What Percentage Of Those Licenced To Carry Actually Do Carry Regularly?

[huntsman]

yeah I carry, all the time. It may be "just" a pocket gun but it's still a gun.

 

[yugorpk]

I "carry" mine all the time...in my glove box that is and when I go to the ATM at night. Otherwise I'm a 6'3" 225lb man who's been told on MANY occasions I'm "intimidating". Don't get a lot of flak anywhere.

 

[GEM]

An informal poll, a few years ago, by a Texas CHL instructor organization, found that 80% didn't carry. They wanted the CHL to protect them from hassles with the 'car' gun. I regard that has not the most useful conceptualization.

Recall we got the TX CHL in part because Dr. Gratia-Hupp was at the Luby's massacre and her gun was in the car.

Personally, of my closest friends with CHLs, they don't carry most of the time.

Even folks who shoot IDPA - you find quite a few who don't carry.

I won't trust self-reports of those who say they do carry on the Internet.

 

[bluzman]

Every day in every place it's legal. It's like the old American Express ad said, "Don't leave home without it."

 

[wally]

The company that I work for doesn't allow employees to carry while at work. If I were to get caught, it would mean me instantly being fired. So, for about 80% of the time that I spend in a public place, I am unarmed. I do keep a gun in my car for the commute though.

Unfortunately this is the sad reality for most CHL holders with this and other prohibited locations they may have to visit during the work week.

Now that I've retired I carry very nearly 100% of the time. Ironically the only place I still regularly go where I can't carry are gun shows

I ignore all the non-legally binding signs (PC30.06 spells out how the signs must be in Texas to be valid) at various places, since its concealed they never know anyway and I leave them be content with their delusions. Gun shows here are PC30.06 posted

I won't trust self-reports of those who say they do carry on the Internet.

Given the privacy concerns of many gun owners, I'd tend to believe the ones who say they do carry more than the ones that say they don't!

 

[wideym]

I carry every day I walk out the door. Wallet in my left back pocket and Keltec .32acp in my right back pocket. Also, if need be I keep a 1911 and .357mag loaded in the truck at all times.

As others have said, most of my friends and family do not carry every day, and a few I know, only got their CCW permit to avoid having to wait on a gun purchase (problems with the background check always making them wait a few days even though they are totally legal).

 

[USAF_Vet]

95% of the time, I'm either carrying, or have it nearby. I work in a place that prohibits weapons, but we've had disgruntled employees and ex-employees make threats. Usually, my carry pistol is secured in my locked car, company can't do anything about it. Some days, it's secured in my private locker (personal property, part of my tool box) along with the rest of my personal effects. Key is on my person at all times, so it's about as secure as it can get. I don't talk about it, or give any indication I may be armed, and give no one any reason to need to search my locker.

I know a lot of folks with CPLs, and they claim to carry everywhere they go. I've never verified that, though.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Here in Michigan, an ordinary CPL (Concealed Pistol License) holder may not take a firearm into a BANK.

As Old Dog pointed out, this is not true. I carry into my bank, and credit union. SOME banks will have a gun buster sign at the main entrance. But... even those don't hold full force of the law. They can ask you to leave, and you can be charged with armed trespass if you refuse. My banking establishments do not have these signs. If they ever do go up, I'm taking my business, and my money, loans, etc. elsewhere.

The only places prohibited from Concealed carry with a CPL are listed on the back of your license. Limitations are:
School or school property
Child care or day care center, child caring institution, or child placing agency
Sports arena or stadium
Bar/tavern where sale and consumption of liquor is the primary source of income
Church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or other place of worship*
Entertainment facility with a seating capacity of 2,500 or more individuals
Hospital
Dormitory or classroom of community college, college, or university
Casino

The above is copied verbatim from the back of my CPL. Other places prohibited by State and/or federal law still apply, such as the courthouse, federal buildings, etc.





*Without permission from the administrator (not necessarily always the presiding official)

 

[txblackout]

Getting a CCL in Illinois is expensive. I know people who went to the trouble and expense of obtaining one - and have never carried period. I know people who went to the trouble and expense of obtaining one - and don't have a holster for their gun.

I carry everyday everywhere I go - except courthouses, schools and the post office. I even carry while I'm in my own house.

Maybe a year or two ago I read a thread like this that was about carrying in your own home and several people brought up how easy it is for home invaders to just break in through the front door with brute force. It made me examine my front door and I discovered I have a contractor-grade "security" door set in a normal wood frame.

I keep meaning to replace the whole thing but I haven't gotten around to it.

I rarely carry and am a CHL holder. I dont usually carry during the day, but will when Im running errands at night.

As for beefing up your door, you can replace your strike plate screws with 3 inch screws that go into the studs that make up the framing. That alone will make it much harder to kick in your door.

You can buy a long metal security strike plate bar that screws into the studs into about 8 places.

You can buy a metal plate that will reinforce the door around the deadbolt.

If you dont care about looks you can use door handle pulls on either side with a 2x4 slipped between them as a door bar.

There are also floor mounted door blocks that will absolutely prevent your door from being opened from the outside.

Doors can easily be kicked in because the frame itself is soft wood and contractors use 1/2 inch screws to attach the strike plate. Screwing the strike plate into the studs makes it much harder to kick in.

Another attack is to use prying tools to flex the door jamb enough that the deadbolt cannot catch. One solution to stop this is to have two deadbolts

Replacing the door is an extreme option but isnt that necessary. If use the security strike plate, they are going to have to break a window instead.. then we can talk about 3m security window film, stainless steel security window screens or hurricane windows..

 

[Ironicaintit]

If im not at work, or at a bar playing pool, im carrying.

