Why Do You Carry A Gun?

[EMC45]

Because I’m my own first responder. I rely on myself and my skill set to get me out of a bind if need be. I also don’t ever want to utter the words “if I only had my gun”..

I also don’t perceive myself as a Rambo/Chuck Norris type hero. I’m just someone who has shot for a very long time and am acutely aware of the problems in our world and the collapse of society and morality (lawlessness) so I chose to be prepared.

I’ve lived in many parts of the world and this country and have seen some pretty weird things and want to be prepared for what may come.

 

[jar]

I carry a gun to balance the weight of the magazines and cell phone on the other side.

I carry the magazines and cell phone to balance the weight of a gun on the other side.

 

[JERRY]

Because I've seen first hand what can happen to people that don't.

 

[Eutycus]

I carry a gun to balance the weight of the magazines and cell phone on the other side.

I carry the magazines and cell phone to balance the weight of a gun on the other side.

And they wonder why old men wear suspenders.

 

[ms6852]

For the same reason I wore a condom in my teenage years.................PROTECTION! Sorry could not help myself. All seriousness aside, working in a Level One trauma center for years, I have seen the atrocities a human will do to a fellow human, man, woman or child.

 

[bannockburn]

I carry mainly because I can't afford bodyguards to look after me and my family's protection 24/7.

 

[hso]

How would you answer if someone you had to be nice to asked?

I would first ask a question, "Do you want to know because you're genuinely interested or to judge? If you want to judge, there's no point in explaining it because you already have formed an opinion and it is a personal decision I've made. But if you're genuinely curious and open to an explanation I'm comfortable discussing it." Gauge their reaction and proceed accordingly.

I'm responsible for my safety and have accepted responsibility for the safety of a few others. I keep vehicles in good condition to keep the vehicle in a safe operating condition and I have taken training on how to not just drive, but drive safely in normal conditions and in less safe conditions. I've taken additional training in driving in unsafe conditions and abnormal conditions and in driving in response to dangerous situations. All because I think it is my responsibility to be safe when driving and to keep the safety of others in my mind when driving and, especially, to be safe when other people I've accepted responsibility for keeping safe are with me. I have taken first aid, wilderness/disaster first aid, and additional specific training on trauma injuries. I've done this because I've been in situations where I might need to use that training, and I've been with people near and dear to me where that training might be needed if everything we did to stay safe didn't work as expected. I also have additional emergency medical supplies that are the tools I or someone might need up to and including trauma supplies appropriate for my training and beyond should someone with more training need to use them in an emergency. See a theme? I'm responsible for my safety and think that I'm responsible for the safety of a very few other people. Why carry a gun? For the same reasons. I don't know when or if I'm going to need the skills and equipment for an emergency, and they never occur when you plan for them to (they're emergencies), but I know that emergencies do occur and that I should know how to respond to them and how to use the tools to respond to them and to have the tools with me to respond to them. That may be to avoid a wreck in snow, try to save your life, or defend myself or you, if I think I've become responsible for your safety.

 

[GBExpat]

If I find myself thrust into a potentially deadly situation from which I cannot readily extricate myself, I want to provide for the possibility to Have My Say regarding how it resolves.

 

[Old Dog]

I would first ask a question, "Do you want to know because you're genuinely interested or to judge? If you want judge, there's no point in explaining it because you already have formed an opinion and it is a personal decision I've made. But if you're genuinely curious and open to an explanation I'm comfortable discussing it." Gauge their reaction and proceed accordingly.

This is the best answer I've seen in the thread.

 

[Anchorite]

This is the best answer I've seen in the thread.

It’s certainly a better reasoned explanation than some other posts thus far.

 

[borrowedtime69]

Why I carry a gun (and i hope to hell i never have to use it!):

I look ok, but I have many health issues. I cannot run as my knees are bad and I have little stamina with breathing, my joints are in bad condition, my low back is bad, and I cannot take a beating without serious bodily injury or even Death. I was told It's called "disparity of force."

