, Pennsylvania, and the area occasionally got some crime.

I stopped carrying from 1990 to 1995 because I moved to Washington, DC, and then Northern Virginia.

When Virginia became shall issue, I got my permit, and have been carrying ever since.

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Beware the man with the S&W .357 Mag.
Chances are he knows how to use it.
 
sks,

Good topic. I began carrying in 1991 when I turned 21. My first pistol was a Glock 19, and I carried it in Bianchi IWB thumb break holster. The REASON I started carrying is simply that I could. I knew a little of the law regarding CCW, but the full magnitude of what I was doing really didn't hit me until I began my last 2 years of college. I thanked God that nothing serious happened(though I did pull my pistol once and believe detered a crime from happening to me). Now, I am much more conscious of what I am doing, where I carry, how I carry, and I really listen to the gut feelings I have.

I don't know this to be a nugget of information, but I found that my IWB clip Bianchi holster would fit nicely onto the lap belt of my seat belt. I could twist it just enough that it essentially worked as a cross draw holster when i drove, and when I got to where I was going, I would just put it back on.

Mike

[This message has been edited by BigMike (edited September 23, 2000).]
 
Living in CA it is nearly impossible to get a CCW. However, I will be able to carry in Dec. since I will be in law enforcement (basically the only legal reason you can carry in CA). If I lived somewhere else like AZ I would have started to carry at the age when I could buy a pistol (21 y/o) for the simple reason that it was my right! Self defense should be enough in any state!
 
When I moved to Mississippi, I became aware of the need to carry a handgun. I never got a license for 3 reasons: I had to wait 6 months before I could apply, I could carry a handgun in my car "legally," and it was too expensive for the short amount of time I was going to live there.
I have a license now that I live in Tennessee, but don't feel much of a need for one here. I carry as much for the sake of others as myself. If hords of people carried, think of how nervous the criminals would be.

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"Unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain that build it:
except the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain." (Psalm 127:1)


"Freedom is given to the human conditionally, in the assumption of his constant religious responsibility."
(Alexander Solzhenitzyn)
 
I've been carrying for four years now. I probably would have started carrying anyway, but an event occurred about six years ago that got me sort of riled. I was with some family in San Antonio taking a bus to a Parade in downtown. A street person got on the bus and began to harass another family near me. He never actually threatened anybody, although he did make several referneces to a gun he said he carried, but never produced. I felt like the guy was almost certainly on drugs and I have no idea whether or not he had a gun, but I flet pretty defenseless (along with every other person on the bus, who were all very unnerved at his antics) just sitting there hoping he wouldn't do anything crazy. That episode sort of stuck in my mind and later when Texas passed a shall issue law, I made a point of getting licensed.

I don't think I have any pearls of wisdom that I can pass along, other than always remaining aware of your situation and surroundings is infinitely more important than what you carry, or for that matter, if you carry.
 
Been carrying since 1993. The main reason is because I can, and because I want too.

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"Out here, due process is a bullet"
 
Last year when I moved to New Mexico.....because I can. :)
 
I started back in the early 1980's. About 1982 or '83 I think. Back then it wasn't daily, but over time a firearm became more like a watch or my shoes, something to ALWAYS have with me. Why? The world is not always a nice place and when it isn't the police aren't always there to help.
 
I started carrying a handgun when I was about twenty years old, so that would make it about thirty years now. I got my education in life in (east) Oakland, California, where I was knifed when I was 16, and caught a round from a .357 in my left thigh in a mugging when I was 17. Having been on the receiving end, the legality of the situation of carrying was much less of a concern than survival of the moment - it is no fun to take a gun away from someone who has already shot you... and then defend yourself with the assailant's weapon!!!
"We are not victimized by criminals - every adult makes the conscious choice of whether to be a combatant, or a willing victim - we victimize ourselves by our refusal to defend ourselves, and those whom we hold dear!"
The first handgun I carried concealed was a 1911. After that came a 2 1/2" M19 S&W, a series of M29's & 629's, a couple of Taurus .357's, a PPK (HEAVEN FORBID a .380 mouse gun), even a Ruger Redhawk with an 8 1/2" barrel (that one was a bit of a challenge to conceal in the summer!!!). Have used every conceivable holster - after a couple years of "Mexican carry" I invested in a Galco NSA (IWB) holster, and have carried 3 different .45 1911's in it during the last eight years. I have drawers full of holsters that I use on an occaisional basis, but 99.9% of the time, that Galco holds a ParaOrdnance P-14, two 14 round magazines on the weakside hip, and they are loaded with 185grn Corbon +P. If you saw the Clint Eastwood western "The Unforgiven" - "I don't want to die for a lack of shoot'n' back!" Seriously, I don't ever want to be near a moment when all that ammo is needed, but better to have and never need, than to need and not have. Besides, the 2 spare magazines balance the weight of the P-14, and it just DISAPPEARS. I only notice it when it isn't there.
Whatever weapon you choose, however you choose to carry it, the saying "my mind is the weapon, my pistol & rifle are only the tools" is the mantra to live by. Most people walk aroung in condition "white" (thanks, Jeff Cooper); if survival is of interest, you should always be somewhere between conditions yellow and orange. Better to search the area around you for the landmines than to have your head stuck in the clouds & step into a cowpie.
By the way, I live in Oregon, and have CCW's for both Oregon & Washington. I am "legal" now, although I hold that Vermont (?) is the only state with a constitutionally correct law!!!

[This message has been edited by thanatos (edited September 23, 2000).]
 
