Why do you carry?

Pax, my hat is off to ya. Those were simply the most insightful and best explained reasons for CCw that I have ever read.
Researcher: Understand, it is not only guns that are used in violent crime. Many objects can be and are used as weapons. Brute strength would easily be listed among those weapons as would strength in numbers. Simply being able to overpower ones victim can result in severe injury or death. So, to say we fear only being held up by a gun is not a valid conclusion.
 
I left the US military over 20 years ago. I am no longer required to put myself in danger unless I want to. I don't want to. I try to avoid trouble.

But in case trouble finds me, I carry a handgun. I carry it for the same reason I carry a credit card, cellular phone and a pocket knife. I may need it.
 
A lot of excellent reflection.

Facts (and opinions, for that matter) from PAX are almost always well elucidated. Thank you.

M:

I would venture to guess that, for most of us who carry, the symbolic value of our gun is immaterial and usually far from our consciousness. For most of us, it is of little more symbolic value than the fire extinguisher in our truck.

The why is pretty consistent; preparation for the unknown.

Will
 
It is interesting though that I was never ever worried to be attacked by gunpoint in Germany whereas I am in the U.S. Nor do I know anyone in Germany who ever mentioned that they are.
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I do not lay awake at night and worry about being attacked at gunpoint or otherwise. I choose to live in a low-risk area and purposely avoid dangerous areas and behavior so that I don't have to worry about such things. However, it has been my experience in my relatively short life (I'm 25) that sometimes good people find themselves in bad situations despite their best efforts to avoid them.

Also, while I live a low-risk lifestyle, circumstances dictate that, should I find myself facing a violent attacker, the nature of such attack is very likely to require a weapon for me to come out alive. You see, I am a fairly large man (6'4" and 300+lbs) and, as such, I'm not really the "target of choice" for someone looking to do harm to someone else. However, if someone is willing to attack me in spite of how physically imposing my appearance may be, that person is likely an extremely large individual, has an altered state of mind (be it through natural or chemical means), part of a group, and/or has a weapon. This bears out in my own life experiences because, the few times I've been confronted aggressively, the individual doing so has always been equal or larger in size than I am. Basically, I don't think that I'm likely to need a firearm, but if I do need it I'll probably need it very, very badly.

Does anyone have an explanation/interpretation for why the perceived threat of being attacked with a firearm in the U.S. seems to be so big?
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I don't know how the German media responds to such events, but the American media has a tendency to sensationalize news, particularly bad news, in order to make it more dramatic. This was summed up nicely for me by my Television Production Teacher in high school (though he didn't like the concept himself) when he told the class of a rhyme used within the industry: "If it bleeds, it leads."
 
I got involved with firearms more than 20 years ago when someone was murdered in the house behind mine when I still lived in California ... we moved to Texas when I retired and I obtained a Texas CHL, allowing me to avail myself of the 2A right to use a firearm for self-defense ... I carry because my life, the life of my wife and the lives of my fellow innocent citizens are all important and having the proper tool to protect myself and others is the key to survival ... I live in a quiet small town, so the likelihood of my having to draw my gun in anger is probably slim. Is the old adage "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst" true? You bet.

This country was wild at one time in the fairly recent past, and guns were the key to safety -- and dinner, in many cases -- in vast areas of the country. Many of us grew up with firearms, learned to use them from our fathers (or mothers) and learned to love the control they helped bring over our lives. The Wild West is pretty much gone, but the love of guns and freedom continue ...

There is one other big reason why I carry ... because I can. Exercising rights is the best way I know to keep them intact.
 
Who do I carry? Because it keeps me out of unsafe places like bars, post offices, schools, and courthouses. :D

Its just a tool that I may need someday, sort of like the pocket knife and flashlight I carry.
 
I carry because I'm allowed to carry, unlike the citizens of Europe. I'm amazed when someone from Germany asks a question like this. I recall reading something about a madman named Adolf Hitler, who during the 1930's in Germany first had it's citizens register their guns, then some time later sent government officials(gestapo, SS, brown shirts, etc.) knocking on the doors of gun owners and confiscated all of them. Of course, he did let those in power with him keep their guns, as well as arming others to enforce his laws. It's funny, but I can't understand why millions of people died after that. I think Stalin had the same idea in Russia.

I know people from Germany, who vacation there every year and they tell me everything isn't buttercups and daisies there either. Germany has it's share of crime as well and fascists(nazi skinheads) are gaining a little popularity also. When adding all those wonderful middle eastern vacationers to the mix things are jumping there too. Guess they'll just have to let their government protect them from those other than the government itself. Wouldn't the thought of that happening here make everyone feel safe and secure!
 
Dear gunsmoke and pax and others...

I am sorry if I upset anyone. It was not my intention.
In general I really am just trying to understand the rationale behind carrying in guns and therefore wanted to have as many points of view as possible. But also I definitely have a certain background that shapes my point of view. This is why I am asking you guys, because you are experts on carrying guns in the United States ;)

Towards Pax: I do agree it does not really matter whether you are attacked by gunpoint or with another weapons or just pure body strength. You are totally right with that.

