Why do you need to carry a gun?

[XponentialChaos]

If your gun is comfortably holstered, then why not carry it while you're mowing the back lawn? What if a snake jumps out at you?

 

[K9Buck]

Why don't you carry a gun when you're in your home or doing yard work? What if someone breaks into your house while you're on the toilet? Then what are you going to do? Better safe than sorry, no?

See, we both agree that there are times that carrying a gun is excessive. I think it's excessive to check your mail with a gun.

It's extremely unlikely that anyone is breaking into my home, especially considering that I have two large, German Shepherds with very inhospitable attitudes. I also have outdoor security cameras (Ring).

When I leave my home, I'm at the mercy of any thug that decides he's going to rob me of my car, possessions or my life. The first two I could handle, losing my life would have a devastating impact on my children's future. I don't carry for me, I carry for them.

Why is a woman carrying pepper spray NOT paranoid but a guy who carries a gun IS paranoid?

 

[K9Buck]

XponentialChaos

Have you ever shot a handgun?

Yes.

Ok. Many haven't. I often encourage such people to visit a gun range once in their lives and shoot a gun or two. Consider it a bucket-list thing.

Some handguns are large, heavy and would be quite uncomfortable to try and carry concealed. I keep such a gun in the armrest of my car, but the one I carry is quite small. Fully loaded, my carry weapon weighs only 20 ounces.

 

[XponentialChaos]

Why don't you carry a gun when you're in your home or doing yard work? What if someone breaks into your house while you're on the toilet? Then what are you going to do? Better safe than sorry, no?

See, we both agree that there are times that carrying a gun is excessive. I think it's excessive to check your mail with a gun.

It's extremely unlikely that anyone is breaking into my home, especially considering that I have two large, German Shepherds with very inhospitable attitudes. I also have outdoor security cameras (Ring).

When I leave my home, I'm at the mercy of any thug that decides he's going to rob me of my car, possessions or my life. The first two I could handle, losing my life would have a devastating impact on my children's future. I don't carry for me, I carry for them.

Why is a woman carrying pepper spray NOT paranoid but a guy who carries a gun IS paranoid?

It's extremely unlikely that someone breaks into your home. But it's not extremely unlikely that someone tries to murder you while you pick up your mail????

I think women are far more likely to run into dangerous men who have incentive to do something terrible to them. Especially pretty women.

 

[XponentialChaos]

XponentialChaos

Have you ever shot a handgun?

Yes.

Ok. Many haven't. I often encourage such people to visit a gun range once in their lives and shoot a gun or two. Consider it a bucket-list thing.

Some handguns are large, heavy and would be quite uncomfortable to try and carry concealed. I keep such a gun in the armrest of my car, but the one I carry is quite small. Fully loaded, my carry weapon weighs only 20 ounces.

Meh. It's neat, I guess.

 

[Hale]

If you need evidence of the wisdom of carrying a weapon, you need look no further than this Forum. Mental instability is extremely common today - consider these multiple posts over the course of just a few minutes, then remember this person likely carries the same confrontational attitude when he leaves the keyboard.

Will he snap and do something crazy? It seems quite likely...

It's extremely unlikely that someone breaks into your home. But it's not extremely unlikely that someone tries to murder you while you pick up your mail????

Walking to the mailbox with a gun seems excessive to me.
Do you guys take a shit with your guns too?

I'm curious if you guys are so paranoid that you feel the need to carry a gun EVERYWHERE you go.

Is there ever a moment you DON'T carry a gun?

Do you carry your gun when you're in your backyard or when you're in your home?

If your gun is comfortably holstered, then why not carry it while you're mowing the back lawn? What if a snake jumps out at you?

 

[K9Buck]

It's extremely unlikely that someone breaks into your home. But it's not extremely unlikely that someone tries to murder you while you pick up your mail????

We have a community mailbox and our neighborhood is relatively safe. I am usually in my car when I check the mail which means that I am already carrying and, if not, I still have the gun in my armrest that I mentioned a moment ago.

Look, I get it. You think carrying a gun is excessive and those that do are paranoid. How do you reconcile your attitude with the fact that many people lose their lives because they lacked the means to protect themselves? For that matter, why are you willing to put yourself at the mercy of every human being you encounter? Why do you believe that "it" can never happen to you? Are you surrounded by an army of armed bodyguards like elite, anti-gun liberals are?

 

[XponentialChaos]

If you need evidence of the wisdom of carrying a weapon, you need look no further than this Forum. Mental instability is extremely common today - consider these multiple posts over the course of just a few minutes, then remember this person likely carries the same confrontational attitude when he leaves the keyboard.

