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Most compelling reason for obtaining concealed carry permit.

  • Exercising Right to Bear Arms

    Votes: 182 53.2%
  • Live in High Crime Area

    Votes: 7 2.0%
  • Live Near High Crime Area

    Votes: 23 6.7%
  • Work Related Dangers

    Votes: 19 5.6%
  • Victim of Crime

    Votes: 16 4.7%
  • Other: Please Explain

    Votes: 95 27.8%

Reason for Concealed Carry

18K views 117 replies 111 participants last post by  SubNine 
#1 ·
I have to admit that curiosity is getting the best of me. What was the most compelling reason that led you to obtain a concealed carry permit?
 
#3 ·
A death threat, then VT sealed the deal.
 
#45 ·
Yes, of COURSE that's a trite answer, EVERYONE loves their wife and daughter. Duh - I think everyone should carry, too!
:yup:

And my neighbor and the other innocent people that might be around me, and....

I voted other. I carry for the same reason I joined the USMC.

What's the connection?

I believe that I am under a Christian obligation to respond with whatever tools I have to protect the lives of my family and other innocent people.

The constitution confirms my God given/ natural right to keep and bear arms -- however it is not a reason to carry. My constitutional RKBA is a recognition of my responsibility for my own safety and the safety of others.

Also, my constitutional RKBA provides me the access to tools to exercise that responsibility.

As a Lutheran pastor point out to me, it is the absolute moral responsibility of every Christian to protect those for whom he/she is responsible. Simply put, that means that my responsibility as a Christian to protect my children and wife, from harmed, as I am charged with their well-being.

Luther liked to refer to other people as my "neighbor." In addition, when it comes to my neighbor's welfare, I am to be concerned with his/her welfare that I am willing to protect them in both body and possessions. Therefore, if someone is seeking to harm my neighbor -- whoever that may be -- it is my duty as Christian to seek my neighbor's best interests and do what is necessary to protect those interests.

From there it's not too difficult to see that if my family's lives are in jeopardy, I am under Christian obligation to respond with whatever tools I have to protect their lives.

The Roman Catholic Church has said, “In a world marked by evil and sin, the right of legitimate defense by armed means exists. This right can become a serious duty for those who are responsible for the lives of others, for the common good of the family or of the civil community.” [Pontifical Council for Peace and Justice, The International Arms Trade: An Ethical Reflection (Vatican City: Liberia Editrice Vaticana, 1994), ch 1, sect. 5, at 12.]

Theologians J. P. Moreland and Norman Geisler say "to permit murder when one could have prevented it is morally wrong. To allow a rape when one could have hindered it is an evil. To watch an act of cruelty to children without trying to intervene is morally inexcusable. In brief, not resisting evil is an evil of omission, and an evil of omission can be just as evil as an evil of commission.”

Most telling to the American conscience, the eminent Baptist Minister and the father of the American nonviolent movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., also supported the use of a gun in self-defense.
"Finally, I contended that the debate over the question of self-defense was unnecessary since few people suggested that ******* should not defend themselves as individuals when attacked. The question was not whether one should use his gun when his home was attacked, but whether it was tactically wise to use a gun while participating in an organized demonstration." Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? Chapter II, Black Power, Page 27, Harper & Row Publishers Inc., First Edition, 1967.

I voted "other" because we all have a moral obligation which that tool helps us fulfill.
 
#6 ·
RKBA is the 'umbrella' reason I carry...BG's everywhere in society and crime reports make SD important to me.
 
#7 ·
Are you taking our CC confessions today?

I should start by saying that I didn't grow up around guns and lived my life just fine without ever firing one until I reached my early to forties. So there I was, living my sheepish existance. Gradually, I became aware that I was getting older, slower and feeling more vulnerable when out and about. The feeling was strongest at bank ATMs, leaving restaurants with my wife in the dark, and walking through parking garages. I was not personally the victim of any crime or threats. The rise of Jihadist violence around the world and the 9/11/2001 attacks here in the USA also weighed into my decision. As a Jew, I felt like a potential terrorist target, especially when attending synagogue or other Jewish community functions. So I got my permit and started carrying when these feelings got strong enough that I could no longer ignore them.

A couple of months after starting to carry, our adult daughter and a group of her friends were robbed at gunpoint in an outdoor picnic area inside an apartment complex. Her bad experience cemented my resolve to carry whenever legal to do so and also convinced my wife that it was the right thing for me to do.
 
#9 ·
I voted other. I have varied reasons for concealed carry. Mostly it's my Constitutional right to keep and bear arms. However, personal safety would be the most valid reason. I have the right to self protection from anyone who may want to injure or kill me, a loved one or anyone for that matter.

I don't live in a high crime area, but crime is creeping in, mostly home invasion. Walking around my area is resonably safe, but like some one here says, crime can happen "anytime, anywhere, any place". I have yet to be a victim of crime, but why wouldn't I want to be prepared in case of it? That is the reason why I want the permit to carry a concealed weapon, because you never know when it will happen.
 
#10 ·
Carrying is not a political act for me. I'm not doing it to make a "statement". I don't carry as a result of a specific criminal act, although I've been an intended target before. I don't live or work in a high crime area, or engage in inherently hazardous activities. The odds are great that I'll never again have to draw a weapon to defend myself or anyone else.

It's just a matter of common sense. I can't control when or where an act of violence may be directed against me or my loved ones. It's a logical act to take prudent measures of self-protection. In the grand scheme of things, it costs me very little to be prepared, but the cost of failing to be so is incredibly high.
 
