Complacency - vs - paranoia

Status
Not open for further replies.
P

P95Carry

Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Jan 3, 2003
Messages
16,337
Location
South PA, and a bit West of center!
I live in a pretty good area re crime stats etc .... pretty much rural ... and most ''events'' are vandalistic in nature. So - ''perceived risk factor'' is I'd say low rated. But ''things'' have happened - albeit very infrequently.

Others, who live in urban and suburban settings, may feel different, way different.!

Thing is ... wherever we live, whatever our surroundings .. what is ''enough'' vigilance, whereby we are ''looking out'' for ourselves and our own.? Where is the dividing line between paranoid vigilance, and complacency.?

I carry 24/7 (sorry ... 16/7 seems a better definition!) ......... and doubt very much I will ever require my piece in anger .. that pleases me but .... there are no guarantees, anywhere. As I promulgate . ''Expect the unexpected'' ........ ''Do NOT assume''.

How do we find that level of ''enough'' with regard to fullfilling our duties, to ourselves, and our families? Personally, I remain pretty laid back but .... there is always an ''alert mode'' part of me .... which tries to never assume, anything!
 
"Concentration is mentally keyed up, physcially relaxed" - Fred Misseldine

Though I learned this from his book, Score Better at Skeet I find it applicable to many things in life, like situational awareness.
 
Given that most criminals either have or can easily steal cars, I figure there's really no such thing as a safe area. To be sure, some areas are more unsafe than others, but truly safe?

That's why I never leave the house without a gun.
 
I used to always carry an umbrella when I think it would rain. It never does. But sometimes I'd leave my umbrella at home when I think it wouldn't rain, and it started raining, and I felt pretty stupid.... :eek:
 
It's like insurance of any kind: If you don't need it you might feel like you've wasted your time/money but if you *do* need it you'll wonder why you didn't have more...
Tomac
 
I use the analogy of the seat belt in your car. You wear it just in case you're in an accident regardless of neighborhood, driving conditions, time of day or distance of your trip. You can never tell when you're gonna need it, but you're thankful you did when that occassion arrives.
 
How about changing venues? I live out in the country and open carry, have a horde of dogs that bark at anything. The wife has her piece, and I have my two always in reach, plus the odd shotgun or two. We live by ourselves so they are always available and loaded. By the way we live in Missouri so we are not quite to the CCW level yet until we get this ridiculous lawsuit dismissed hopefully next month.

My biggest concern is when I go "off the reservation". We go to St. Louis for football games and to visit relatives and friends. I find I must "crank up" the awarness instincts on those trips. I must make allowances for "close up contact" there than at home. The six block walk to the stadium from the bar we park at is where I am most paranoid. We know the bar owner and he locks my 92FS in his safe while we are at the game, so its just me and the buck knife between the bgs and my sweetie. I get as nervous as a long tail cat in a....well you know.:rolleyes:
 
While entering a branch of Commerce Bank today, I noticed a prominently placed and correctly-sized sign indicating no guns allowed. Talk about vigilance--anyone leaving that bank (probably with extra funds) is marked as being unarmed, thus easy prey for predators. It is nice of Commerce Bank to let perps know that customers leaving the bank will be unarmed and easy pickins. Paranoia or vigilance...hmmmmmm.

Michael S.
 
While entering a branch of Commerce Bank today, I noticed a prominently placed and correctly-sized sign indicating no guns allowed.
Click to expand...
Where is that Mike?? Do they run metal detectors too do you know?

Yeah - it does totally display to any would-be BG's that their luck is probably in if they want to make a quick attack. This is much the same deal as cases we have had with some eating places trying to disallow carry on the premises.

I go into Banks, here with confidence .... and carrying. NO signs .. just business as usual ... and to my knowledge, robberies in and around banks are pretty much unmeasurable. Can't speak for the big cities of course.

WHEN, will the idiots who make this decision, to disallow LEGIT carry on their premises - realize that they do neither themselves or their customers any service whatsoever .... quite the opposite. :banghead:
 
I don't buy into the idea that some places are somehow so safe that I don't need to carry.

The closest I ever came to having to shoot somebody was in Sutherland flipping Utah. :)
 
This topic arises occassionaly in different flavors (and on different boards). I started one months ago (I think in the SIG forum) about how much is too much -- in terms of are there people who simply won't leave their home state, or won't go to large sporting events or airports, etc., since they can't carry there.

I live in a moderate crime rate, and almost zero murder rate area. In other words, I may get mugged, and it may be an inconvenience, but in memory no one in my city has been murdered during a crime (other than inter-gang drug related killings and domestic disputes - about one of each per year). We've had robbing sprees (16 in three weeks, at gun-point, when our police force was in contract negotiations and basically stopped working), and just recently about 3 or 4 bank robberies by the "band-aid bandit" -- but no one was hurt during any of it.

It's a long story, but because of my pending divorce, I can't carry right now, and won't be able to for the next 6 months or so. It doesn't bother me to be without a gun. For the first 37 years of my life I didn't carry. That said, six months from now I plan on carrying 24/7, even though I know that practically speaking it's totally unecessary. But I will, because I can. It just makes sense. The most important thing is training. Any one of those 16 gas station/convenience store robberies could have gotten really ugly if someone with a gun and little or no training decided to get involved. Know the laws, know your limitations, and enjoy your life. It all works out in the end.
 
To P95Carry--the Commerce Bank with the no-gun sign in the front window was in Belton, MO and I would assume that most Commerce Banks in Missouri have also posted the same signs letting the perps know that there are easy marks leaving their banks. A little extra vigilance might be required when leaving Missouri Commerce Banks:what: .

Michael S.
 
A simple answer would be that paranoia is when your preparations make you less prepared for real threats, because you are dedicating too much enery to non-existent or outlandishly unlikely ones.

Someone could try to rob me, and given the available crime statistics, legally carrying a concealed weapon is objectively not paranoid. However, taking elaborate precautions against kung-fu zombie grizzly attack IS paranoid. Too bad, too, since that would probably be fun. :D
 
P95, oh, well, "whoa" as to expressing shock and awe at the amount of space inbetween the two poles. E.g., "Walk from Bangor to Miami? Whoa, that's far."

Sean, you must tell me about the bears! What are they up to? Are they preparing to attack? You must tell me NOW! Use your secret decoder ring so they do not read your message. I'll be at the kwoon pounding on the wooden man covered with a bear skin.:evil:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top