"I feel nothing but pity or contempt for those who are not."
Would you say that you "Pitty the Fool" that is not armed?
nice one.
I agree with the politeness thing. I have a friend who doesnt see it that way. He carries into peoples homes against their express wishes. So far this has accomplished nothing but to further convince the pussies that carrying is irresponsible.
"expecting trouble" I think it was Mrs. du Toit that pointed out one day that thats like saying "You must want a flat tire, why else would you have a spare?"
So you advocate reliquishing your personal safety to whomever you are in the preence of? I will not disarm based upon anothers desires....ever.
I am a freeman and will act/carry accordingly!
By doing so, once you enter another mans private property, you are violating his rights.
Good essay. I passed the link along to the instructors who taught my CHL class here in Ohio. It very succinctly and accurately states why I felt compelled to get my CHL and then arm myself.
Greg, excellent. I just hope more and more people wake up enough to understand why what I said is true.
I understand your reason behind why you carry a gun and agree with how you take responsibility for your actions and wish more people would see it that way. I also do not understand the way of thinking some people have, like your past girlfriend, that an individual not stand up against immoral acts. I can't remember where i heard, maybe read the saying but, "God made man, Colt made men equal".
Some good thoughts. I first got my AZ permit about 6 years back, and the instructor was retired Sheriff, and ex range officer. He said to carry ALL THE TIME. Someone asked "in a bar, it's illegal" He replied "it's concealed , right?"
Great guy...... But if friends don't want it in the house, I think you have to respect their wishes. Maybe I'm a bit of a woose, but I don't carry around Tucson. Don't want the hassle of questions in Costco or some such.
Uncle Ho in Thailand / Tucson
I can honestly say that I agree with every single word you've written. I may only be 18, and live in the UK, but you must have the best reason for wanting to own a firearm that I've ever heard.
Seeing as pistols are now illegal in this country (not that its made the crime rate involving firearms any lower, mind you) I have opted to take the route of self defence - Thai Kickboxing - and also carrying an 8 shot 4.5mm Co2 pistol around with me. May not sound like much, but at least its better than being defenceless in a dark alley at night, 3 drunk youths in front of you all bearing knives.
So, assess the situation - is the firearm needed, or could you defend yourself rightfully without it? I havent had to use it yet, thankfully, but if I do, that decision may have to be made in seconds. One things for sure though - the weapon may be the difference between life and death one day.
Excellent essay, Chris. Very well stated.
I agree, excellently put. I hope I don't ever have to use the gun I carry. But if I do, it's there. Totally agree with the Jordan bit, I always used to tell my students that the pistol was there for when they suddenly discovered they should have brought their shotgun.
So why don't you join the army if you're not those who protest and march on the street against the war?
8 YEARS IN THE AIR FORCE
Good essay. I like reading others' reasons for carrying, and comparing it to mine.
I would say I'm sorry about the girlfriend, but I'm not. It's part of who you are, and if she can't accept that, she can't accept you.
Very good comments about maturity vs. immaturity. I'll have to repost this one in my blog.
I don't and wouldn't carry a gun r any wheapon not because i'm too scared to kill or because i think it's up to the police to protect us but because a world in which everyone has a gun is a world in which the first thought in any stressfull situation would become 'he's got a gun i must kill him before he kills me. ' I don't want to live in that world.
To me a gun is nothing more than something to hide your fears behind, something to cover your weekness. To my fellow countryman with his Co2 pistol let me ask you, who are those three knife wavers going to fk with more, you and your 'i'll kill you all' stance or me and my 'hey guys what's up?' sure i might get roughed up a bit but you know what? I can take it; i'm a man. So what if I pulled a real rod? Do i plug these three dudes fulla holes or just scare 'em off a bit? What when next time they realise that it takes more than a knife to rob a man now and they all pack something nasty? What when i'm standing faceing three men with guns?
The reason i think like this is probley because i'm quite a big lad, fairly athletic and had (in my much younger days) quite a reputation for fighting. Do you know what i found? That when people argued with or fought with me that they would more often than not reach for something to hit me with or try to pull of some dirty move or other, my smaller friends however would take a few punches, give a few and usaly it would end in a tangled scrap on the ground.
