Here’s why @KevinM carries:
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The first time you bump into someone you don’t know and find out you arrested them years earlier is a good reason to carry. Or bumping into anyone you had an encounter with that did not work out the way they wanted can be the reason.
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I must admit, I was surprised at the beginning of this. I’m not sure if that’s why he carries and what the connection is to his brother’s death.
Why I carry is a bit simpler. I have some skills that will edge me closer to a fair fight. I’m still well behind the power curve — what we call the general advantage of an attacker who has the element of surprise in his/ her favor. I know I lose a gun fight if the attacker has anywhere near above average skill. I can’t change that, so I find peace with it.
I work harder on avoidance than shooting though that’s my big advantage.
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Great work !! I like your message here. Well done.
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I’ve always been a gun owner/enthusiast and at points had considered doing the paperwork to conceal carry but never actually pulled the trigger (pun intended), even after my incident where I had to defend myself.
However several years ago, when an employee who had been suspended and was going through some mental issues (real ones that the legal system mandated evaluations for), suddenly was standing in my office wanting to talk to me about his suspension and what it meant for his job and then later that evening he was arrested at a local bar for brandishing, carrying without a proper license, threatening/intimidating, etc. I thought holy smokes, he’s already walked up into my office in which he had to walk past several security guards/measures…what if this guy rolled up on me and my family somewhere in town!? I’m ok risking it at work, but I’m not willing to let my family share that risk.
That’s when I decided to get my conceal carry permit…and shortly after that I started mentally going through the various scenarios and I recalled the aftermath of my first incident and started thinking about how lucky I got (small country town, several LEO acquaintances) and thought if I’m going to start protecting myself and family from deadly physical threats with deadly force, then I need some protection/help to fend off any over zealous prosecutors and/or frivolous lawsuits from the attacker and/or their family and that’s when I joined USCCA. And I’ve been training ever since.
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I started carrying because one day I got a call saying “I’m going to kill you “. Within two weeks, I had attended CCW class. Already had a cpl weapons and still keep them beside me or IWB when I’m out.
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I always liked weapons from a historical/enthusiast perspective. Then, one day I looked around, and the world was a scary, unsafe place, where it was rapidly becoming clear that the police and rules of normal conduct could not be counted on to keep myself and my family safe.
So I decided that I would.
Recently, I found out that one of our churches in another town (not a major metropolis, just another small city in New Mexico) had a guy come in with a gun to kill the pastor, and the only one who could do anything about it was the pastor’s son, who tackled the guy. I understand that this sort of thing is happening more and more lately, but to quote Yoda, “Not if anything I have to say about it.”
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As a Corrections Officer I have first hand knowledge of the crimes being committed and the people who commit them. And you make enemies whether real or imagined on the inmates part.
I have had to deal with four different people who went to prison for life for First Degree Murder, you are polite to them but NEVER turn your back on them.
Besides that, just because I can and it just makes sense.
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I carry because the world can be dangerous place. Bad people do bad things, and when they do they do those bad things to you, they do them TO YOU! Not to the police or the neighborhood or the community. If it happens, it happens to you, just you. For those moments, in the midst of the event, you and the attacker(s) are the whole universe. The goal is to survive, by any means possible, until “the community” can arrive. I intend to give myself a chance at that survival.
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One day my wife was watching the news and a report about a man threatening a clerk in a convenience store with a hatchet came on. The hatchet wielding man was shot by a patron who was carrying. She turned to me and said, “OK, now I get it.”
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I carry because, I’ve lived long enough to see there is actual, real evil in this world. I refuse to be a helpless victim of that evil.
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I carry for a variety of reasons,
- My family, they mean everything to me.
- Physically, I can no longer protect me and mine the way I could when I was younger.
The reasons I gave are the entire reason I joined the USCCA in first place. I stay because of the USCCA’s people.
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- Stalkers. People who are not rational and cannot be expected to make rational or reasonable choices. People who will seek to punish you and yours for things they imagine you did.
- People with poor impulse control or anger issues. There are a lot people who are not properly housebroken and many of them are younger or stronger or bigger or faster than me.
- Leverage matters. I can improve the odds of protecting myself and those I love by developing skills and having tools that provide leverage I don’t otherwise have.
- Because it is my right to do so. Rights that are not actively pursued are lost.
There are some incidents that have left a mark… a woman raped and her head bashed in on a sidewalk in NYC and nobody intervened, random robberies where someone is killed after giving over their money, a home invasion not too far from us where an elderly lady was nearly beaten to death by a teenage couple. I think about those things and think what if I had been there, what if I was not prepared. For me the thing that gives me restless nights is how would I feel if I had been there and unable to do anything to help. That’s a kind of helplessness I am not ok with.
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I believe that my life has value, and I carry a tool that enables me to protect that value.
I see a lot of other outstanding reasons to carry listed here!
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Defending my wife & sons is like 50% of the reason why I carry. In defense of others & myself, the 2nd Amendment, biblical, & natural rights are the other 50%. It sounds strange but I never cared about concealed carry until I became a husband & dad. It was always on my To-Do List as a single guy certainly, but never a priority. 
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Pretty sure that others have that same experience. Many of my gentlemen friends have said that making those commitments, and holding their child for the first time can really reorganize your brain in some essential chemical ways. I think it can bring out the protector/provider in ways that are hard to think yourself through, ways that plug into species chemistry.
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I agree. My thoughts did shift from me to we.
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My reasons:
(1) It’s my Second Amendment Right.
(2) I carry to protect my loved ones and myself…last.
(3) I’ve had two cases where by the grace of God nobody was hurt. However had I not had my Glock 17 one time and my Girlfriends Leahs Glock that morning I could be dead and my whole family on the first instant.
I’ve gave my testimony on the first scenario find it under “Not Today”
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My wife and I live just 100 miles from the Mexico border. If you’ve ever watched Douglas Decotes utube channel you’ll see what’s happening on the border right now. The cartel controls everyone coming into the US. Each person that comes across the border pays $50k to $80k to the cartel. A very large percentage of those people head to Houston and then to the north and east coast. The road that goes to Houston from the border comes within just a few miles of where we live. Very easy for them to stop off for something to eat or to spend the night. Therefore I carry everywhere I go. Never know when someone is going to knock on the door or worse yet, knock the door down and walk in. In fact I don’t know anyone in our town that doesn’t carry. It has become a way of life 24/7.
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Spot on comment. Ignoring the fact that evil doesn’t exist isn’t going to change that fact. Your last sentence is the same reason I carry and have for the last 56 years. Hell on earth would be, knowing you are about to become a victim and not being able to do anything about it.
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