Curious about carrying

The easy answer is carry everywhere and everytime you can. If your workplace doesn’t allow it, leave it in your car (if legal and feasible) so at least you have it to/from work. When you do go out on the weekends (or after work) take it with you then.

The main thing is this. You never know when you are going to need it. There is a long line of folks who were the victim of a violent crime who say “I never thought that would happen here at this time”. If following the “rules of stupid” reliably kept us out of trouble, then no one would ever be the victim of a violent crime. So by carrying “all the time” (or at least whenever you can) you have a higher chance of having it when you need it.

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I see the concept of carry every day (which I do) as a way to ensure that I keep current on my firearm and self defense skills and cognizant of the world around me. In truth, most likely, based on where I live and my personal lifestyle, I figure my odds of being victimized by criminals is about the same as being struck by lightning. But I will be ready if it happens.

I sometimes marvel at how much fear and paranoia I see on these topic boards. For some people, who live in awful places, it’s justified. For others, it’s delusion.

Honestly? One of the reasons I carry is I enjoy shooting and I am good at it. I find it relaxing. I have been carrying long enough that I hardly notice I’m doing it anymore. Hardly.

Everyday carry isn’t for everyone, nor should it be. It’s a decision that you need to come to on your own. Honest personal reflection over time will lead you to a good decision that’s right for you.

I applaud you for taking the time to realistically consider what’s best for you!

Stay safe and alive out there.

[Edit: P.S. Safety is paramount. Safety is everything. Never neglect safety and never forget that handling and owning a firearm is a grave responsibility.]

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While I agree with you that everyday carry is not for everyone and every American has the right to decide what is right for them, I can not fathom even one instance in which doing so could be described as delusion.

If you can show me on a map ONE place in the USA that is 100% crimeless and where I can expect 0.000000000% chance of being under threat of death or bodily harm I’ll reconsider this.

I keep my car ver well maintained and that includes driving with good tires with plenty of thread life left. Every time I go out the chance of me having a blown tire are quite frankly REALLY small, actually I can’t remember the last time I had to change a tire. And yet since the chance is not 0% I do carry a spare. It is no extra effort in my part and gives me peace of mind. It’s certainly not delusional…

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Sorry you took offense to “delusional.” Maybe for you, it was a poor choice of words on my part. From my perspective, it was not.

Last year there were 19,000 victims of gun violence, making 2020 the most violent year of the past 20. Even with those “dire” statistics, an American citizen faced a one-six-thousandths of one-percent chance of being in a situation that would unquestionably justify use of your EDC. True, that’s less than the chance of getting struck by lightning, and I’ll own up to that, but I wouldn’t bank on those odds with a lottery ticket of funding my retirement…

On the other hand, during that same “violent” year, 675,000 Americans died of heart disease, 590,000 succumbed to cancer, 328,000 died of COVID, 156,000 died from strokes, and 97,000 expired due to diabetes.

Quite simply put, to me, and in my opinion, it is delusional and paranoid to believe that thugs and scofflaws are going to be the thing that ultimately sends you to your grave. Please feel free to disagree. That’s your choice.

Living in Code Yellow means paying attention to the real threats out there. Sadly, I see the majority of Americans cavalierly embracing without a second thought the real killers—fatty foods, soda pop, long commutes, driver inattention, inadequate exercise, high stress, etc.

Pay attention to your EDC for sure, but don’t forget about cardio, getting quality sleep and eating a sensible diet. Obsessing about those latter three things, statistically speaking, will go a lot farther toward adding more years to your life than obsessing over carrying every day will—again, in my opinion. But, as Americans, the choices you make are ultimately up to you.

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I do not take offense at anything. I feel there is no gain for expending energy being offended. I do believe that your use of the word delusional is woefully wrong. Therefore I will exercise my choice to disagree because in your argument the only number you are looking at to try to prove your flawed viewpoint is victims of gun violence? That is indeed a VERY narrow viewpoint and invalid in scope when making the decision to go through life lawfully armed.

