Concealed Carry

[Omni Cubed Larry]

This is my opinion.
You can compare it to martial arts, the better you get at the art the more you understand how to avoid confrontation and actually use it. If you are a "wanna be" or a "new era black belt" or just being a good shot on the range then its a false sense of security and probably going to get you or someone unintentionally hurt.
Necessity is based upon accessing what reasonably insures survival in a situation or place you choose to put yourself in. Being aware of your surroundings is more vital than weapons in a survival situation. Again I fault no one for having a full toolbox.

Totally agree here!
Carrying a gun is a great responsibility and actually has heightened my situational awareness and the way I train. I pray that I am never in a situation where the "last resort" becomes a reality, but I will be prepared if that trial comes my way, because I have a responsibility to my family to be here and to protect them.

Some people use the term wild west, where they see in movies a gun used to settle the littlest of disputes. Thugs are that way. I would say most, if not all, CCW holders are the furthest from that. It is insulting to think I would carry a gun like that. I have no desire to injure someone or take a life or spend tens of thousands of dollars and years in the court system. NEVER.

[Omni Cubed Larry]

Shooting is a skill you can improve over time with practice.
Situational awareness is a skill you can improve over time with practice.

Once you take firearm ownership a step further and decide to carry, it is an important responsibility to incorporate both of the above skills.

The idea is that if you have good situational awareness, you may be able to avoid and emergency situation. BUT, if that is not possible... you will be proficient enough with your training and not panic, and you may save a life.


Here are just a few thoughts about emergency first-responders...

Wouldn't it be good to be proficient at CPR and other first aid skills, if there is an emergency, your first-responder reactions may save a life. Yet you may not be an EMT or a doctor.

Wouldn't it be good to be familiar with locations of fire extinguishers and fire suppression techniques, so if there is an emergency, your quick first-responder reactions may save a life. Yet, you may not be a firefighter.

And what if there is an emergency where you or someone close to you needs the police at a moments notice, but they are not there. Wouldn't it be good if a trained responsible citizen who carries their firearm were there and willing to be a first-responder in that situation. This happens every day around the country and lives are saved, but is not reported enough.

Each of these emergency first-responders have their own skill sets and tools specific for the task. And just because the last one involves a gun doesn't mean that only the trained paid government worker can do it.


Emergency first-responder is not just the work of the government, anyone can train in these skill sets. We may all at sometime in our life need to be an emergency first-responder to some situation. Will you have the skills and/or tools to fit that situation or will you stand there waiting for 911 to send someone to help.

[Ken Lago]

Learning cpr and first aid is good and may help save a life if done correctly.
Knowing how to use a fire extinqui... is great too and may save a life if done correctly.
Having a gun could also be handy and may save a life if used correctly.
Still none of these are substitutes for professional emt, fire department or police and most professionals will recommend regular folks to leave it to them because the result of doing any of this incorrectly can kill rather than save.
Like people who want to make their own countertops at home but needs advice on how, we tell them to leave it to the professionals, right?

[Omni Cubed Larry]

Yes, I agree with your statements "if done correctly".

People who dedicate their lives to this first-responder service will (in most cases) be the most skilled or best option. But when moments count, you may not have that option. Moments don't count with countertop fabrication... eventhough some customers may think that way. Always leave that to the professionals. We are talking emergency first-responders, not countertops.

You say none of these are substitutes for professionals. And if I ever have a heart attack, I hope a professional will be standing next to me at that time, but if not, I will be extremely grateful for a trained and prepared amateur until 15 minutes later when the professionals finally arrive.

I do not advocate someone trying CPR who has no clue, but if they have proper training and there are no EMT's around, then why wait for the EMT when minutes could mean life or death. I can't imagine any professional saying to the public to "leave it to them" in these instances. If that is the case, then why should I renew my CPR and First Aid certification. Should I "leave it to the professionals" when it comes to my family? Or is it wise to be prepared for an emergency, yet praying it never happens.

I strongly believe that in the case of myself and my family, a skilled and prepared CCW permit holder is no different that a skilled and prepared CPR card holder in their respective emergency first-responder rolls. Professionals are not everywhere all the time at the moment you need them.

[Dan R.]

Help, in any , fashion has to be present. In most emergencies, first responders are not immediately available, they need to travel to the site. Some emergencies with gun fire can delay EMTs from helping until the area is secured.

The mor stools have to be prepared the better, CPR training is key, so can CCW, along with other valuable training.

[Ken Lago]

I'm no different from anyone else and if my ass is on fire while being held up at gun point leading to me getting a heart attack I would welcome the sight of Larry and Dan coming around the corner

[Omni Cubed Larry]

This is why I love the SFA!!

[ash20ash]

Larry, Your thought are why I carry. It's not really so much for myself as it is for those around me. Family, friends, and so on.
I started CC after the shooting in the movie theater a few years back. Figure if you cant safely go to the movies anymore, it's time to CC.

Way too many crazies in this world anymore to always be aware of it all, all the time.
About 3 years ago we had a guy walk into our shop through the back door and walk right up behind my office girl. Had a weird look in his eye and could tell something was weird with him. She got up and walked him into the shop to give her some space and all. he then just kept walking and went right out the front door.
Next week the same guy was arrested for robbing the drug store 3 times at gun point right next to our shop. Got to be ready people. They are out there. Seconds count huge sometimes. I would feel like I hadnt done my duty if I couldn't have stopped or at least slowed down a situation with my skills and weapon. Not enough police out there to cover everything. It could all be over for a family member before I could even dial 911

And funny that you brought up the first responders thing too. I became a volunteer firefighter about 3 years ago. And as little training as I have, it is amazing how much I can do to help and speed up the process just by being closer to the scene than the actual "paid" people when the stuff happens.