Not their fault, but LEO's won't make it in time.

The US has become a much more dangerous and unstable place since I was a kid.

I have to walk the dog, I go through a park down the street where homeless live, drug dealers and users frequent, and there's solicitation that goes on.

With all that to deal with, I'm very glad I have my Second Amendment rights..... so far.

 

[jonnyc]

I'll let you know if/when I need to use it.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Because it was getting all beat up dragging it around on a leash.

 

[jmorris]

Because, I might have to defend my life from someone that has tried to employ some advantage against me and a gun is the least burden for me to carry, to level the playing field between the two of us.

 

[armoredman]

I too worked in a prison but not all of the "evil people" are behind bars. There are quite a few walking amongst us.

Pretty sure you missed the point of what I said.

 

[Eutycus]

Pretty sure you missed the point of what I said.

What point am I missing? I kind of thought I was partially agreeing with you.

 

[Space Ghost]

I've gotten tired of trying, so I'm kind of an ass if anybody askes me that now.
I'm likely to spout off with some smart-ass remark like...



"If you have to ask me that... no matter what I say... you ain't gonna understand it, or agree with it... so just don't worry about it."

 

[DeepSouth]

“In case I need it” is the standard answer, now if this were a family member or future family member it would be much different.

In our family we joke and pick, newbs get just as much ribbing as anyone else, probably more. If everyone is being nice to you, they don’t like you.

 

[The Night Rider]

The only person (outside of work) who has ever asked me that was my granddaughter.

My granddaughter does not get smart ass answers from me.

I think the first night I worked with one of my coworkers he told me that even though we were armed guards he thought carrying a gun was stupid because real men fought with their hands.

I don't remember exactly what I said but it was along the lines of the bad guys don't fight with their hands I'd rather be armed than go up against some idiot with a gun bare handed.

He didn't get it and I didn't push the issue.

So, I guess the odds of my ever actually having to answer this question are just about nil.

So in the unlikely event that someone asks I'll answer as I did upthread "My life experience has taught me that sometimes you need a gun."

If they want to bitch or get smart or judge me for my response I'll just tell them I don't have time for this and end the conversation.

 

[George Dickel]

I'll be 77 in a few months. I have heart failure and arthritis in nearly every joint in my body. There is no way I could stand toe-to-toe with a younger thug intent on robbing me or giving me a beating. I can't out run one either. My only two options are to accept the beating and the possibility of death or produce a firearm to protect myself. If someone can't understand that they are a complete moron.

As for the guy saying that a real man only needs his fists. In my almost 77 years of living there been a number of acquaintances that believed they were the toughest, baddest one on the block. Every time they ran up against someone that was just a bit badder.

 

[aaaaa]

I would rather it never gets to the point where someone ask why I carry a gun. They first have to ask if I carry a gun and my answer to that is an unqualified NO. This is not lying, but protection of my privacy and to prevent info being leaked that could someday get me red flagged by someone who doesn't like me. Likewise, there are zero stickers on my car that have anything to do with guns.

 

[hso]

he thought carrying a gun was stupid because real men fought with their hands.

Clearly an ignorant statement not supported by the FBI UCR records on deaths by being beaten to death.

 

[Eutycus]

Using your only fists or hands is fine and dandy if both parties agree to it before hand. But unfortunately the "bad guy" in the picture don't usually honor that commitment. Gentleman's agreement haha, alot of the people you run into are not "Gentlemen".

 

[Targa]

My small circle of family and friends would never ask the question, anyone who does is most likely just trying to bait you into an argument that I have no time for or care to exert the energy in engaging. I guess my response if it were to ever come up would be, “Why do you think I carry?“. They can either rub the couple of brain cells together to realize it was a ridiculous question or they cant. Either way, it’s on them at that point.

 

[Eutycus]

I was going to say in our family it's more like "why don't you carry"? But even that is not really keeping with everyone's wishes.I wish more people would carry but I'm not going to try and make anyone carry who didn't think of it themselves. You can't make someone like something, either you do or you don"t.