Don't have my CCW yet, hopefully next month. For now I carry in my vehicle (legal in MS). Especially if Im going to a gas station or ATM. I live near Memphis TN, currently the rape capital of the world on a per capita basis, nice to be known for something. Car jackings occur at an alarming rate, several lately with an infant still in the car. Bank roberies are big in Memphis as well. The way I see it, my family is far too important to me to take chances on some POS wanting my truck/money/family without getting the fight of his life out of it. As the leader of my household it is my duty to defend them. RTKBA. Doesn't get much simpler than that.
 
I was issued a license in India in February 1996, I carry anywhere I go except the airport and the Secretariat(State Capitol).

Was issued a Non Resident Florida CCW in February this year. Have'nt had the chance to use it yet.

The reason I carry is that, my Family has a few enemies, and I was warned at the age of 14 by my grandad about them. Been careful ever since.
Regards,
Anand
 
I've been carrying for almost a year now. I usually carry my Glock 21, but I have a Browning BDM 9mm (I don't care what people say about it, I love the thing) that I carry when I can't effectively conceal the Glock.
I actually never thought much about carrying when I lived in NY (grew up there) and Ohio (6 months), but I took an interest in my being able to effectively defend myself when I moved to a big city for the first time, Seattle, almost two years ago.
It's not extremely hard in NY state to get a CCW permit, but I never had the money to do it, and it seemed not as important to me then. I also wasn't real hip on the carry laws (every handgun you own has to be listed on the license). I've since changed my mind about that. In WA state it's as easy as getting a driver's license, as well it should be.
I feel, as I'm sure most of you here feel as well, that I should use every possible avenue available to me to protect myself and those around me from harm. Not only has carrying made me feel safer, I've noticed that I've become more polite to people (avoiding possible conflicts), and I am now very aware of my surroundings at all times. Some friends call me paranoid, I call myself alert and ready to react/respond to a threat. You never know when something could happen.

I'm new here by the way, have lurked for a few months, but decided to jump on in. Great place you got here.

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Honi soit qui mal y pense.
 
The best friend I ever had, the guy I lived with for three years when we were in school was murdered, in front of his new wife on their first vacation trip to Florida. It did something to me. I've carried every day since.

Will
 
I started carrying my Ruger Security 6 in my car at age of 21 which was legal in my state because my family had a business where we carried a lot of cash to bank everyday. In 1987 (I think) it was possible to get CCW from state so I immediately got one and started to carry a Colt 1911 since it was easier to conceal than the Ruger. I/we had several robery attempts in prior years so I felt it was necessary to carry. To date, I had to draw for real 4 times and in 2 of those cases I came very close to shooting the BG and in both cases it would have been justified. On one occasion, during "civil unrest", all male members of my family and several friends (there were 14 of us) had to guard our business with weapons to prevent it from looting/burning. Several businesses on our block were destroyed but nobody came near our building. I think all those guys with AR-15's, Mini-14, MAC-90's and shotguns on the roof, inside and on the front had something to do with it.
 
Around 1981 in New Orleans.
Working as a tv reporter..all kinds of hours,
all kinds of places. Virtually everyone I
worked with had been mugged/assaulted at
least once. One was kidnapped from the news
room parking lot in the French Quarter.
Another was nearly killed by a club wielding
wacko as she returned to write a theater
review. Some baaad folks in Big Easy,
Left there in the late eighties. Hear it
hasn't gotten a whole lot better. Heard that
about a year after I moved, my former
co-anchors' son was murdered; just another
victim of just another mugging.
Massad Ayood writes about "feral" humans who
walk among us. I've seen them.
 
During the very early '70s in Philadelphia I began carrying a pre-WWII Colt Government 1911A1.

I had just returned from overseas, the only non-BOQ housing I could afford was in a reasonably nice neighborhood (but one with lots of crime), the anti-war movement was at a highpoint with lots of bull irrationally offered to junior officers (in and out of uniform), and I was working very long hours (often driving home at 0230).

My Dad had several handguns due to his FBI career -- and I had always liked the 1911A1, which was also the model I had carried in Asia -- and he gave me the .45 ACP. I never had any need to even draw the pistol during those 2+ years in Philly, but I couldn't count the number of times I was very glad to have it within easy reach.

By the way, that 1911 is still one of my .45s, it still operates very well, and I still shoot it.
 
Got my CHL in July of this year. My older brother, who was big time on preserving our second amendment rights, passed away a year ago in June (after a very brief battle with leukemia) - we had spoken about getting our CHL’s -so I took up the cause not only as a tribute to my brother, but as I read and learned more I knew it was the right thing to do - our second amendment rights will go away if we all don‘t do our share and I have an 8 year old I want to grow up with all the rights I/we grew up with. Carrying just seems a natural part of being pro-gun. I’ve, for years, been totally aware of my surroundings and have never found myself in a place where I would have needed a weapon. I am still every bit as aware, but do have a baby Glock at hand if I do find myself in a situation where deadly force is warranted.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by sks:
As we deal with lots of CCW issues here regarding the gun of choice, caliber, carry method etc. I was curious as to how many of us here at TFL actually carry, when did we start and was there any singular reason that caused us to carry.

[/quote]

I started carrying in 1991. I was doing a lot of traveling to vendors in areas that weren't so nice. Philadelphia, for one...
Since I'd only lived in PA for a couple years (at that time), I didn't realize a civie could get a CCW permit. I'd moved from the USSR (oops, Maryland).
Now, all the time...

I wish I could say there is a perfect CCW. It's a choice of four, depending on how I dress:
Glock 19 9mm
Beretta Tomcat .32ACP
Taurus 85UL .38spl
Kahr MK9 9mm

The Taurus probably gets the most use due to it's light weight and general handiness. When traveling distances, the Glock gets the nod.

[This message has been edited by Ezeckial (edited September 24, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Ezeckial (edited September 24, 2000).]
 
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