Reasons to carry

[JB White]

...now we have dead bolts on all three entrance doors that require a key on both sides...

Not a good idea. Makes a hasty exit impossible. Fire, smoke, fumes...home invasion and nobody can escape...etc. Had those on my house when I bought it. Lived with them for a few years. The family would leave keys in the locks for lack of a lever. Changed all the locks. Changed any door glass to Lexan.

hopefully they will be denied a bond hearing

Around here there is always a bond hearing. A judge will decide whether bail is set at 50, 100...perhaps millions of dollars, or they can await trial out on personal recognizance. Of course there is always a no bail ruling when applicable.

Outside of getting pulled over for going 5mph over the posted speed limit and being fined for going 20mph in excess we seem to have NO laws in this country any more.

Pulled over? That's what all the "Big Brother" cameras are for. Ticket the owner. Not the driver. So long as one can afford paying to play nobody loses a license. Get three tickets every day if you wish. So long as the cash rolls in keep on going. Used to be three moving violations within a 12 month period and your driving privileges were revoked.

As far as concealed carry goes, I'm playing the odds. Odds are much, much greater that if I'm carrying legally I might be arrested on a minor technicality than be accosted. As a FOID holder, if caught for a minor possession technicality, the punishment is less for a first offense that if I had a permit to go along with the FOID.
Having both means (A) I've been properly trained and there is no excuse. (B) I not only forfeit the piece in question, but all my guns. (C) My FOID is revoked and I no longer have the right to touch a gun or ammo in this State.

For me, I felt it best to obey the laws I've been obeying all along and take my chances. However, since I'm older and know I'm slower now I have been reconsidering that. I grew up street fighting. I've used non-firearm weapons to save my arse a few times. I know I probably can't put my foot in someones face anymore. At least not like I used to. About four years ago a punk tried to rob me not far from home. I deflected his weapon and he ended up with a broken jaw and a concussion. I was sore from beating his arse! Yeah...it's time to consider legal concealed carry.

[free1954]

when i'm out by myself or with the boys I seldom carry unless i'm going into a danger zone. when i'm with the old lady or grandkid's I feel it' my responsibility to carry.

[RED]

when i'm out by myself or with the boys I seldom carry unless i'm going into a danger zone. when i'm with the old lady or grandkid's I feel it' my responsibility to carry.

I carry anytime I go to the city. Columbia. MO is a college town, "green" and very liberal. They have spent untold millions on bike trails and a city bus system. I have never seen more than 1/2 dozen people riding the busses and mostly they are empty. They have shootings there weekly. I stopped at a McDonalds last week at about 5 PM for a cup of coffee and a hour later there was a shooting in the drive through. The McD's is across the street from the high school and in the business district. IIRC they have something liken 18 unfilled vacancies in the city PD. They can afford those busses and millions for trails that only a few people ever use but can't afford to pay enough to hold police officers and firefighters.

Most cities have sections that are relatively calm and peaceful. Columbia is a equal crime opportunity zone... there have been murders and shootings in virtually every neighborhood including the ones with $250k - $500k homes.

[togor]

I asked because I did live along the Mighty Mississippi for a time, in South St. Paul in a rental. At least I was upwind of the stockyards! But rivers attract a mix of people for some reason. Your tale suggests that you have to be ready for anything where you live, and in my experience it rings true.

[togor]

Red unless you're out during the commuting hours the buses will seem empty. Same is true everywhere. On roads they call it "rush hour" when ironically no one gets anywhere fast because of the congestion.

[Allen]

I carry anytime I go to the city. IIRC they have something liken 18 unfilled vacancies in the city PD. They can afford those busses and millions for trails that only a few people ever use but can't afford to pay enough to hold police officers and firefighters.

It's not all about $ for the police. With all the PC and racist sht enhanced by the news media along with no support the police are leaving vacancies. Why should they want a job where they can be sued, fired, harassed and ridiculed for trying to do their job which lately has no definite rules to go by. The city leaders they work for often throw them under the buss to save face for themselves. In a neighboring town where I live they require college degrees to be cop and they pay better than average. They have plenty of applicants partly due to the $ but also because they are treated fairly.

Not meaning to weaken your point about the carry rights we have now though. I've always been a firm believer in registering the person, not the gun.

Last week I went to a restaurant. The first thing you see when you enter is a sign with a picture of a pistol that states: "Your weapons are welcome here". Kinda says it all. Banks should have the same signs.

[RED]

Red unless you're out during the commuting hours the buses will seem empty. Same is true everywhere. On roads they call it "rush hour" when ironically no one gets anywhere fast because of the congestion.

I am so old that I guess I don't know when rush hour is any more. Last week I had a VA appointment at 0800. I had to have a "driver" so I was with another guy. We saw two different busses around 0715 - 0730 and neither one had more than 4 or 5 people we could see. My driver is the one that noticed how empty it was and commented on it.

