Why did you start carrying a gun?

I started carrying when people stopped carrying knives and started using handguns instead.

I started carrying because I'm getting older, knees and back are getting weaker, can't run, can't fight younger thugs, and the world is becoming more and more dangerous. And the State of Colorado said I could!

Quote:
Originally Posted by sherman123
*Sigh*...Who do you mean by "WE"? Care to elaborate?
Sherman, I understand why that comment made you clinch up a bit, because it did the same to me, and I really wished I didn't see names used in it.

I'm not a mod, but I am the OP of this thread. It's been a good one too, running for a few pages with some interesting stories posted. So I am politely asking that it not get derailed by any political or racial debates. If you guys want to discuss exactly what was meant in the aforementioned post, please pm each other or start a different thread.

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I've noticed that some posters on various forums refer to themselves as "we" rather than "I". Might be the case here?

Someone put a bomb on my neighbor's porch

I bought a gun the next day

Uncle Sam gave me. 1911 in '56... After I left the service I went to work for an oil company who sent me to some tough places in South America and SEA... Been carrying a long time.. Outside the U.S. And in six states inside. If you do the arithmetic you can figure out that I'm getting long in the tooth and slow with the reflexes. So I started carrying for our Uncle and been carrying ever since. Seems like the sensible thing to do.

Why I'm Carrying ?

OK, Not necessarily in this order:
1. High crime rate in my town
2. State licensed me to carry
3. I know about guns
4. I'm an older guy, and I show it
5. I can pocket carry, due to Perry Suspenders (try WalMart)
6. My best girl (wife) approves
7. I want to protect my family (first) and me

Case closed !

Protect what belongs to me, simply refuse to be a victim.

Carjacking...

Failed, as I happened to have my trusty (and then, cheap) Target Bulldog with me and coincidentally "to hand". Lucky, that!

Since then - I tend to not trust to happy coincidence.

'Nuff said!

Todd.

Because an angel-dusted idiot tried to break into my ABQ apt (1986).

Bought a handgun the next morning. Never looked back.

When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.

Next? Ruger SR9C ...

I started as a police officer in 1968. It became second nature. Besides, due to my background, I know what goes bump in the night.

U.S.M.C. 67-72.
Lived near East side of Detroit for a few years. Multiple gangs, 22 carjackings in one month at shopping center one mile from home. Armed robbery and carjacking nine houses down from me during an elementary school soccer game one nice morning.
Walked the dog early one morning, came home, wife's jewelry spread across bedroom floor. Someone had been in the house while she was taking a shower. Carried two .45's, one in each jacket pocket every time I left the house. Schutzhund trained Rottie also helped keep the peace.
Now live in a smaller, friendlier place. Vigilance not as high, but still carry 24/7 with situational awareness.

I started carrying years ago because I could and because I like guns. Now I'm a police officer. Everywhere I go in my community, I see people I've arrested, cited, detained in a traffic stop, or otherwise made upset because they were up to something. I have a gun on me all the time when I'm out of the house and most of the time when I'm home.

johnpfaff said:

Now live in a smaller, friendlier place. Vigilance not as high, but still carry 24/7 with situational awareness.

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Once you gain that situational awareness, it never really goes away. Even in a quiet community. I sometimes feel like an ogre when I find myself scanning the local Subway or IGA for any and all potential threats. It's a small, quiet town. But, then I remember that my hometown used to be quiet and peaceful, too ... until it wasn't anymore.

Now live in a smaller, friendlier place.

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In my (current) home state -- not where I grew up (which is well beyond saving),
but where I declare residence -- once you get north and east of the capitol, it's all good.

If you wind up in the 2nd largest city there, way far south
-- initials "LA" -- go N asap.

Trust me on this one.
(Two words: socially volatile.
Four more: made worse by the winters.)

that was many years ago when I was in my early 20's.
I did it b/c I could - and it felt good-it was not safety issue where I lived at all.
I still believe that percentage of people that have a real need to carry every day is same as percentage of people that have a real need for a SUV:
it is a mix of making you feel good/secure, and making a statement.
You go ahead and carry, I don't have to , but I also have no intention to limit that right to any law-abiding citizen.
If circumstances change for me, I will start doing it again - after many years

LEO officer can't always be there on time when you need them.

I started carrying in WI when the open carry movement started - we were assuring our rights against politicians, police and laws that were unconstitutional at the state and federal levels. When we FINALLY got CC passed, I bought a IWB holster and never looked back. I do not leave my house without a handgun.

part of my job as probation officer.

Wife Carried First

My wife started carrying before I did. She was attacked while showing a house about 40 years ago. A guy grabbed her from behind and put a knife at her throat. Somehow she talked him out of harming her. He tied her up, and stole her purse and car. She was not caring at that time. Later I bought her S & W model 36 which she carried for several years.

I'm 80 yrs. old now, just got LTC, and now the S & W .38 special is my pocket carry.

The reason I carry is that the world is a much more dangerous place than when my wife and I grew up in the 50's!

I started in early 2012, when I started a job as a correctional officer. Have since left that field, but continue to carry.

Edit: Oh, this is an old thread. Oh well.

Posting this
before sleep
to stay on track.

Ruger LC9s.

Short trigger
in a small 9.

Avid huter/trapper & fisherman, so I always woods carried because of that. Then started wintering in FL. Wife & I both have our CC there.

In 1973 I was a Mercedes-Benz mechanic working at the MB dealership in San Francisco. I worked the night shift, from 4 in the afternoon until 1 in the morning. I lived first on Nob Hill and then Pacific Heights and always walked to work and walked home at 1AM. Around October of 1973 the Zebra killings started. These were racially motivated killings of white people by a group of Black Muslims calling themselves the "Death Angels". Not wanting to give up my way of life I started carrying my Bob Chow modified Colt Combat Commander and continued my 1AM walk home. Guess I just never stopped carrying from those days.
These were pre carry permit days and I always thought of a German expression I learned while there in the Army. Legal, illegal, egal. (Legally, illegally, doesn't matter)

Stu

Daughter had an ex, who didn't quite understand "EX". He beat her up. The next day. she had new locks on her doors, a 12 gauge and a .38 snubbie. Two weeks later I had a license to carry and my own snubbie. Up to that time, I really hadn't had a reason to own, I don't hunt and I had no threats. Since then, I carry, the wife does, and the new son-in-law carries (along with being a black belt in Brazilian Ju-Jitsu).