Will he snap and do something crazy? It seems quite likely...

It's extremely unlikely that someone breaks into your home. But it's not extremely unlikely that someone tries to murder you while you pick up your mail????

Walking to the mailbox with a gun seems excessive to me.
Do you guys take a shit with your guns too?

I'm curious if you guys are so paranoid that you feel the need to carry a gun EVERYWHERE you go.

Is there ever a moment you DON'T carry a gun?

Do you carry your gun when you're in your backyard or when you're in your home?

If your gun is comfortably holstered, then why not carry it while you're mowing the back lawn? What if a snake jumps out at you?

Watch out. People who disagree with you are out there and ready to pounce.

BOO!

 

[K9Buck]

Meh. It's neat, I guess.

Well, if they're going to rail on internet message boards about the danger of carrying a gun, it would probably behoove them to learn something about guns.

 

[XponentialChaos]

It's extremely unlikely that someone breaks into your home. But it's not extremely unlikely that someone tries to murder you while you pick up your mail????

We have a community mailbox and our neighborhood is relatively safe. I am usually in my car when I check the mail which means that I am already carrying and, if not, I still have the gun in my armrest that I mentioned a moment ago.

Look, I get it. You think carrying a gun is excessive and those that do are paranoid. How do you reconcile your attitude with the fact that many people lose their lives because they lacked the means to protect themselves? For that matter, why are you willing to put yourself at the mercy of every human being you encounter? Why do you believe that "it" can never happen to you? Are you surrounded by an army of armed bodyguards like elite, anti-gun liberals are?

Some people also accidentally discharge their firearms and cause themselves, or worse yet, their families harm. Do you feel the need to reconcile your attitude for those people? I don't and I doubt you do either.

I get if people want to defend themselves. Have at it. But yes, I think it's excessive when people are LITERALLY sleeping with a gun under their pillow, you know, just in case. That seems like excessive paranoia to me. As does checking your mailbox armed.

Something may happen to me, but if it does, it will be extremely unlikely. I live in a safe neighborhood of a safe city. I choose not to associate myself with dangerous people and I don't put myself in dangerous situations. That's good enough for me.

 

[XponentialChaos]

Meh. It's neat, I guess.

Well, if they're going to rail on internet message boards about the danger of carrying a gun, it would probably behoove them to learn something about guns.

I don't think a person needs to shoot a gun in order to form an opinion about guns. There isn't much to it.

 

[Pogo]

Not long ago, I walked to the mailbox, and along my route I saw a Copperhead snake. For those who are uninformed about this particular snake, it is venomous. A healthy adult probably will not die from the bite, providing that they receive medical attention promptly. However, children, and elderly, will find the bite far more deadly. Not to mention pets. Everyone on my street has dogs, and I have cats as well. Additionally my neighbor is in his 80’s, and he would probably find the bite life threatening.

So this snake was a danger to my pets, my neighbors, and the children who live a quarter mile away.

I pulled the pistol I habitually carry, and shot the snake. I was in my yard, in my neighborhood, if you can call it a neighborhood to live in such a rural area. Yet I was armed, because this is not the first wildlife threat I’ve found myself facing. We also have Wild Boar, which are very aggressive and potentially dangerous or deadly. Coyotes are heard from time to time as they roam along the wooded areas that take up a vast majority of the space out here.

I did not go looking for the snake. I did not go out of my way searching for it. I found it on my normal path, walking to the mailbox in my rural area, on my land. In my yard, the area with grass and such.

So why carry a gun? Because if I had to turn around and rush to the house to get the pistol, the snake may have moved, and been difficult, or impossible to locate. Perhaps he would have returned to the woods, where I sometimes walk, to check the property, but never in a hunting frame of mind. That snake might have bitten my dog, my cats, or my neighbors pets. It might have bitten my neighbor, the old man who has his mailbox positioned next to mine. It might have bitten a child. The best you could hope for is an expensive trip to the Emergency Room, sucking your cash out to pay for the care you would need to minimize the danger.

There is much truth in the old saying. It is better to have, and not need, than to need and not have. There are. Probably a dozen more Copperheads within two hundred yards of where I sit. In the woods, or marshy areas. Hunting and living, and just as much of a danger to the neighborhood as the one I shot. I did not break the law. In Georgia, you can kill venomous snakes, but not non venomous snakes. The experts tell you to take two steps back, and run away if you come across one. That is not my way. It leaves the problem for another. It leaves the danger for my 80 year old neighbor, his dog, or the dogs two doors down who meander over to say hello now and then.

It leaves the danger for the children, who ride their bikes up and down the dirt road.