I was shocked to have a pro gun friend ask me why i carry, even in places where "nothing is going to happen". I told him that for one, you cant plan an "emergency" and itll likely happen in a place where you had no idea something would hit the fan.
And secondly, carrying as much as possible lends itself to developing good habits, and being "comfortable" while carrying.
The person who carries only occassionally is much, much easier to spot, than somebody who has made a habit of it, and has largely eliminated the telltale signs and mannerisms of a person who is packin heat.

 

[MCgunner]

When I have pants on, I am carrying. When I'm in the shower, one is in easy reach. When I'm in bed, several are within easy reach, one is easy to reach without even getting up out of bed.

If you're going to rely on a gun for self defense, you'd best HAVE a gun when you need it. I'm too old to train with knives or do any kung fu. But, my eyes and my trigger finger still work great.

 

[billybob44]

Carry most always...

I and all my friends who are licensed carry all the time. I can count 12 people in my circle of acquaintances that I know carry every day and in any place that it is not legally prohibited. There is another group that always has a gun in the car or truck, but do not always carry when they get out. Everybody I know has a gun by the bedside and in at least one other room in the home. Personally, why have a license if you are not going to carry regularly? In today's culture, I do not think it is wise to go unarmed.

^^^Same here..In Indiana it's a License to Carry Handgun..A person with this License can carry any way they desire, per regulations/laws.
Here we also have the Lifetime License, that most get--as long as you keep your nose clean, you never have to re-new......Bill.

 

[Trigger9]

I carry as much as I possibly can.
Unfortunately, there are several places we cannot carry, such as, visiting someone in the hospital, otherwise it is strapped on me.
Trigger 9

 

[jmace57]

Like dragonbreath, I work for a company that would fire you on the spot for possession of a firearm. They aren't posted...a VISITOR is welcome to carry, just not employees. I carry every time I am not at work. And I have carried anyway, the few times I have had to take public transportation to work. The trains are full of thugs and the homeless.

 

[taliv]

i'm betting more people are carrying than last week.

 

[joneb]

I carry 98-99% of the time I am out and about, the bad guys can take a lucky guess on the 1-2% of the time I am unarmed.

 

[22-rimfire]

As for beefing up your door, you can replace your strike plate screws with 3 inch screws that go into the studs that make up the framing. That alone will make it much harder to kick in your door.

The better answer here is to do this with steel studs and steel exterior doors and long dead bolts. The fact is that for most of us, our homes are not fortresses. Most take precautionary measures, but not to the degree of adding steel studs. After all, you can shoot right through walls.

I also bet there are more people carrying now than a week ago.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I carry everyday, nearly all day. When not, the gun (s) is next to me.

 

[HankB]

In Texas, a few reporters have gotten CHLs for the sole purpose of streamlined admission to the state capitol.

Otherwise, it puzzles me why someone would get a CHL and not carry wherever and whenever it's legal; after all bad guys don't confine themselves to dangerous neighborhoods any more, and you just don't know when a bad guy will try to make you his victim.

 

[Mountainman38]

I doubt you could ever get an accurate number. First, you'd have to ask all of the folks carry. Anything less than a 100% accounting would be in error, regardless of statisticians and pollsters claim.

The best one could do would be to ask those of your acquaintance. In my home it's pretty much 100%. In my immediate family it's 100%. In my extended family I'd guess it drops to around 60%, but as you see at that point it's just a guess.

As the pundit said "There are three types of lies, lies, damned lies and statistics". Seems the fellow who knew about frogs also knew about statisticians.

The bolded is completely untrue. Just because you don't understand statistics, doesn't mean the rest of the world who relies on them for quality control (among many other things) is in error.

 

[Don357]

I carry everywhere except when I am at work. I am a truck driver and firearms are not allowed in commercial vehicles, except for certain occupations. But since I am a "day" driver, I leave my weapon in my POV. Otherwise I have it on me or at least within reach, even when I'm preaching or playing music at church. There are several in our church that have permits and carry. Even the Pastor.

 

[helitack32f1]

For many years, I had a permit but didn't carry. Mostly because i had not gone to the effort to find a comfortable way to do it. Then one day it occurred to me that it was pointless to have the ability, the right and the permit if I wasn't going to use it. And it is pointless to just do it some of the time. Since then, I have been with gun from the time pants go on in the morning until I climb into bed in the evening. Having a comfortable way to carry makes a lot of difference.

 

[Mr.510]

I've carried every day since I got my permit in 1990. Every five years I have to go to Seattle Police headquarters downtown to renew my permit, that's the only place I go that I can't legally carry, and that only started with the last renewal. The CPL department entrance used to be before the metal detectors so you could legally carry into that office and I always did. I'm self employed now but the last five years or so that I made money for somebody else guns were not allowed on premises but I carried there anyway. Several of my co-workers kept their carry guns in their cars which would get you just as fired. My life is more important than any job (or my career) and there's only one way anybody would have found out I was carrying at work: Draw your gun and lose your job? I can live with that! About 2/3 of my friends and relatives that have CPLs carry all the time. The other 1/3 never carry. I can't think of anyone I know that carries 'sometimes', they're either full-time or not at all.

 

[xxjumbojimboxx]

I carry at home sometimes. But I also carry whenever I leave my house. The only caveat to that is when I know I'm going to be drinking. Not that I don't trust myself with a gun whilst drunk. Its just the law is all.

 

[Kaeto]

I rarely set foot outside my home without my carry gun, and when inside I keep one within arms reach. But then I also live within snubby pistol range of the southern border of Detroit, and that area is among the worst parts of the city.

Back in the late 80's I was working for Domino's as a delivery driver, and we had one driver make a delivery in that area. He was robbed at gunpoint of the pizza, the change fund, his tips for the night, and his car. The company told him tough and made him replace the change fund out of his check. I quit the next day.