Should you carry a gun?

Published November 19, 2013 by
Filed under Carry, CCW, Mindset, Self Defense

That’s a fair question to ask. Let’s assume, first off, that you CAN carry a gun with you on a regular basis. There are lots of people (my wife included) who, because of their work environment, can’t carry a concealed firearm around with them on a regular basis. If that’s the case, this discussion is moot. 

But if you can carry, should you carry? Consider this recent post on Reddit.com

I live in a small town in Iowa. A couple years ago I applied for and received my concealed carry permit. I have a G26 with a crossbreed supertuck to go with it, and I have a Ruger LCP. I would carry one of these every day, everywhere I went, religiously, for quite a while.

This past summer, I decided to stop carrying. I decided it’s just not worth it for me. It’s not worth the pain in the ass to put it on, it’s not worth the weight and discomfort, it’s not worth introducing a firearm into every single encounter in my daily life. It’s not worth it to me, for the one in a million chance that I might ever maybe possibly need to use it. 

Is that person right? Is carrying a firearm not worth the trouble, given the “one-in-a-million” chance you’ll need to use it? 

Depends. I carry a first aid kit in my car: Am I expecting to be first on the scene at a major traffic accident? No. Have I needed it to patch up the scrapes and cuts of my pre-teen sons? Oh yeah. 

The knowledge and assurance that you are ready and able to deal with what life throws at you can be a powerful, powerful thing, and when you need a gun, there aren’t a whole lot of things you can use as a substitute

Should you carry a gun? Can you think of something in your life worth dying for? Would rather die for it or live for it? 

Then decide.

Comments

14 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Jennifer // Nov 19, 2013 at 8:55 AM

    It may be a one-in-a-million chance, but I’d rather deal with all the complications to be ready. I’d rather have it and never need it than face that one time I need it and not have it. I believe it was Breda that said, “Carry your gun. It’s a lighter burden than regret.”

  • 2 Sandi Dee // Nov 19, 2013 at 9:02 AM

    Sandi Dee liked this on Facebook.

  • 3 Robert Messenger // Nov 19, 2013 at 9:32 AM

    Robert Messenger liked this on Facebook.

  • 4 Team Gun Blogger // Nov 19, 2013 at 9:32 AM

    Team Gun Blogger liked this on Facebook.

  • 5 J.LARRY // Nov 19, 2013 at 11:12 AM

    I was like that years ago, while on vacation with several folks in North Carolina in 1991 I heard about the Luby’s massacre in Killeen,Tx, I thought it just as easily could have been us.Upon my return to Florida I bought a small pocket pistol, but didn’t have my CCW permit until a year later, I carry everday every where I can, even at home.Like the old credit card commercial “Never Leave Home Without It”.

  • 6 Gary Vanness // Nov 19, 2013 at 11:32 AM

    Gary Vanness liked this on Facebook.

  • 7 Anonymouse // Nov 19, 2013 at 10:26 PM

    There is a middle ground, based on the following reasoning: circumstances when I will need to draw and fire in a second are too rare to justify the discomfort. So, I carry the gun comfortably in the backpack, with an empty chamber, in a “10-seconds readiness”. That’s enough, I don’t need to be constantly in DEFCON 2 (by the way: if the military has these levels of readiness, perhaps they are a good idea?)

  • 8 Should you carry a gun? | The Gun Feed // Nov 20, 2013 at 6:39 AM

    […] Go to this article […]

  • 9 TenthVolunteers // Nov 20, 2013 at 11:00 AM

    Should you carry a gun?

    http://t.co/URuCWPKJef

    “Should you carry a gun? Can you… http://t.co/HkO09TzG3n

  • 10 triordan // Nov 20, 2013 at 11:08 AM

    RT @FL10thAmendment Should you carry a gun? http://t.co/d2RR30i0Ek “Should you carry a gun? Can you think of something in your life wort…

  • 11 John Proko // Nov 20, 2013 at 11:56 AM

    retired,,,,ex-military…live ln MO
    .

  • 12 dustin // Nov 20, 2013 at 6:16 PM

    I say yes you should carry a gun. Maybe she should stop using the crossbreed and use a Galco stow & go. The crossbreed makes my G26 feel much bigger than it actually is.

  • 13 FL10thAmendment // Nov 21, 2013 at 3:38 AM

    RT @triordan: RT @FL10thAmendment Should you carry a gun? http://t.co/d2RR30i0Ek “Should you carry a gun? Can you think of something in you…

  • 14 rose wheeler // Nov 21, 2013 at 6:07 AM

    Yes carry a gun…everywhere I Go, everyday of the week, everytime I leave …I carry and conceal MY GOD GIVEN RIGHT….NOT TO BE INFRINGED!!!..THIS SHOULD NOT BE A QUESTION UP FOR DEBATE????….WHAT PART OF “PERIOD” DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND????