Guns, Bows, Shooting Sports, and Hunting Why I carry

[B.G. Smith]

Subject: Why I Carry a Gun?





My Dad said,' Son, there comes a time in every man's life when he stops bustin' knuckles and starts bustin' *** and usually it's when he becomes too old to take a butt whoopin'.



I don't carry a gun to kill people.

I carry a gun to keep from being killed.



I don't carry a gun to scare people.

I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.



I don't carry a gun because I'm paranoid.

I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.



I don't carry a gun because I'm evil.

I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.



I don't carry a gun because I hate the government.

I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.



I don't carry a gun because I'm angry.

I carry a gun so that I don't have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.



I don't carry a gun because I want to shoot someone.

I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.



I don't carry a gun because I'm a cowboy.

I carry a gun because, when I die and go to heaven, I want to be a cowboy.



I don't carry a gun to make me feel like a man.

I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.



I don't carry a gun because I feel inadequate.

I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.



I don't carry a gun because I love it.

I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.



Police Protection is an oxymoron. Free citizens must protect themselves.

Criminals make it a point to be where the Police aren't. They are more successful that way.



Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take a butt whoopin'.



. . author unknown (but obviously brilliant)











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[Ducman82]

THanks for that post. I love that. I carry a gun, because a cop it to heavy!

 

[2Rowdy]

How wild. I got that in a email about 9:30 this morning.

 

[AzCattle]

I carry because I live on the US/Mexican border with cartels and middle eastern folks crossing illegally daily through our ranches and I am the only line of defense for my family. If the city folks only knew what comes across that border!

 

[JA1]

I dont give a rats *** what the law is where I live(misdemeanor to carry a loaded firearm and a felony to carry a concealed knife). It is a god given right to protect my family and myself from some scum bag who wants to get in my business. Sorry for the cliche but I would rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6.

 

[DPellegrin]

Mr. Smith,



I never quite understood the message in the quote: "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" But I understand now!!



Take time to find out who the victims of gun crime are! I can assure you it's not people like you. I can also assure you its not because you carry either!



Remember the old western movies. The "fastest gun" was the envy of all but the moral of the story was there is ALWAYS someone faster. Let's hope you don't meet that person some day!



Regards

 

[B.G. Smith]

I didn't respond to your post immediately because I thought there would surely be some young person full of spit and vinegar who would defend me. But like in real life, you can't always depend on that happening. I don't know how it is in Minnesota but here where I live I read in the news and see on television every day where someone is mugged in the local department store parking lot or someone was lurking near their driveway when they returned home and they were robbed and beaten or even killed. Right now there are people in this area who are ringing door bells and telling the occupants that they are having trouble delivering a package and when the door is opened they forcefully enter and rob the homeowner. And another group is gaining entrance to homes by saying they are from FEMA (we recently had a hurricane) and the end result is the same. Often some of these people are cought and taken to the jail out on the highway, unfortunately they are usually back on the street before the arresting officer has finished the paperwork on the case. A few years back a nut drove his truck through the wall of a restaurant here in Texas, got out and systematically executed about 26 people because no one was armed. Last month, my wife and I were getting ready for a trip across a few states, a man I know who has been is law enforcement his entire adult life ( he is in his 60s now) asked me if I had a gun and that if I didn't he would loan me one, he said he would not get out on the highway without one. I don't carry because I want to harm someone, rather I carry to keep someone from harming me or my family. Have a nice day. bg

 

[BTighe]

i carry because my enemies may carry. ive never had to show my weapon. i hope i never have to. i have a wife and child who depend on me to survive. if me finding my way home means defending my life by taking another, the only thing i will feel is sorrow for the criminal followed by recoil.

 

[DPellegrin]

Gentlemen-

I certainly respect your right for you to handle your gun within the law. I only ask you to look at the facts. The FBI says that if you keep a gun in your home, it is (5) times more likely for that gun to kill or injure you or a family member than it is for that gun to be used in some lawful act.



If you think you are in control of every situation all the time, don't be nieve! What is predictable is preventable.



Respectfully,

 

[Troubleshooter]

A good quotation that I heard today: "Remember the average response time to a 911 call is over 4 minutes. The average response time of a 357 magnum is 1400 FPS. " Although out my way, the average response time is probably closer to 15 minutes.



I remember the example(Luby's Cafeteria) that Mr. Smith mentioned. Wasn't there that day but was in the area.



I carry to protect myself and others; always have and always will. Only difference now is that there's no longer a machine-gunner in overwatch.

