What made you start to carry? :MERGED

[LongRider]

There is a story from long ago about a teenager young dumb full of stuff who rode with a bunch of guys fresh from long vacations in rice paddies. They rode crude rude customs made in American alleys and backyards. They wore jean jacket cuts over leathers with colorful patches on the back. They rode hard lived hard, everyone packed, some lived long enough to grow up and laugh at the follies of youth. Some things dropped by the wayside replaced with careers families and community service others remained the code the road, bikes and brothers. Guns remain because we've seen what slithers and crawls through the darkness and hides in the mist

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[B17]

As an industrial salesman I can sometimes get lost in bad neighborhoods. I'm interested in learning how to always have the element of surprise on my side.

Thanks.

[riverkeeper]

Far too many times where stuff really got on the fan....not even counting approaches and "interviews".

Attempted Assualts/robbery by 1-3 bangers, bank robbery with shots fired, 2 punks with pitbulls ... etc.

It's all better now .... left the big cities and moved to a quiet wonderful small town.

[ZO6Vettever]

I got into a confrontation with 8 then 2 nights later 10 people who were trespassing at my sub division. Nothing came of it and both times they left with a lot of grumbling. I realized I'm way too old for this and thought I need to get a CCW. After doing this I realized I need to call the LEO's and not confrount thugs, that's just looking for trouble. I think this day and age bad people have no problem doing harm to others and I'm happy I am prepared to defend my wife and I should the need arise.

[tns0038]

While I was in college, and four years after, I worked part-time for the sheriffs department, and the department required you to carry 24/7; So, I got use to having a pistol on me, and learned first hand how handy being armed can be sometimes.

[MandM]

When he was in high school my son got in with a rough crowd. One evening I told him that he needed to stay home and wasn't driving them around. When I stepped outside onto the porch one of the kids was hiding in the bushes beside the front door and jumped at me. He was yelling that he was going to take my head off. The kid blew a gasket because my son was the only one in the group with a car and without him they didn't have any wheels. I was lucky I saw him coming and side stepped his run at me. I walked to my truck and got a shovel handle out of the back of the truck and stood there with it until they all left. I thought at that point I could have easily been beaten down because there were 4 of them.

My son has finally grown up and is making better decisions and hanging with much better people. Unfortunately, many of his old friends have gone to jail for one thing or another and they are just starting to get out and they come to MY house looking for him.

We learned from visiting with our son that he used to try to impress these guys and told them we are rich (We definately aren't rich). But my wife works for a bank and I have a good job. I'd hate for one of these kids to get the idea they could get rich by robbing or killing us.

Another reason is that last year we had an anonymous person who started leaving us gift packages on our door step. It was always around the time we came home for lunch. We don't take lunch over the noon hour and they apparently knew this because sometimes they left us ice cream and it was still frozen on days when it was over 100 degrees outside. The police knew who it was and took care of it but said the person has mental issues. That bothered my wife.

My job also puts me in a position where people want to meet with me in the evenings, inside abandoned buildings and out in the country. Many times these are people I know nothing about.

I have a family member who was attacked by a man twice his size. He spent a week in the hospital with severe head trauma not knowing whether he would live. This man was orignally charged with attempted manslaughter. By the end of everything they guy was sented to 5 weekends in the county jail. He's out now and still very proud of his "tough guy" reputation.

I have a friend who was shot and killed at his home during a burglary. There have been numerous burglaries in our area and some of those have occured at night while the homes were occupied.

And I've witnessed a lot of strange activities while I've been hunting and fishing by myself. I've seen people I believe are setting up meth labs in the woods.

I have a wife and kids to protect and this world is getting a little rougher every day.

[Thanis]

Fewer issues taking a gun to a range (where to store, etc).

Concerned about changing regulations at national level. Want to be grandfathered (if it helps).

To have the option, beyond work, home, and open carry in the woods. Like what if I'm out in the woods, cousin in pick-up drives up, wants to head to town. I don't have to go back to cabin / house to drop off (a possibly unlocked) firearm.

[Rcher]

First off, LE cannot be everywhere and we cannot count on them to protect all of us. We need to be concious of our surroundings and aware of the possibility of attack by either natural disasters, terrorists, gangs or the unsuspecting neighbor and his dog. Its my responsiblity to stay alive and protect my family. I am a survivalist and always will be. The military taught me well.

I also travel with my work and live in an RV fulltime. RV's are not know for their fortress characteristics. Living in RV parks brings in some nasty people who are transient and usually only there short periods. I never know where I will be working, large cities, bad areas or just being around new people who I dont trust.