How about we start thinking about real life and tally up:

-Sexual assaults?
-Attempted murders?
-Armed robbery?
-Criminal assaults that caused grave bodily harm?
-Domestic Violence and spousal abuse?
-General attacks with other weapons such as knives, fists, chairs, cars, all of which could be used as deadly weapons?
-Destruction and theft of property since in many states you actually CAN lawfully use deadly force to protect property.
-And the myriad of other criminal situations averted yearly by the lawful use of a gun by a law abiding citizen and most often not reported because folks do not want the hassle of dealing with the legal system?

Studies from many sources including the CDC show that anywhere from 500,000 to 2.5 million violent crimes are averted every year because of the lawful presence of a gun in the hands of a civilian.

So no, “delusional” is not a correct term at all regardless of how you try to quantify it. For the average citizen, the odds of undergoing a situation in which a handgun would be a useful tool to prevent death, great bodily harm, criminal sexual assault or loss of property to yourself or others are rather high in this country, and VERY high in many places in this country. Not all of us live in a delusional state that makes us feel otherwise.

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I can only imagine being one of those people and telling myself, “it couldn’t possibly happen to me.”

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I can’t imagine that. That’s why I carry. But being a crime victim isn’t what keeps me up at night…

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In your opinion. You’re welcome to it.

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FWIW, I was actually the intended victim of a violent crime once. The perpetrator chose poorly and paid dearly for his mistake. I did not have to use a weapon. Empty hands, training, and physical and mental superiority were more than adequate to end the encounter. Like I said to another guy here, being the victim of a violent crime is not something that keeps me up at night.

I can’t help but wonder how many times you have been the victim of violent crime since you seem to be peculiarly worried about it? Or is it simply a matter of conveying a sense of imminent danger to people because it’s good for your business?

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Happy anniversary @Enzo_T

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Good food for thought, appreciate different points which challenge and make us think more.

When it comes to statistics which are compelling, I might want to look at how many sources are calculating the same result and how credible they really are, such as “Americans citizen faced a one-six-thousandths of one-percent chance of being in a situation that would unquestionably justify use of your EDC”. Exactly who was measured? Where are they from? Devil in the details? All the stats in the world, but we only have one life.

Even if I found a credible source reading that statistic, I wouldn’t want to diminish or downplay “carrying”. I imagine some might be overly fearful or over do it, but I’m guessing those who do are not the majority of carriers. Maybe I missed something, I admit I didn’t read all the posts in this thread friends. I think if the pages of this “Community” are mainly about self-defense and firearms, it could come off as paranoia, but personally, I’ve never gotten that impression. I do see a lot of politics and religion - too much for my own taste, but that’s just me.

In certain areas in the U.S., and certain times of the day, I believe those percentages of violent attacks are higher. I should look it up, but when I’ve lived in those higher risk areas, been a victim, and have seen more (it changes you forever). It’s like a condom, rather have one and not need it, than need it and not have one. I sure feel a lot better “carrying” (both). Safety first.

Applaud you though for highlighting the health education, right on and easy to believe (it makes sense)! Peace.

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You can wonder all you want, I don’t need to defend my opinions to you beyond the facts I quoted. And I am worried about very little, if anything at all. I prefer to plan and train as opposed to worry, my dad always told me worrying is the mental workout of fools and simple-minded people.

I simply stated that your use of the word delusional does not meet the definition or even belong in the implied postulate. Not even a challenge to dispute this, all you have to do is look it up in an actual dictionary to understand this simple fact that in this context it is, at best, a poor choice.

But since you chose to defend it with a misleading “fact” and Chinese math I then felt compelled to provide other factors to back my disagreement with your word use and to debate this “fact” you quoted. You obviously can’t, so you try to divert with a personal attack since you question my business ethics which is absolutely uncalled for since you have never met me or have ANY ideas of my motivations. In summary, you have to resort to “wondering” about some made up theory to try to cast a negative light on truth you can’t debate. Sad…

So let’s reach an agreement since you are now personally attacking me and I will not fall for the bait. We can just let folks read your post and mine and make up their own minds. This is the last I have to say on the subject either way, though I’m sure it won’t be yours.