Towards gunsmoke: You definitely make a good point with arguing that registering weapons makes it easier for them to be taken away by the government.
Towards Germany, I am aware of it not all being flowers and daisies there I just wanted to explain why I am interested in studying bearing firearms in the U.S.: Because laws towards guns as well as the culture towards bearing arms in Germany is different than in the U.S.. This is why I have a need for carrying firearms in the U.S. to be explained to me.

Pax' points lead me to another question: When do you carry? Always? On certain days? Certain places?

Cheers,

Madeleine
 
Hi Madeleine,

Not upset at you at all! It's hard to have conversations online, where none of us can hear tone of voice or see body language, but I was just trying to be very clear about what I meant. Sorry if that read as upset.

I carry every day, everywhere it's legal. Why? Because I can't see the future, but I know that crime victims never expect crime to happen to them. I don't expect it to happen to me either, but I want to be prepared to minimize the damage to myself and people I love just in case it does.

For me, wearing the gun is like wearing a seat belt. I don't expect to get into a car accident, and I drive carefully in order to avoid accidents, but I also wear my seat belt every time I get into a car, just in case an accident does happen. I don't expect a violent crime to happen to me, but I carry my firearm for the same reason I wear a seat belt in the car.

pax
Kathy
 
I have to carry at work since I am in law enforcement.

When I am off duty, I do find myself carrying more and more...In the past I tended to keep a firearm in the car because I am usually out and about in the country, so with that comes critters that can cause a problem, snakes, coyotes, rabid animals, etc.

The reason why I am carrying more now is, I have had people I have dealt with during my work in law enforcement mention their "dislike" for me. Never had any problems really, other then having three of those people come up to me and ask if I remembered them, when I was off-duty.
 
When do you carry? Always? On certain days? Certain places?
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I carry wherever and whenever I can. I cannot carry at work due to the policies of my employer (though I do keep a handgun in my car which, per state law, my employer cannot prohibit) and I'm also a college student and cannot carry when at school (both classes and clinicals). Unless I'm going to work or school, I carry anytime I leave my home because, if I knew ahead of time when I would need a handgun, I would simply make sure I was somewhere else.
 
One thing some people hint upon is family. I often hear because I was or I will not be a victim. Granted I do not wish to be harmed in any way. But one reason I carry is because of my wife and child. And me being able to carry allows me a better chance of protecting them. We often think different when it is someone else or the family of someone else. I am going to use something from the Movie "A Time to Kill " I will only change the last word from the lawyers closing argument .
I want to tell you a story. I'm going to ask you all to close your eyes while I tell you the story. I want you to listen to me. I want you to listen to yourselves. Go ahead. Close your eyes, please. This is a story about a little girl walking home from the grocery store one sunny afternoon. I want you to picture this little girl. Suddenly a truck races up. Two men jump out and grab her. They drag her into a nearby field and they tie her up and they rip her clothes from her body. Now they climb on. First one, then the other, raping her, shattering everything innocent and pure with a vicious thrust in a fog of drunken breath and sweat. And when they're done, after they've killed her tiny womb, murdered any chance for her to have children, to have life beyond her own, they decide to use her for target practice. They start throwing full beer cans at her. They throw them so hard that it tears the flesh all the way to her bones. Then they urinate on her. Now comes the hanging. They have a rope. They tie a noose. Imagine the noose going tight around her neck and with a sudden blinding jerk she's pulled into the air and her feet and legs go kicking. They don't find the ground. The hanging branch isn't strong enough. It snaps and she falls back to the earth. So they pick her up, throw her in the back of the truck and drive out to Foggy Creek Bridge. Pitch her over the edge. And she drops some thirty feet down to the creek bottom below. Can you see her? Her raped, beaten, broken body soaked in their urine, soaked in their semen, soaked in her blood, left to die. Can you see her? I want you to picture that little girl. Now imagine she's your daughter.
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I never carried until a few years ago. I could always take care of myself mano a mano against 3 if I had to. Than I dislocated my shoulder and am a little older now. Carrying my 1911 allows me to still roam free where I please knowing that I am able to protect myself but most importantly...my wife. I also do it without breaking a sweat. Mano a Mano combat is outdated...you gotta change with the times or go the way of the dinosaur.
 
...grumpybutts comment leads me to another question...

So... Grumpybutt talked about Bad guys. I know it might sound weird, but can you explain to me what you mean with bad guys?

( I just know, that if I think of bad guys I have a kind of specific idea of people I am scared of or suspicious of and I know my perception of bad guys mainly comes out of horror movies and TV in general. I am just interested what you guys (everyone individually) are thinking of, when thinking of bad guys)

Cheers,
(almost) happy weekend!

M
 
In my opinion {IMO} it's not wise to develope a preconceived notion of what a "bad guy" is. I knew two guys I considered to be just as normal as you and me.
One is doing life in jail for murder, the other is dead. He murdered his wife, then took his own life.
Bad guys come from all walks of life.

Like someone else posted, I carry a gun for the same reason I carry a cell phone, money or credit card, I might need it. Odds are, that day will never come.

Simple as that....
 
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