Lets hear why you carry

[therooster]

i carry because i choose to not be a victim....

[jcrich33]

Originally Posted by WyoBob

We watch the Denver news and it sure seems like Aurora has more than it's fair share of crime. Or, is it my imagination? I worry because my daughter just bought a house in Aurora.

WyoBob

It sure seems so, at least for the last couple of weeks. It's always been here though. I grew up on the NW part (Old Aurora) and now live on the very East side. Usually the knuckle heads are concentrated in a few certain parts, but lately they've been exploring new exciting places.

I think it will slow down and even out soon. APD and some select citizens are pretty good at cracking down on these jackasses.

[USMC-PRIDE]

1 reason I carry is because I have a meth head brother in law that threatened to kill my family because my wife his sister turned him in for stealing 2K from his mothers bank accounts as well as had a meth lab going in his moms house( Mom lives with us after a couple of strokes)He was supposed to be getting a job and watching his moms house and instead he set-up a meth lab and became the local meth dealer for a job. So of course "I wasn't doing anything wrong it was all planted there and you are all are DEAD for turning me in. I am not going to jail and I will be back for you. " He was right he didn't get any jail time and only 15 days treatment and some ****ing cheesy stayed jail time and he is back on the street doing the same thing. And people wonder why there is a meth epidemic in this country.

I also carry because I am a law abiding citizen of the State of Minnesota and the law says if I take the course, meet my shooting qualifications, pay the fees and pass the background checks I can get a permit. Simple as that!

[Delija]

Originally Posted by sig239intx

Because I can..

This non answer always bothers me. I know it shouldn't...I should ignore it, but it's just so lame I can't help but comment.

I carry (not always, but when I feel like it). I "feel like it" if I know I am going to be in an unfamiliar (possibly unsafe) place.

I believe that anyone who has a permit to carry is entitled to make a personal decision on when and if to carry.

But the "because I can" just never makes sense to me. I "can" do a lot of things. That is not a REASON to do it.

One guy here said it's legal to buy a gallon of whiskey and drink it as fast as possible. It's legal, and it's something anyone "can do". They will be dead, but they will have broken no laws. They will have done something "because they could".

It's a good example of something non one sane (in my book) would do. Being able to do something, or giving the "reason" that "it's legal, so I do it" (XD BUG and some others use this as their mantra) is not a "reason" at all IMO.

It justifies something. But there is a big difference between justifying something and giving a REASON.

I once wrote that I felt that to buy a handgun people should need to read a one page safety sheet. Know the basic rules of "All guns are loaded", "don't aim at anything you are not willing to destroy". "keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot". "Know what is behind your target"....etc...

I see people buying handguns where I shop and shoot. They just fork over their money and have no clue about safety. I don't care if they can't hit the side of a barn from inside. But I DO care that I go onto the range and some idiot with a .44 sweeps me with his finger on the trigger as he turns to give a big smile to his friend, wife, whoever because he hit the target with his brand new gun he knows nothing about.

To get a carry permit in Florida you don't need to know anything about gun safety either...they give a course and basically tell you to not shoot and not brandish. Again nothing about safety.

So anyway, I wrote that I thought it would be a prudent idea if people had to at least sign off on having read a one page (or less) list of basic safety "rules".

To get a driver's license learner's permit, you need to read a booklet and take a test. To buy a gun (at least in Florida) you don't need to do anything but pay.

Someone responded angrily that if they were required to read the basic rules of safety that would be a violation of their Constitutional Rights. That driving a car is not a "right", but owning a gun is.

While that is arguable (obviously places like Chicago and NYC and San Francisco must have some way to violate the Constitution if that is really the case), it just seems stupid to me to say "it violates my rights" to spend thirty seconds to find out not to point a loaded gun at me or anyone. To keep your finger off the trigger, etc.

People DO have to sign a paper when they buy a gun. They need to put down their name and address and sign their names.

To do that they need to be at least first grade literate.

Is is a violation of their Constitutional Rights to be required to know how to sign their name?

I am all for the freedom to own and carry a gun. But I think a bit of safety knowledge is not asking too much.

"Because I can" seems to imply that it's OK that the laws in some places require NO KNOWLEDGE.

One argument for "shall issue" is that citizens can potentially protect other citizens by being armed.

And I agree that this is how it should/could be.

But so far, no one has ever rescued me with a gun. And that's fine. I don't ever want to be in a situation where I need someone with a gun to rescue me. I don't ever want to be in a situation where I need my gun to rescue someone else. No one I know has ever been rescued by someone else who had a gun. That's good. So far, so good. But you never know when luck will run out and a gun will be needed. One of the reasons i got my CCW permit. Just like most.

But I have felt greatly endangered by people that have swept me with their loaded guns on the shooting range. They can shoot the guns they don't know how to handle. They can point their gun at me inadvertently. They are not breaking any laws.