The 2nd ammendment is our right. I am a resident of a "shall issue" state. See my sig.

[riverkeeper]

attacked by a man twice his size. He spent a week in the hospital with severe head trauma not knowing whether he would live. This man was orignally charged with attempted manslaughter. By the end of everything they guy was sented to 5 weekends in the county jail. He's out now and still very proud of his "tough guy" reputation.

If this is not a sign of the future I do not know what else could be.

[Slimz13]

Where to start?

I was 13 years old. A man had his head beat in with a lead pipe outside my back door. A strangers decided to kill his buddy for no apparent reason within 20 feet of my house in a well-to-do, white suburban neighborhood.

17 years old. A freind also living in a nicer, crime-free neighborhood was mugged, raped, and beaten to death by a group of men.

20. A coworker was beaten into a 6-month stay in the intensive care with an aluminum baseball bat. He was aparently the target of a gang-initiation seeker. He has permanent brain damage and was unable to complete college. Before the attack he was on his way to being a $200,000/yr graphics design artist from Juliard Academy. He now works at a factory stamping parts.

22. Multiple times now I have returned to my car to find groups of punks brawling in/on/or around it. None of them take to kindly to me telling them to get the hell off my car. Not even watching me call the police made a difference. Not until they heard the sirens did they melt away like a snowball in summer.

22. Later this year I will be moving into downtown Akron, OH. Considering my budget it probably wont be the good part of town. After Cleveland, Akron is probably the most crime-infested part of Ohio.

[preachertim]

my wife and I were at a motel and some one tried to come in the room while we were sleeping. Not a good feeling. we were in Little Rock arkansas.

[edSky]

my wife and I were at a motel and some one tried to come in the room while we were sleeping. Not a good feeling. we were in Little Rock arkansas.

Sheesh, I just came here to post and didn't read the previous seven pages. And here we are. The reason I both bought a handgun and applied for and received a license is that I work in Little Rock. On more than one occasion I have been "accosted" on a lunchtime walk by someone telling me they don't want anything, they just got out of Pine Bluff (prison), and could I help them? I felt threatened enough that I took action.

Little Rock is a reasonably nice town, but there are incidents around here that make you feel like trouble can happen while getting into your car, pumping gas, or walking in broad daylight.

[athos76]

I'm ex-military, and had a Beretta 9mm as my service weapon. Got so used to having it around and loaded, when I got out I missed it.
One reason I didn't buy a gun when I got out I was in a bad marriage/divorce and my ex (soon to be-ex) was rather violent for a woman. Most small arguments turned to her swinging at me. I'm not violent at all, and that kind of drew a close to that relationship.
Years later, I was with some friends out at the beach. A buddy and I went to go run to the 7-11 around the corner and a guy pops out of the bushes and sticks a .38 wheel gun in my face and demands my wallet. Since I didn't have a wallet on me and didn't want to tick him off, I simply told him "My car just got broken into, and everything was stolen and we called the cops about 10 minutes ago. They are going to be here any minute." (Which was a lie) Just then a Police car drove down a cross street with his lights on, and the BG ran off. My buddy peed himself, and I walked back to the car to call the cops.
Years later, after moving multiple times, I had a rock thrown thru a bedroom window while I was in the room on the computer, and when I spun around to see what was up, a face and arm pop thru the window. That face got acquainted with my softball bat. He ended up slicing his arm and chest up pretty bad on the glass and pressing charges. The officer told me that a dead perp equals less hassle in Florida. The guy dropped the charges after the police found out he lived in the same complex as me and the management evicted him.
Long story short. After moving from area to area, and never having a good way to defend myself and my wife and dog, I finally got off my rear and applied. The day the CWP came in, I picked up my Glock 23...

[C9H13NO3]

No specific event made me decide to carry, though my dad has been robbed twice. I guess I've always been raised with a general sense that the world is not kind, and all you can do is prepare.

[gglockster]

Several factors combined. After September 11th, 2001, I started feeling less safe and became more aware. On deployment one technique to maintain moral is to make a list of things to do back home and then do them. Waiting in line at the DFAC at Camp Victory, I read the sign "No weapon no service". Right after that I added to my list to buy a 1911 and start carrying it.

In reading up to get my carry permit, I started rereading United States Constitutional History (I recommend Leonard Levy's books). Once I received my permit, I started to practice and carry. I now only feel like a Citizen when I do carry.