How do you justify carrying?

[MyGlockRocks19]

Because sometimes **** happens.

I've never had to draw a weapon in anger, or self defense, but I will say that its an awfully comfortable feeling to know that you can if the situation warrants it. I'm currently unarmed, and I hate it. Should there arise a situation demanding the immediate use of force, I'm at a serious disadvantage.

I don't believe in a fair fight. I believe in a fight that I survive, due to proper prior planning, and good situational awareness. Thats why I "did" carry, when that option was available to me. I'm not completely helpless by any stretch....your mind is, when properly utilized, the weapon, and simply uses the tools available to it. But a firearm is a superior tool for defense, and the lack thereof can place you at a disadvantage when one would come in handy.

 

[jedi]

SOURCE: the munchkin wrangler.: why the gun is civilization.

why the gun is civilization.

Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that's it.

In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force. The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gangbanger, and a single gay guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.

There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we'd be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger's potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat--it has no validity when most of a mugger's potential marks are armed. People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that's the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly.

Then there's the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser. People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don't constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level. The gun is the only weapon that's as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weightlifter. It simply wouldn't work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn't both lethal and easily employable.

When I carry a gun, I don't do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I'm looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don't carry it because I'm afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn't limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation...and that's why carrying a gun is a civilized act.

Posted by Marko at 7:06 AM |

 

[Goodcat]

It is not my choice to carry, it is my duty. I have a family to protect.

 

[finity]

I think for both schools of thought it boils down to one or more of three things:


For those that choose to carry:

1) They want too, for whatever the reason
2) They feel they need too, for whatever the reason
3) They feel they have too, for whatever the reason


For those that choose not to carry:

1) They don't want too, for whatever reason
2) They feel they don't need too, for whatever reason
3) They feel they don't have too, for whatever reason


I don't know if that makes sense to others or not......just a simple man's point of view. It's amazing how much adding or subtracting one word can do to a phrase.

Here's an great response from another site that fits the above thoughts:

...i'm all about freedom. The freedom to defend your life from someone who believes their desire for a $20 bill is more important than your life - or the freedom to agree with them.

 

[Adrenaline]

Because I never want to be that girl who did not have a gun and got raped/killed. Too many crazy people walk around me every day at work, and I know without a doubt people in my town get shot at the Donut Connection and elsewhere, I never want to be unprepared because it is life and anything can happen any day.

 

[jjohnisme]

Good question!

1. I will never forget being mugged at knifepoint. That alone would be enough.

2. You have a 1 in 65 chance to be a victim of a violent crime per year. That will catch up with you or a family member sooner or later. That alone would be enough.

3. Scouts taught me to "be prepared", and so I am. That alone would be enough.

4. I exercise a fundamental right every day. How about you? That alone would be enough.

5. I have kids and plan to live for them, perhaps even kill for them, but have no plans to die in front of them. That alone would be enough.


Any of the above would be enough. All of them together though is more than enough to want me to carry this uncomfortable, socially awkward, legally difficult, and occasionally constraining piece of metal and plastic with me every single day.

And if I am lucky, I will never need it. But if I ever do...

Amen to that.

 

[IndyGunSafety]

For the same reason I have a smoke detector in my home (they don't do much good on the street, lol!) and a fire extinguisher and first aid kit in my truck and home:

To buy time!

Those who are paid to help protect us cannot be EVERYWHERE ALL OF THE TIME. They do the best they can, be it fire, rescue or police.

 

[spartan933]

In the words of Captain Call, "It's better to have that and not need it. Than need it and not have it."

And, in the words of Denzel Washington in Training Day, "You never know that's the point."

 

[gunfun101]

My girlfriend and i are the only ones that kno i have a pistol on me and she says it makes her feel better that i have it.

 

[RCB]

For me it comes down to a few things.

1) My wife and I live in the country, no one is there to answer any calls for help and don't count on your cell phones because coverage is 50/50.

2) The police will not get to you soon enough to help if you are in a situation needing a firearm. Forced entries do happen. Not every day, but they do happen, right in our own home areas.

3) There are other things to worry about as well, particularly wild dogs and coyotes (more so the wild dogs). Plus there are some people who just love raising irritable pit bulls out there. We have the occasional feral hog as well, but to be honest they are quite skittish most of the time.

 

[bigiron]

i posed this question to my old man today just for fun. he has carried a very long time and used to take flack from some of our extended family about it. when asked his response was........"because my cell phone is very inaccurate." i just thoight it was funny.

 

[Hank in Indiana]

When the violence begins, I don't want to be the only one unarmed. If the criminals were put in jail the lawyers would starve so I don't expect that a judge who is a lawyer, will incarcerate the livelyhood of their profession.

 

[Bushido Devil Dog]

"I own and carry weapons because...

."

 

[finity]

If the criminals were put in jail the lawyers would starve so I don't expect that a judge who is a lawyer, will incarcerate the livelyhood of their profession.

Wow, I thought I was a little jaded about our legal system. You really think that cops, lawyers & judges don't want to lock BG's up because of job security?

 

[w_ADAM_d88]

As Don would say "Its better to have a gun and not need it, than to need a gun and not have one"

 

[RCB]

Wow, I thought I was a little jaded about our legal system. You really think that cops, lawyers & judges don't want to lock BG's up because of job security?

Oh they do as long as it brings them money. But you also have to realize that the people you have to worry about the most are often well represented and get to avoid jail altogether.

 

[jwglock]

Good question!

1. I will never forget being mugged at knifepoint. That alone would be enough.

2. You have a 1 in 65 chance to be a victim of a violent crime per year. That will catch up with you or a family member sooner or later. That alone would be enough.

3. Scouts taught me to "be prepared", and so I am. That alone would be enough.

4. I exercise a fundamental right every day. How about you? That alone would be enough.

5. I have kids and plan to live for them, perhaps even kill for them, but have no plans to die in front of them. That alone would be enough.


Any of the above would be enough. All of them together though is more than enough to want me to carry this uncomfortable, socially awkward, legally difficult, and occasionally constraining piece of metal and plastic with me every single day.

And if I am lucky, I will never need it. But if I ever do...

Well said!

 

[Jay]

..the jihadist terrorist shooting those soldiers at Ft Hood seems like a pretty damn good reason to me.... If those muslims will shoot soldiers on an Army base, they wouldn't think twice about shooting us civilians..... unless us civilians shot back.

 

[PatMcGroyne]

Not uniformly true, but Works For Me:

Armed and unharmed;
Unarmed and harmed.

Carrying each day will certainly make a gentleman out of most men. Pat

 

[RachelMarie]

I never thought about owning/carrying a gun....Until I had my daughter. End of story!