#12 ·
you never know when or where a BG will be. i don't worry to much about my house because i have 7 dogs and 3 of them will bite you. you just have to figure out which 3 are the mean ones.

also the more people that are willing to exercise their right to carry and defend themselves the harder it will be for the goverment to take our right away. i never really had an interest in carrying before this new goverment took over but now i feel i need to exercise my right and do my part to help keep our rights. i hope i'm worrying over something that will never become an issue. i never grew up with guns in our house but we're going to take some courses and teach my kids about guns and that guns aren't the problem, bad people are.
 
#13 ·
I don't really need to carry now and don't. The only reason for the CCW, is that it takes over 90 days to get one. If I need to carry for some reason, I probably can't wait out the 90 days.

Reasons I'd start carry? If crime picked up near where I work; if there was a stalker situation or another drug dealer moved in down the street or next door (neighboorhood is relatively good atm).

Carry isn't very practical for me as I can't carry at work or anywhere my wife and I would go except a shopping mall. We avoid the shopping malls where guns are called for.

(Yes, anything can happen anywhere. Its all a trade-off risk/reward decision people must make for themselves).
 
#51 ·
Reasons I'd start carry? If crime picked up near where I work; if there was a stalker situation or another drug dealer moved in down the street or next door (neighboorhood is relatively good atm).

I've always noticed them to be ok neighboors. They're quiet, keep to themselves, and generally help to keep robberies and such down where they live. Too many cops around are generally bad for business ya know.. Not saying I approve of their employment choice, just my $.02..
 
#14 ·
In my professional life I have to deal with the best and worse society has to offer. Sometimes those who lead themselves toward the worse of society don't remember much of the time they spent with me. They do remember my face, and they remember some how I was involved in the night they get arrested. Then they see me in the street and think i'm one of the cops that got them in trouble. (The drugs and illegal behavior didn't have anything to do with it of course.)

I have to see the random violence.

I have to serve restraining orders to people who think it's ok to beat their wives.

And I have come to realize that law enforcement and goverment officals won't be there when I need them. On average where I live it takes the 911 Center 3 mins to get a call in and get the police units rolling to the location of the emergency. Thats a lot of time to have to deal with a bad apple. In fact it's 2 min and 59 seconds to long.

Thats why I carry concealed.
 
#16 ·
mainly now to exercise my right, also I do believe that any that can call/calls himself a gentleman should carry, same applies for ladies.
 
#17 ·
I voted other, only because most of the choices are correct. Its my right, I live NEAR high crime area, work related, and I have had to use it which prevented myself from becoming a victim. But mostly I carry for my safty, my familys safty, and because I just feel "naked" without it.
 
#18 ·
I once thought that the whole world was getting crazier by the day.

After I became a Deputy Sheriff 10 years ago, it wasn't long after that I became completely convinced that it is a fact.

I have been a CHL Instructor since 95'. Although I carried, I didn't feel the need to carry everywhere.

I have since matured.

A couple of eye opening experiences along the way convinced me to never leave home without it, because the one time you leave it at the house because you are just going to Walmart or the PDQ for a couple of minutes is the one time you will need it.

Violence is going to happen somewhere. Whether you will be involved or not is probably not a matter of "if" but likely a matter of "when".

I used to think that living in small town America where everyone knows everyone that I was somewhat shielded from the stuff that we always read about or see on TV happening some where else. At one time that may have actually been true.

Now that we have a whole generation of people that have learned to live without respect for anything,that is no longer the case.

If you see me, I'm totin.


That's just the way its gonna be.:comeandgetsome:
 
#22 ·
...

I have matured.
...

Violence is going to happen somewhere. Whether you will be involved or not is probably not a matter of "if" but likely a matter of "when".

I used to think that living in small town America where everyone knows everyone that I was somewhat shielded from the stuff that we always read about or see on TV happening some where else. At one time that may have actually been true.

Now that we have a whole generation of people that have learned to live without respect for anything,that is no longer the case.

If you see me, I'm totin.


That's just the way its gonna be.:comeandgetsome:

Well, I edited HotGuns' post down and that sums it up for me. Of course the 2nd is the blanket.
 
#19 ·
I chose right to keep and bear arms as the reason I got my CCW permit.

Some of the other reasons fit why I have guns. I did not all of a sudden gain the ability to have a weapon with my permit. I only gained the right to carry it on my person.

I always wanted to get a permit. Then one of my friends signed up and I decided to take the class with him. I wanted to be sure to get a permit right away in case the right to have one was taken away, or if the powers that be chose to stop issuing Concealed Carry permits.
 
#21 ·
I carry for the same reason I keep a spare car key in my wallet. I wil not call AAA because I locked myself out of my car, and I absolutely refuse to wait for some one else to save me if my life is in danger. It only makes sense to be prepared for contingencies.

I used to think I was tough enough and mean enough to handle just about anything bare handed. Now though, I am less willing to take a beating (or worse) to find out that I'm wrong.
 
#23 ·
Ditto, I am now too old to properly defend myself--

About 25 years ago, My Wife and I rode our bikes for exercise around our rural neighborhood. After being cursed , run off the road, having some objects thrown at us, I started open carrying a 38 Combat Commander--most of the crap stopped immediately !!! Amazing isn't it ? Just a little show of force will go a long way.


By JofrdoGradually, I became aware that I was getting older, slower and feeling more vulnerable when out and about.
 
#24 ·
I voted other. Could have voted for a couple but it seems the most important reason was left out. "Defending myself and loved ones"
 
#25 ·
Other

Had to put other, guess it could fit in RTBA. Have a family and wish to be able to keep them and myself safe if needed. I shot a good bit before I had a permit, just kind of made sense. I do run into a few people that may be violent and like to go to the cities for outings, sports, shows, dinner etc... Never know if you will be random when random violence occurs.
 
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