What i'm getting at is that when you make the big man, I'm king of the castle kinda image and walk around like the cock'o'the hoop thats when first priority becomes dropping you. I'm not a violent man anymore (though still quite big
, when trouble comes i lower my head and try to advoid it; if it comes again then i try to talk my way out of it and if it's really persistant and knocks a third time and someone all up in my face getting ready to swing for me then yeah thats when i fight. Thats when i stand up and knock the guy down, when he isn't exspecting a big resistance. It's much easyer to win a fight that way and if ya do then you can turn round to your girlfriend (or his and be all like, he gave me no choice. man chicks dig that reluctant tough guy hero crap way more than 'LOOK AT MY BIG PENISGUN I AM UBERMAN!'
Yeah and so i meet a guy with a gun or a knife one day, why is he going to want to hurt me? why would he choose to kill lillte old me? why would he want to deal with the consequencs of such and act? maby he'll rob me, is the rubbish in my pockets worth more to me than my life? worth more than the hope of liveing in a nice world?
You say you are a man mature enough to carry a gun? i say that your a child hideing in fear, a histrionic dame carried away in a nonsense of dramatic postureing, a sheep in wolfs clothing scared of your reflection upon the lake, an anathema to your own peace of mind. Yes you are anything but a man.
I would like to also point out that your a dumb redneck and as big as your gun is if i was gonna mess with you i would poison your water supply and when your all messed up and tripping out, thats when i'ld come for ya. just to add to your small town paranoia
Jesus man, you have no fuckin clue.
I'm a member of the air training corps and I have shot rifles at local, national and international level cadet competitions.
I am familiar with the dangers and laws in the uk concerning weaponry.
to the dude with the air pistol:
you'l be deep in the shizzle if you defend yourself with a weapon like an air pistol, for a start, its not enough to drop a person (at least not fast enough for defence) and the police will eat you alive when they find out you had one in a public place and used it against someone. (It would also be extremely damaging to the Airgun sports, which are trying to repair their image)
I hope you come to see that your air pistol is a hinderance and not an advantage in a knife fight, where you'd waste time on the drawing and firing of an inadiquate weapon, when in the same amount of time you could have disarmed and punched one of your attackers in the throat.
Although we probably need it, concealed carry is very, very, VERY illigal in the uk.
And to 'Just anouther pussyfist' : you need a good kicking in the mouth. you claim to be a pacafist and then spout on about what you do in a fight and how you'd kill poeple by poisoning them. You sick freak! sort yourself out, get a dose of honor and learn some common sense.
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propper training in the use of firearms instills a sense of responsibility, inspires confidence and promotes discipline.
Lots of interesting opinions and 1 nutball ("Just anouther pussyfist"). Good for you, arcark...you put him in his place.
I am getting a CC permit so I have the license to carry, if I choose to. I own a small business with "payday" loans, have a lot of cash on hand, and yes, there have been a couple of times my Mak would have made me feel more in control of the situation.
Times have changed, used to be robberies were just that; the perps would take your $ and leave. Not any more....most of the robberies I read about end up with the shop keeper wounded or dead. We live in a small town, chances are I'll never have to draw down on anyone. But I practice at the range at least once a month to stay competent, just in case.
It's our right to keep and bear arms...like someone said "use it or lose it".
I just stumbled onto this page when I did a google search for "why do you carry a gun"
You, sir, summed up my thoughts and feelings on why I carry and my mindset when I carry. I really do wish there were more people who thought like you did.
"I carry a gun because it is my right, and because I am responsible enough to excercise it. I feel nothing but pity or contempt for those who are not."
That's me too, but no pity. IMHO, anyone who relies on others to protect them and do nothing to protect themselves are fools who deserve no pity.
Outstanding! A cop can't be your 24/7 babysitter. You alone, are responsible for your safety, You alone are responsible for your actions, and any consequences thereof. The cops job is to do the paperwork after the S.H.T.F. If more of us had the stones to accept responsibility for ourselves, maybe the politicians wouldn't have to do it for us.( Look what gun control did for the U.K.! )
Ah, the amercian way... makes everything easier, doesn't it?
You have the right to do something, so then you have to do it! I can't imagine how anyone could (or would) ever critizise that!
And that you, despite denying guns being a "macho thing", says that people against guns are pussies!
Long live the American way!
Oh! And I almost forgot!
Jesus probably loved violence! I mean, thats the feeling you get when you read the new testament. Everything he said is, in one way or another, pro violent.
So all christians! Be calm! If jesus lived now, he'd probably own an UZI.
Some pussies will tell you about the commandment that says "Thou Shall Not Kill". And they are... right.