So why do you need to carry a gun? Because there are more dangers than the odd robbery, or attempted murder. Because the world is filled with threats, two legged, four legged, and even no legs at all. With a gun, you have a much better chance of survival than without. With a gun, you do not guarantee survival, but you increase your odds dramatically.

Yes, accidents are going to happen, just as they do with cars and drivers. Yes, people are going to use the gun to criminally harm another. And yes, people who have guns are going to die before they can get the thing into play. I didn’t say it was a miracle answer, I just said it increases your odds of survival. No one can guarantee your safety or protection. The best that they, or I, can do is give you a fighting chance at survival. Be it from a Copperhead, or a Shitheaded thug. If you choose to take no action to protect yourself, that is your choice, and I’ll respect it. But do not try and take that right from others, because I won’t respect that.

I live in a similar area. We have snakes here but not Copperheads, innocuous ones. We do have black bear and can often hear coyotes yipping, quite close. I hear tell there's mountain lion.

The only guns I have or wish to have are staple guns and caulking guns. Ones for purposes of construction, not destruction. I just can't go through life looking over my shoulder for "threats" --- wouldn't ever want to live that way. If I ever felt I "needed" to walk around packing, that would seem the time to turn it on myself because what's the point.

But you can understand why people have guns.. are you swear of American history? Your post was selfish

Umm...yyyyyyeah I am "swear of American history" whatever the fuck that means. Have another snort of Drano.

 

[Hale]

Watch out. People who disagree with you are out there and ready to pounce.
BOO!

As much as you like to paint armed Americans as trigger-happy nut jobs, the truth is quite the opposite. I've carried a handgun for over 40 years, and have met and interacted with many, many people who are also advocates. I've never met a single one who was scared; they are universally just ordinary, level-headed people who believe in planning ahead. They do the same thing in other areas of their lives, and are some of the most confident, prosperous people you'll ever meet.

Sadly I can't say the same for knee-jerk, mocking anti gun folks like yourself. They tend to be belligerent, bigoted, unpredictable (even to themselves), and not infrequently prone to rage and violence.

 

[XponentialChaos]

Watch out. People who disagree with you are out there and ready to pounce.
BOO!

As much as you like to paint armed Americans as trigger-happy nut jobs

I don't recall doing that.

 

[K9Buck]

I don't think a person needs to shoot a gun in order to form an opinion about guns.

I agree. With that said, some very prominent gun-control advocates have made some staggeringly ignorant and factually incorrect statements on guns. You'd think they would go and learn something about them.

 

[K9Buck]

Something may happen to me, but if it does, it will be extremely unlikely. I live in a safe neighborhood of a safe city. I choose not to associate myself with dangerous people and I don't put myself in dangerous situations. That's good enough for me.

The odds are always with you. Choosing whether or not to carry a gun is sort of like choosing whether or not to carry homeowner's insurance. Are homeowner's who voluntarily carry homeowner's insurance paranoid?

 

[XponentialChaos]

I don't think a person needs to shoot a gun in order to form an opinion about guns.

I agree. With that said, some very prominent gun-control advocates have made some staggeringly ignorant and factually incorrect statements on guns. You'd think they would go and learn something about them.

"Assault rifles", "Automatic Weapons".

Meh. I think it's often just brought up as an excuse to avoid discussing the topic at hand.

 

[XponentialChaos]

Something may happen to me, but if it does, it will be extremely unlikely. I live in a safe neighborhood of a safe city. I choose not to associate myself with dangerous people and I don't put myself in dangerous situations. That's good enough for me.

The odds are always with you. Choosing whether or not to carry a gun is sort of like choosing whether or not to carry homeowner's insurance. Are homeowner's who voluntarily carry homeowner's insurance paranoid?

My mortgage lender requires me to have home insurance.

I don't think it's paranoia to voluntarily carry home insurance. I think it's smart to protect your investments from natural disasters.

 

[K9Buck]

I don't think a person needs to shoot a gun in order to form an opinion about guns.

I agree. With that said, some very prominent gun-control advocates have made some staggeringly ignorant and factually incorrect statements on guns. You'd think they would go and learn something about them.

"Assault rifles", "Automatic Weapons".

Meh. I think it's often just brought up as an excuse to avoid discussing the topic at hand.

You'd be surprised.

Top 10 Most Idiotic Anti-Gun Quotes from Politicians

 

[K9Buck]

My mortgage lender requires me to have home insurance.

Do you understand the definition of "voluntarily" or did you simply miss it?

Are homeowner's who voluntarily carry homeowner's insurance paranoid?[/QUOTE]