And to your last question, even if I even cared to answer you, reality is that I could tell you it has never happened or that I’m a decorated hero of many battles. On the Internet no one is credible beyond the thin veneer of words that come off their keyboard, so any posted assertions about my experience and background by me would be as meaningless and hollow as your assertions of your experience and “empty hands, training and physical and mental superiority” prowess. I spent decades moderating a highly known and respected national firearms online forum, and for every legit member we had on our roster we had to eject about 50 basement Keyboard/Video Game Ninjas. So there is that.

Cheers!

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Anyone seriously looking to educate themselves on this subject needs to read this paper. To date the most definitive study on the subject. You know it’s good since it is STILL being attacked and there are ongoing attempts at discrediting by just about all anti-2A organizations and politicians in the World. It’s 25+ years old and it’s still causing massive heartburn on those that choose to oppose our right to defend ourselves with a firearm. It is tough to defend emotionalism when faced by facts and science. You mention the authors names in conversation and anti-gun folks go into convulsions…

Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense with a Gun by Gary Kleck-Marc Gertz

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I guess 400 words counts as not falling for the bait?

What was it that Queen Gertrude said in Hamlet?

Cheers to you, too, sir!

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Thanks for a sober, non-emotional response.

Simply put, 19,000 victims of gun violence for 332 million American citizens. No, I didn’t roll everything in the kitchen sink in there because I don’t believe a firearm is the answer to everything in the kitchen sink.

The original topic of this thread was from a guy wondering whether he should carry every day. It’s a personal decision based on personal factors and personal opinions. I’m glad he’s giving it careful consideration.

I wish the topic would veer back to his very good question rather than getting bogged down in this sideshow of semantics. But that’s the nature of (anti)social media, isn’t it?

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National numbers are one thing but if you look at some hot spots in different states you have a better chance of having to use self defense than not. In my area there is some kind of crime - armed car jacking, purse snatching, shootings, armed robbery, or some kind of violent crime at least 3 to 4 times a week or more within less than a one mile radius. Unless I missed something it depends on the area you live in. I also understand that if you think your safe because you live in a secluded area I hope you are. The police are looking the other way for things like: racing motorcycles and cars all with very loud mufflers up and down the main streets in the same places every night. I asked one of the cops that shoot @ our club when he was going to retire, his answer was “ why it’s easy money cause they don’t want us to do anything anymore “ . Another out of town cop said “ it would be nice to do what we are paid to do but they will not let us “.
As long as your content about your condition I’m happy- happy for you. PS IN THE LAST 7 ± days there has been 2 shootings with one dead ( teenager ) one dead body found, stollen car attempt try ing to run some over a Woman to get away
Shot by the owner of the car, the car jacker had a gun but was unable to return fire. A woman mugged in a parking lot thrown to the ground getting a broken hip.
DID I MISS SOMETHING ???
:us::us::us:

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Same here where I live , the shootings are just about daily and getting closer to my area. All you hear is police runs from the time you wake up until you go to bed. I’ve lived here all my life and it’s getting where you get selective as to where you go anymore. Situational awareness is getting to be a must just about every day

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I never suggested that. Did you even read, or did you just come here to bully me?

Oh, I guess you just came here to bully me.

Nice try…again…

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Again, more projection, Dave. Google it.

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I’ll offer this to the discussion—

Currently open carry is illegal in CA outside of hunting season.
Our Sheriff prefers CCW holders to everyday carry, however concealed means concealed
Deputies I know tell me if they see someone with a handgun or even see evidence of a handgun(like ammo) during a traffic stop it throws a whole different light (and not a good light) on the situation.

I don’t know how it is in other states or jurisdictions, but around here if you carry, carry concealed and you’ll likely be OK. The thing is to have confidence in your efforts to conceal.

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