They do it "because they can". The gun store I shop at and shoot at has 11 holes in the walls that I have been shown caused by people who buy guns and don't know better than to bring them back when they have a question and unload them first.

BIG signs on the door..."No Loaded Firearms Permitted in Store"...These are people who can afford new guns. Doctors and lawyers as well as blue collar guys. They can't READ? Is it a violation of their "rights" to be expected to read a sign on the door before entering a confined space with a loaded .44 magnum?

"Because I can" does not cut it. It not only bothers me, it should bother us all.

When my son was 4 years old, some guy in the park was following my wife and my son around taking pictures of them. It freaked my wife out. She saw a cop (Lincoln Park in Chicago). She complained. The cop said there was nothing he could do. The guy was within his rights. He was able to follow my wife and child around "because he could". I doubt he would have done it if I were there. If I were, I may have gotten myself in a bunch of trouble chasing the freak off. But I wouldn't have cared. I would have done whatever I needed to.

I just do not get, nor will I ever get "because I can".

It is against the law to yell "fire" in a movie theater. So people don't do it.

But it is not against the law for someone to stand on their seat in the middle of a movie and yell out "ATTENTION.....I AM GOING TO FART". And then let one rip.

"Because I can" is a chump answer.

Peace,
D.

[mcone]

Reason: Because life is worth too much to risk not going CCW.

Those who mock probably ignore the potential problem that a dangerous segment of our society exists that believes that they have the moral right to destroy anything or anyone for their own gain.

My wife thought that I was overdoing the CCW thing for a while. She was wondering if this obsession with guns was going to ruin me. At one point, she was concerned about her safety. When I learned this, I sat her down to explain that I carry a gun partially because I love her and the children so much. The gun was FOR her not AGAINST her!

Then I started showing her articles regarding real-life incidents like this one: Recently, at a well lit McDonald's parking lot in an upscale area a few miles from our home, two intoxicated young men waited in the parking lot to attack someone. The fellow they attacked was a McDonald's worker they did not know. They beat him so badly that he eventually died. Apparently the goal was to enjoy beating him up. Theft was not involved.

I asked her to review the article and asked "What if that man had been carrying? Would he probably be alive today?" Now my wife agreed to take the CCW course this weekend. She hesitated because firearms don't really interest her: but she knows that I ask her to carry because I love her so much.

[cekxd40]

DELIJA Im going to make you proud....aaaahhhemmmm...


I carry for three reasons PROTECTION OF MY FAMILY, PROTECTION OF MY FRIENDS AND PROTECTION OF MYSELF.

BUSINESS OWNER...I CARRY PRODUCT AND CASH...PLUS MY DAY JOB IS AN HOUR DRIVE IN ONE DIRECTION AND THERE ARE SOME CRAZY PEOPLE OUT THERE...(what a run on sentence)

TADA!

[USMC-PRIDE]

So if they read a "safety sheet" they are automatically going to be safe?

Just because you put a peice of paper in front of someone doesn't mean they will actually read it or understand it before they sign it. You are going to have to go to the politicians and ask for more and stricter gun control laws to get it the way YOU think it needs to be.

In theory it sounds great. But in reality it doesn't mean ****.

BTW I didn't notice in your rant if you mentioned why YOU carry, oh wait you carry to go to unfamiliar places, simple fix don't go to unfamiliar places and then you don't need your CCW. Sounds like you got yours because you could, for the times you go to unfamiliar places and don't feel comfortable.

Everyone has there own reasons why, whether or not they tell you why or elaborate enough to satisfy you or any of us is there perogative and it is not any of our places to tell them it is not a good enough reason for them to have a permit.

[[TASF]Overkill]

If you only carry "because you can", what would be your argument against a law that kept you from carrying? Once you can't carry, what would be your reason for wanting to?

[reesegr]

We watch the Denver news and it sure seems like Aurora has more than it's fair share of crime. Or, is it my imagination? I worry because my daughter just bought a house in Aurora.

I mean....Aurora in totality is not bad at all...it is a huge area that has some "bad" spots. This last incident that i posted about the guy who was assasinated (the witness) was on the same street i live on about 3 streets down...but the last incident that was that close to me that I heard of was like 2 years ago a guy held his GF hostage...and that was actually in the same apartment complex that I lived in but had moved out just before it.

Anyway...I think this kind of stuff can really happen just about anywhere, actually I know it does, so really I wouldn't hold it against Aurora in totality...yes it might be a tad worse than Highlands Ranch or Cherry Hills...but who the hell can afford a place there anyway! Crap...I cant even afford a house in east Aurora

[OldRookie]

MMMMMMMMMM why do i carry.
1 My son is a mentally handicapped.
2 My wife is disabled.
3 Ihave had to retire from work due to back problems.
Now none of us can run. If anything would happen my son he would freeze up and would not move an inch. Icarry to protect me and my family. The world is not perfect and there are some really imperfect people out there. I do not want them to harm me or my family. Besides There are only a certian amount of leo"s to cover so much area. That is why i carry.