 

[SRadke]

Gentlemen-

The FBI says that if you keep a gun in your home, it is (5) times more likely for that gun to kill or injure you or a family member than it is for that gun to be used in some lawful act.

If we don't consider hunting as a "lawful act" then I believe this is an accurate statistic. I do believe however this statistic could and would be greatly reduced with just a small amount of firearm education.



-Scott

 

[JLEONARD]

I have a permit and some decent handguns...

but I don't carry because I am hard pressed to remember a time when I felt truely threatened.

 

[AKaiser]

If we don't consider hunting as a "lawful act" then I believe this is an accurate statistic. I do believe however this statistic could and would be greatly reduced with just a small amount of firearm education.



-Scott

That and the fact that the statistics are of a questionable value, if you consider how they are figured.

 

[CB HUNTER]

God Bless The Author!

 

[LBARTLETT]

I carry because it is my 2nd Amendment right, more so than healthcare, government bailouts, housing, welfare and on and on. Many of us have seen our 401k's vaporize while we have made our house payments, added to the Wall Street fiasco in now the big 3 want bailed out with a large portion of the $$$$'s going to the pension funds, where's the gov't with our 401k's, where was the gov't with those with Enron pensions that disappeared? what is different now? Sure, I feel sorry for anyone who loses their pension but it is not my job to bail out every company that someone chose to work for!!!

 

[fest3er]

Gentlemen-

I certainly respect your right for you to handle your gun within the law. I only ask you to look at the facts. The FBI says that if you keep a gun in your home, it is (5) times more likely for that gun to kill or injure you or a family member than it is for that gun to be used in some lawful act.



If you think you are in control of every situation all the time, don't be nieve! What is predictable is preventable.



Respectfully,

So. I've owned my Glock 17 for about 12 years now. By your quoted FBI statistic, I and many of my family and friends should be dead, maimed or scarred now. That isn't the case.



In the time I have owned my sidearm, it has put plenty of holes in targets, and two holes in one 'possum (you gotta shoot 'em in the head to make sure they're dead). The closest any live round has ever come to a human being is about three inches. From my hands on the grip as it left the muzzle.



As has often been said, all we have to fear is fear itself. Fear that something might go awry regardless of the probability of that happening is irrational. And there's far too much irrational fear and irrational thought in the world today.

 

[Bill Lins]

I'd rather have it & not need it than need it & not have it. Some of the areas I have to go to or through in the course of the day are not populated by the most law-abiding types & I'm way too old & cranky to take a whupping any more.

 

[Thunderbolt]

Mr. Smith,



I never quite understood the message in the quote: "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" But I understand now!!



Take time to find out who the victims of gun crime are! I can assure you it's not people like you. I can also assure you its not because you carry either!



Remember the old western movies. The "fastest gun" was the envy of all but the moral of the story was there is ALWAYS someone faster. Let's hope you don't meet that person some day!



Regards

First, Thanks to B. G. Smith for sharing the quote.



Next, DPelligrin:

I won't preach to you out of respect. But as with religion and politics, you keep yours, and I'll cling bitterly to mine.

I grew up with guns in the home since birth, forty-two years ago. My father was a police officer for 27 years. I have been a trooper for 21 years. I have owned my own guns since age 10, and hunted since 11 years of age. I have never trusted FBI statistics because I find that the government is using stats to justify its programs. Meaning how much money the agency gets to carry out their particular mission. But by my calculations I should be responding from within St. Peter's gate. I'm not though.

I suggest you stay in Minn. It sounds like the thugs and petty criminals haven't found your town.

By the way, Do you have locks on your doors?

Statistics show those folks with locks are 100% more likely to lock themselves out of their own homes rather than prevent a burglery from occuring!

Respectfully,

 

[BRobertson]

RIGHT ON THUNDERBOLT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Bob

 

[DPellegrin]

Mr. Thunderbolt,

I too have an emergency services background and grew up in a household where my father was a Deputy Sheriff in a place just as tough or tougher than South Jersey. With all due respect, as a member of the law enforcement community and all the credibility that brings with it I am shocked that you would send a message that "... it can't happen to me. " To equate locks on a door to the use of a deadly weapon is just irresponsible!!



I also must tell you that the rank and file law enforcement folks I regularly see and work with are not enamored with "conceal and carry" laws. To quote a friend: "It means I will need to draw my weapon more frequently-not good. "



Oh yes, lastly I won't take your advice about staying in Minnesota; however I can assure you that I have no intension in visiting South Jersey, although it does sound like things are well under control there.



Best Regards,