Every little second counts

[Miles]

I'm like Ken and Alex, I don't own a gun and don't see the need for one. I know there may come a time when I wish I had one.

But my wife's nephew is living with us for a while. He is a new police recruit for a large department here in Metro Atlanta. He owns more guns than dirty Harry. He's got them all over his body, his vehicles, under his bed. I open the door to his room to ask him a question and he has one laying on his pillow.

I don't have a problem with him having them. But to me it seems like it would be a burden to have to deal with all the time. Like Ken, I'm a middle aged man that has never once needed a gun. So to have to carry around the responsibility 24/7 just so you have one for that minute possibility that you're going to need it just seems like a ball and chain to me.

But then again, I'm a peace, love, and daffodils liberal.

[Omni Cubed Larry]

I'm like Ken and Alex, I don't own a gun and don't see the need for one. I know there may come a time when I wish I had one.

But my wife's nephew is living with us for a while. He is a new police recruit for a large department here in Metro Atlanta. He owns more guns than dirty Harry. He's got them all over his body, his vehicles, under his bed. I open the door to his room to ask him a question and he has one laying on his pillow.

I don't have a problem with him having them. But to me it seems like it would be a burden to have to deal with all the time. Like Ken, I'm a middle aged man that has never once needed a gun. So to have to carry around the responsibility 24/7 just so you have one for that minute possibility that you're going to need it just seems like a ball and chain to me.

But then again, I'm a peace, love, and daffodils liberal.

Maybe your Nephew has gone a little overboard... or maybe he knows something about thugs that you don't. I don't know him so I won't judge.

I have a friend who is a Sacramento Sheriff's Deputy who works in the jail. He used to be anti CCW, but tells me he has a very different perspective now. He says many of the men in the jail are very bad people who don't respect life, AND he realizes they are catching them everyday.......... which means they are not all in jail.

Miles, start with this... consider having a small digital locked safe with a pistol in your nightstand. Then you don't have the 24/7 CCW responsibility, but at least you could possibly defend your family at home, where they should feel the safest. OR, just keep your nephew around.

P.S. The pistol doesn't seem like a ball and chain to me at all. I thought the same thing before.

Or, at least considered getting your CPR certification each year, if you don't already.

[Dan R.]

It is natural as putting on a wristwatch.

Ball & chain is a cell phone!!!!!!

[Omni Cubed Larry]

Also, you may not realize what the violent crime rate is around you. Ignorance may be bliss, as long as nothing happens.

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ga/atlanta/crime/

http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-At ... orgia.html

Earlier in 2013, Obama ordered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assess the existing research on gun violence, here is just one non-surprising thing they found...

Guns are used for self-defense often and effectively. “Almost all national survey estimates indicate that defensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals, with estimates of annual uses ranging from about 500,000 to more than 3 million per year. Furthermore, “Studies that directly assessed the effect of actual defensive uses of guns (i.e., incidents in which a gun was 'used' by the crime victim in the sense of attacking or threatening an offender) have found consistently lower injury rates among gun-using crime victims compared with victims who used other self-protective strategies.”

[Omni Cubed Larry]

....Ball & chain is a cell phone!!!!!!

yup

[Ken Lago]

Wouldn't a knife be more effective at close range than a gun? it seems to me it would be harder to miss a target and faster.

[Dan R.]

The general rule is that a drawn knife has the advantage over an undrawn handgun inside a distance of 21 feet.

I always carry a knife. Most people serious about self defense carry at least one fighting knife in addition to their gun(s).

Again, a knife is no different from a gun in many respects. They both require training and practice to use effectively, when needed. If practice is not a reality, then do not bother carrying either with thoughts of defending yourself, imo.

[Ken Lago]

I just had a vision of you in the Mad Max scene where he take all his weapons out

[Dan R.]

Glad to hear you are thinking of me......
Conceal carry is just one tool in being prepared. The real topic about safety is being prepared. Awareness is your best weapon.

Situational awareness is easy to practice, just start noticing things, exits, people, what looks like normal activity and what looks unnatural. If you pay attention, you will see more than you would have imagined!

[deepwater]

I have 31 guns, my 11 year old has 3 and my 9 year old has 2. It is a fun sport and I never really carry. I do take a pistol on trips

[Omni Cubed Larry]

I have 31 guns.......

I like it...
Just like the ice cream... "a flavor for every day of the month".

[Dan R.]

Some days, I like 2 scoops!!
Sometimes, even more, 5 or 6!!

[mark s]

" I have no desire to injure someone or take a life or spend tens of thousands of dollars and years in the court system. "

Important comment by Larry. At recent CC training the trainer noted that if you ever did use your weapon, even in a non-lethal manner, you could expect thousands of dollars of lawyer fees and many many hours of your time PLUS the risk that you will be found at fault. Not a decision to be taken lightly.

(Doesn't really make sense to me; if you were there and managed to drop the nutbag in the movie theatre shortly after he started shooting seems like you'd be a hero but apparently the lawyers are still going to get their due even in a case like that.)

[Dan R.]

I do not think any "normal" person has the desire to hurt or kill another person. Self preservation, is a different story, imo.

I hear people all the time declare that they could effectively use a weapon, if the situation warranted such action. I highly doubt everyone of them. I would not want to put my life in their hands 99.99% of the them. No one knows how they will react in a ultra high stress situation, until they are in one. We have had people crumble in training because of the the distractions....

IMO, it is more about preparedness and the thought (by the criminal) that the victim could effectively fight back. Criminals are lazy and frightened, that is why the target victims with a high probability of success quotient. Keep yourself out of this category (no situational awareness) and you will be safer for the effort. No gun required.

[Kowboy]

I'd rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6.