Hi Chris,
I've just read your article for the first time. The part about people not being able to trust themselves is quite moving.I think you nailed it! I have an inward dilema. I feel very insecure and nervous about carring a gun. Maybe even a little guilty like I have to justify it some how, but at the same time believe very much in the right to. I can't fathom being a nation of disarmed people. I am a woman and if I were about to be attcked I only hope and pray I have the courage and the self value to use the gun. It seems to me that your ex-girl friend at that time was not really feeling superior but rather inferior. Not to feel the self protective right to defend herself and just allow a man to violate her to the core of her being is not a higher place. Would she shoot a man for raping a child in front of her?
wow... so there are others out there in the universe that are not willing to cede their responsibility to others simply because those that don't have the balls to take care of themselves are afraid of those who do??? Perhaps there's hope for this society afterall...
to those who say a co2 pistol will do nothing to a person; see this
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHmwJ1jajio
as for the 5th commandment, jesus wouldn't want innocent people killed, know would he?
Interesting reading. I just stumbled on this blog today. Born in Texas and my father gave me 3 rules: Don't drink downstream from the herd - Don't sign anything by neon light - and finally, If you think there's going to be trouble bring a rifle. Seems like he and Bill Jordan had the same schoolmarm.
I carry a .45 so that I can take charge of my immediate surroundings. Don't plan on shooting anyone but would have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
Here's something about Jesus - In a letter from St Paul to the Ephesians? Etruscans? Elephants? there's this line which I'm semi quoting because I'm Catholic and never had to read the Bible: "If you have a cloak and no sword, sell your cloak and get a sword."
Jesus and His adherents weren't a group of pacifists - they were revolutionaries out to change the status quo.
This post is still getting comments, so I'll join in. Very fine post, Chris. I agree with all of it.
I've also done some thinking, before and after becoming a gun owner myself. I'll add my personal take on carrying in someone's home- as a host, if you don't trust someone to be mature and responsible enough to carry in your home, then they're not mature and responsible enough to be in your home at all. So for me, if I'm willing to let you in the door then you can carry.
Couldn't agree with you more. I have had a permit for a while... though barely ever carried. Earlier this year I started carrying everywhere it's legal. For no other reason than it's my right as a trained American citizen who passed the background check, and was in fact, deemed by the state to be suitable for a concealed carry permit.
I view it as not only my right, but my responsibility. It's not convenient, it's not cool, it's not comfortable. But I do believe it's the right thing to do.
I'm in Law enforcement.
In a midsize town, standard police response time to an emergency call is between 7 and 25 minutes. Sometimes far longer in a metropolis. What part of that makes ANYone think that the police could protect you in an armed robbery/ Armed assault situation? I have NEVER responded to a shots fired call in enough time to protect an unarmed victim. I will tell you firsthand, i WANT to see more citizens carrying. It makes my job easier. Let me draw an analogy.
No sane criminal would ever rob a doughnut shop. why? Because it's full of cops. Cops have guns. I would love to see my whole city become a big doughnut shop full of law abiding, armed citizens. THAT would reduce crime.
Benjamin Franklin once said: "Those who are willing to exchange liberty for temporary security, DESERVE NEITHER!" That really is where we are in society today isnt it? People dont want to take responsibility for their own liberty and security. They want the government to protect them, they want to police to protect them, and thats just not practical. In the case of the government, its downright dangerous. I'm of the opinion we need protection FROM the government but thats a whole blog unto itself.
When i am not on duty i carry a Para Ord. Hi-Cap 1911 .45, as well as a .22mag Pocket revolver. I keep a Remington 870 12ga next to the bed, and my wife has a Mini-14 tactical next to her. My 14 year old son has a benelli in his room, and knows how to use it to protect his sisters(we take about $200 of ammo to the range as a family every other month). THATS the american way. Long live it.
Chris,
A well thought out and logical post. I live in the Socialist state of Canada where reliance on the social safety net provided by our Government has become an art-form.
It has always irked me that my fellow Canadians not only voluntarily gave up the right to defend themselves and their family, but expect me to do the same.
I have always had a healthy respect for firearms and only since I had children have I become an owner of many. My friends always comment that when you have kids is the time to get rid of your guns, not buy them, but I beg to differ. What better time to enable yourself to protect the helpless little faces that count on you everyday.
Though this is Canada, and concealed carry is the stuff of fairy tales and an Authority-to-Transport is required to travel between your home and the range, I am armed in my home and await the fool who thinks he can harm my family.
Better to be judged by twelve than carried by six.
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