[Critch]

I've had occasion to have to pull a gun twice since 2003. once i was approached by 4 men at 0200 in the parking lot of the StL University Hospital guesthouse. My son was in critical condition in the hospital. I had to go out to my car to get something and they came out from behind a retaining wall..I pulled out my Browning Hi-Power and warned them away..they cussed me like a dog, but they kept their distance...I called the campus cops but they didn't seem at all interested. The second time was a few years later in Memphis,,,I was at a stop light and I saw a hand reach through my window toward the steering wheel, I pulled my Ruger and his eyes were as big as dinner plates. He took off running and was tackled by two cops who were a few cars behind me.

That's why I carry...

[Allen]

I can't think of any reason not to carry except that carrying a gun is illegal in courthouses and most Federal buildings.

[JB White]

I can't think of any reason not to carry except that carrying a gun is illegal in courthouses and most Federal buildings.

..and from what I've always been told, banks.

[S.A. Boggs]

..and from what I've always been told, banks.

That's odd, my bank welcomes it no trouble and no ghost buster signs. Wolf goes in with me and always gets a doggie treat, great people to deal with.
Sam

[IditarodJoe]

Other than federal buildings and certain federally regulated facilities (e.g., parts of airports, nuclear power stations, etc.), the places where you may not carry are determined on a state-by-state basis. In my state, there is no prohibition on carrying in banks or anywhere else (other than courthouses) for that matter. The biggest PITA for me is post offices. Need to stop by the PO - have to make a special (disarmed) trip. That rule makes no sense and really does need to be changed.

[barretcreek]

Post Office parking lots are PO property, which is a major PitA here in the sticks. Your weapon in your vehicle makes you a felon, even though most females here have a CC. Bush axed it and The Messiah reinstated it. Of course.

[AZshooter]

Before were married, my wife worked late one evening & decided to stop on the way home for groceries. As she walked across the parking lot, some big creep grabbed her by the arm and demanded all her money. She said she began sobbing loudly and told the guy that this was the worst time, since she just cashed her paycheck, a big quarterly bonus check, and her Mother's Social Security check. She begged him to let her keep Mom's check. The guy got greedy and let her reach into her purse. She pulled out an 8" nail file and sunk it thru his eye socket & into his brain. She said she should have left it there, but pulled it out & the guy began pouring blood and convulsing. Someone had already run into the store & cops were there in a heartbeat. They drove her home, and then called me to go pick up her car.

She told me about it later, after several bourbon & sodas (she wasn't a drinker). Always being one to be able to throw someone off guard, she didn't have a big wad of cash in her purse, no big cash bonus, and her Mom lived out of state, about 2500 miles away...

Apparently one of the deceased's trailer trash relations told cops they were out to kill her. Cops told him to be careful, since she's already rid the world of one of them, so what would be the harm in "taking out" the other one. After all, she seemed quite adept at defending herself.

I offered to let her carry my Hi-Power, since she was a farm girl & already well versed in numerous firearms. She declined & said she just re-armed with a new $1.49 nailfile.

I carry because I've been widowed for 20 years now & there's nobody to back me up with her nail file anymore.

[S.A. Boggs]

Before were married, my wife worked late one evening & decided to stop on the way home for groceries. As she walked across the parking lot, some big creep grabbed her by the arm and demanded all her money. She said she began sobbing loudly and told the guy that this was the worst time, since she just cashed her paycheck, a big quarterly bonus check, and her Mother's Social Security check. She begged him to let her keep Mom's check. The guy got greedy and let her reach into her purse. She pulled out an 8" nail file and sunk it thru his eye socket & into his brain. She said she should have left it there, but pulled it out & the guy began pouring blood and convulsing. Someone had already run into the store & cops were there in a heartbeat. They drove her home, and then called me to go pick up her car.

She told me about it later, after several bourbon & sodas (she wasn't a drinker). Always being one to be able to throw someone off guard, she didn't have a big wad of cash in her purse, no big cash bonus, and her Mom lived out of state, about 2500 miles away...

Apparently one of the deceased's trailer trash relations told cops they were out to kill her. Cops told him to be careful, since she's already rid the world of one of them, so what would be the harm in "taking out" the other one. After all, she seemed quite adept at defending herself.

I offered to let her carry my Hi-Power, since she was a farm girl & already well versed in numerous firearms. She declined & said she just re-armed with a new $1.49 nailfile.

I carry because I've been widowed for 20 years now & there's nobody to back me up with her nail file anymore.

Sorry for your lose. The world is getting worse, drugs are everywhere and there is no escaping them. Society continues to revive them with narcan when years ago they died. Drug addicts, at least the ones I have known, don't care except for getting "high" and will steal anything for their fix. Forcing a person into rehab is foolhardy and needle exchanges is counter productive. Unfortunately some people will die, but it is their choice. I carry because of the people will willingly do me and mine harm to get a perceived need...anything I have. Read a story recently about a thug that stuck his arm into a woman's car to grab her purse, her electric window was faster and she "ran" him to the police station several miles away. He was quite unarmed when the police arrested him. The other thing that is needed to be done is that the prosecutors attitude towards victims who resist the attacker, the victim is often prosecuted!
Sam