Whenever it's come up in a conversation and and someone asks me if I carry at home and why, I tell them that you never know when you'll need it. That and 100% of home invasions occur in the home.
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Whenever it's come up in a conversation and and someone asks me if I carry at home and why, I tell them that you never know when you'll need it. That and 100% of home invasions occur in the home.
There is a funny thing about people that I have noticed. Go to the pet store and watch how people will walk right up to the aquarium with the snakes in it. They get really close to it and some will even tap on the glass. Take the snake out and watch how quickly they back up. You can see the fear in their face.
As long as the danger is contained people can hide their fear. I wouldn't write these people off just yet. Invite them to a range and let them pet your (and theirs) gun in a more controlled enviroment. The fact that they have expressed interest in getting a CWP and have also bought a gun tells me they aren't anti-gun people.
The effort to help preserve our 2A right begins with us. I don't think we should just expect a new gun person to start strapping on a gun and reading gun magazines from day one. Even a baby uses a teether before they get teeth.
I take it the "he" in the story isn't taking the CHL class and pursuing a CHL.
Seems to me the ones who freaked don't understand the "carry" purpose of a CHL. That's the whole point: being armed when going outside the four walls of one's home.
Fact is, criminals only occasionally do home invasions, bringing crime into one's own home. The vast majority of violent crime occurs when we're out and about. Most folks can't be effectively capable of withstanding violent attack without having an effective anti-violent-attack tool with them. Hence, CHL and the practice of carrying a firearm everywhere it's lawful to do so.
And there's really no way around this point: our sole purpose when faced with violent criminal attack is to survive it, no matter what the odds, no matter what the weaponry brought to bear against us. Much of that's going to depend on basic mindset and training, and part of it's going to depend on weaponry we ourselves train to use effectively. Most crimes will pass us by. The few that do blow up near us might well threaten or harm us to some extent. The rare few that are truly deadly are the ones for which we carry and train with weaponry, although we dearly hope we'll never have to see such violence. THESE situations are what the carry gun is for. Quite simply, presuming one trains effectively to use it and manage such situations, it's the one weapon that can help most folks effectively withstand violent deadly attack, and it's one of those weapons for which there are truly no good alternatives.
Try taking a look at it from their perspective...Quote:
Originally Posted by nobody_iam
Here's what she might be writing on some forum she visits:
I went over to my girlfriends house and while I was there I thought I'd talk to her boyfriend about getting my CPL because he has his CPL. Everything was going fine and he was answering some of the questions that I had then it got really weird and uncomfortable. All of a sudden he says, "I'll show you my pocket carry". Before I could respond, the next thing I know is he pulls this loaded gun out of his pocket and starts pointing it all over the room. What was he thinking! Perhaps he wasn't thinking at all or maybe he was thinking the kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator were going to magically turn into a bad guy that he would have to shoot. It was really scary. I wasn't sure if he was going to point that loaded gun at me or not...thankfully he didn't because if he did I probably would have crapped my pants. He really freaked me out.
Regarding your question about what to say to them, how about something like this...
I am so sorry I unholstered my loaded firearm in front of you like I did. Please accept my apologies for misjudging your level of comfort with firearms. I won't let it happen again. Perhaps we could try and start over. I'd like to be able to help you in any way that I can. We might be able to raise your comfort level a little bit if with sat down in front of an unloaded firearm and went over some of the basics together. How does this sound to you?
Would not display my firearm to anyone as the issue was originally presented, just too much opportunity for the matter to go south as happened here.
If you want to see my gun see me at the range and I will bring it there. I try to not disclose that I routinely carry unless I know the person very well and know they are comfortable with the whole issue.
Yea, I remember an old saying, "timing is everything" ... dude,I think your timing was off. You had the best of intentions I'm sure, but your audience was new, unsure, still in that vast gray area between intention and reality. You showed them reality and they freaked.
Your girlfriend sounds like she is on board. As for her friends, really not your problem. Still, if they come back, take it slow. Maybe provide them with resources so they can do a little self educating. Take them to your local range. Shot a couple of boxes, punch a bunch of holes in paper. Shooting should be fun, it still is for me. The serious stuff can come later, in their own time.
They bought the pistol, so there is some intention. The rest, perhaps with some timely encouragement from you, is up tho them.