It can't happen to me!

[P95Carry]

Are we hearing this more and more? I think we are - I guess a 'sheeple' trend that increases, despite the fact that there seems to be a move toward greater uptake of CCW - which of course I fully endorse.

I can accept - up to a point - "It probably won't happen to me!" - but as for ''can't'' .. that's surely treading on very thin ice for some - no such thing in life as certainty - other than we all expire one day!.

I should be used by now to the ''Ostrich Syndrome" - bury head in sand and all will be well. But how folks expect to be immune from trouble beats me. Maybe for many it's down to having the naive thought that the cops and their ADT will keep them safe ..... sorry - that doesn't cover all contingencies.

OK - statistically - out of all the carry folks on this great forum - I hope very much (and expect) there will be few, very few, who have to resort to implementing a full armed defence. That however is not the deal IMO - it is the fact that trouble can happen - anywhere any time.

This is my boring soapbox I guess - the wish that more and more people would take full responsibility - for themselves and their family ........ become armed, trained and hopefully carry.

If figures for carry really took off ....... and I mean not just 1% to 7% in different states but - hey - 30%, 40% - boy would that ever change the BG's minds before they attack and rob.

An armed populace is the best dissincentive to crime I can think of .... apart from criminals going straight That ain't gonna happen!

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[rmarcustrucker]

somewhere it was stated that if even 10% of the population where legally armed the BG's would start to diminish. I talk to lots of people in both of my jobs. And thats what it comes down to. Getting the fun fearing people to realize that guns are not evil and gun tottin' legal people don't have two heads.
Your right about the ''Ostrich Syndrome", kinda like the dentist. Until the tooth hurts enough some won't go. Or making a Will and having life insurance so upon your death your family is taking care of.
It's a grass roots people talking to people subject. Almost as sensative as talking religion, politics or sex...ok, mabey not sex.
And for full responsibility , thats the tough one. A nice nurse and I once talked about it and she though buying a gun was a waist of money. "i'd rather buy wall paper." When asked what she would do if a BG broke in, She said " call the police" and when I asked her how long till her city would respond she said " 1 or 2 minutes." I showed her her city averaged 6 minutes for time to scene. (love the internet.) She paused and I jokenly added "you could always fend of the BG with your wallpaper." She laughed and she went back to work. It was months later that i overheard her mention to my wife, her co-worker, that her husband had asked her again about purchasing a gun for home protection and this time she let him. Mind you, it's not loaded and in a safe, but it's in the house. All I did was hopefully planted a seed and sometimes it sprouts.

[bobcat35]

and here im still working on my roommate. only problem is being stuck in newyork and in the barracks its going to be difficult. maybe i can try the force protection angle but im gonna need some time.

[Thumper]

Of the CCW'ers I know locally, 5 to be exact, only one of them isn't an Ostrich! He and I constantly reinforce one another.

The other 4, well... they all practice this:



That bothers me more than those that don't carry at all.

And all 4 of them will tell you that "I only carry when I think I'll need it".



Getting a permit is only a small part of the solution. Like P95Carry implied, the biggest part is to "take full responsibility"!

[gddyup]

When I told my parents that my wife and I were now carrying all the time her response was and I quote..

"Why do you need to carry a GUN? Things like THAT don't happen around here."

My response?

"Mom, there are a LOT of dead people who thought the same way."

[Laseraim]

There are people that I work with who believe guns are only for military because they were designed to do only one thing, kill people. I promptly ask them what they intend to say to criminals carrying guns, or would they rather not have to come across a gun toting criminal.
The hardest thing for me to swallow is that there are people out there believing that the only reason to carry a gun is to commit crime. These people are not even willing to hear an opposing thought, unable to comprehend that criminals do not give a darn about what you or anyone thinks about what they do or how they do it. They do not see that more gun laws affect only the people willing to abide by them (law-abiding people). Criminals just don't care.
I find it becoming more and more difficult not to ask them what planet they were born on.
However, if ignorant people believe that they are safe from harm at all times - if police will always be there to prevent crime, then this is their reality. My reality is different, maybe not better, just different. I don't try to force my views, but reason with intelligence. It is when I reason that the ignorant become emotional and detached.
It seems difficult at times, but I insist that no-one is safe from the evil that men do, which is why I carry a gun.

[Squawker]

In the early '90s, when Florida became a "SHALL ISSUE" state, violent crime started dropping, at least against Fla citizens. Crime against foreign visitors increased, since criminals knew they were unarmed. Florida eventually stopped rental car companies from putting stickers, or any thing indication that it was a rental car, on the vehicle. People don't think that concealed carry doesn't cut down on crime? They're nuts.

[fotomaker57]

I can't agree more. People hoping nothing bad happens instead of taking a proactive approach and not letting the bad happen. We take our vitamins, eat right, exercise to stay healthy. So why not take it a step further and have the ability to stop a criminal from taking our health away?
Mike

[Gun Loving Liveral]

I know it is very unlikely I will ever have to defend myself with a weapon. I know it is unlikely my house will ever catch fire. I know the flu kills only a small percentage of people who catch it. But there is a fire extinguisher in our kitchen and our garage, we take flu shots every year and we both have our CC permits and do. I see all of these as the same basic idea. The odds are already in my favor even if I don't do them, but doing them gives me even better odds. Now, the best odds don't always pay off, but that is the way to bet!

[Echo_Four]

Sadly, most people believe it will never happen to them. Why those people would then get a CCW permit doesn't make sense to me- but that is their right I suppose.

I hope and pray that I can go from this point forward in my life only shooting at paper targets. But I expect the worst and try to be ready to defend myself or my family at all times. I don't see how any other course of action makes any sense. We live in a dangerous world- denying that won't change it.

[GBS]

I hope to outlive my first hollowpoint in the magazine. But if I ever do meet the wolf, I hope I shall spoil his fun.
It can happen to anyone, life throws curves.

[DrLewall]

Personally, I don't worry abt the "sheeple", not my job. Am not a babysitter.

[sass20485]

Foolish to think it can't happen, and my wife used to be in that crowd. When things did happen to a few people she knew and she had a close encounter herself, then things changed drastically. Now she won't let me leave the house without my " friend ". She is training to carry herself

[Pro2A]

I always tell people who are anti-ccw. "The chances of you getting injured or killed in an auto wreck are slim, but you still wear your seatbelt. It's the same with a CCW".

[Anubis]

Of the CCW'ers I know locally, 5 to be exact, only one of them isn't an Ostrich! He and I constantly reinforce one another.

The other 4, well... they all practice this:



That bothers me more than those that don't carry at all.

And all 4 of them will tell you that "I only carry when I think I'll need it".

Ask them this: "If you thought you really would need a weapon at a certain place, would you actually strap it on and go there or would you simply avoid that place?" Of course this is not a valid question for members of our armed forces. Probably most of us members of this forum carry when we don't expect to need it.

Sadly, most people believe it will never happen to them.

"Believe" in this case means "I think I know something (but I really don't)." I try hard to have no beliefs; either I know something or I don't know it.

I know I have never needed a weapon for self-defense in the last 40 years. I don't know whether I will need one 10 minutes from now. I know that, if I do need one, I will have it on me. It may or may not help me, but at least I have the option.