Does Carrying a Gun Everyday,OC or CC, Make You More Confident?

[Coyote Blue]

A rather personal question of why we carry. As most know,people who carry a gun every single day for personal or family,friends protection, are in the great minority in America. Even with perhaps 50% or more of households having firearms of one sort or another.Most of those guns never leave the homestead.

So,while out shopping today in the very early season shopping sprees and seeing the intensity of some of my fellow Miamian's searching for that bargain flat screen,Smartphone,tablet or Bose speakers, it made me think that:

Among all this clamor ,I felt calm,almost relaxed ,even though no longer the young,tough tanker of years gone by when it seemed any challenge could be overcome. With ease. Was it the Smith & Wesson 686P .357 Magnum on my belt with an extra 7 round speed loader in waiting? Or is it just the inevitable malaise of life and realizing it is mainly, que sera sera?

Wording the elective answers was difficult.We'll start here. Perhaps in the future a better perspective will evolve.

A final note.The Holidays are about to begin. Life is quite short.We should take nothing too seriously. So,back into the flames. :laugh: See the 4 states poll! Or better yet,don't!
This is a recreational poll ,as we would say in the 1970's, which I must admit had the greatest music, and was my favorite decade.

All,IMHO,of course! Peace to all. I only can pray for civil discourse. It's been done! Aloha!

 

[Couzin]

Weapon on board or not - I never 'relax'. Always alert, head on swivel, radar up! Not to a paranoia level - just watchful. Carrying a weapon is a responsibility, not a matter of pride nor showmanship, and not to be taken for granted. Also - I avoid crowds like the plague...

 

[jasonb92]

Carrying daily makes me more comfortable, however it only pays off with a lot of practice and range time.

 

[Pir8fan]

Confidence has nothing to do with. Carrying has everything to do with preparedness.

 

[spdracr39]

Actually its more like when I'm not carrying I feel more paranoid because I know if something is going to happen that is when it will happen.

 

[GlassWolf]

Psychologically speaking, this is the same poll as "Does carrying a gun make a person more reckless?"

 

[wolf_fire]

God made man... Colt made them equal.

Be situationally aware at ALL times. Be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. This is what brings confidence. If one has confidence only because they are carrying, one should rethink why they are carrying. Do I feel safer when I carry, yes. As far as confidence goes, no.

My confidence is based upon my preparedness, which in small part is having my firearm on me. I haven't voted, because I don't believe my rationale is listed as a choice. (Possibly, "no, but I hope for the best?")

A better answer choice would be, "my confidence isn't based upon my firearm, but in who I am as a person and how I have prepared myself for life."

 

[4Opencarry]

I feel safer because I carry. I carry because society makes me carry not because I want to feel more confident. How nice it would be if the world were even half as safe than it is but...... Carrying concealed is kind of a pain. I wish we all had to open carry instead. It would just make for a much more polite society. Not to mention more comfortable attire.

 

[Nightmare45]

I carry as a conscious thought process and boy scouts (be prepared), always be aware of what is around you everywhere, thugs like animals of pray are ambush hunters, looking for an opening to take you down. Call me what you want but I am armed everywhere, including home.

 

[buckey01]

I try to always be aware of my surroundings and to be prepared. I live in a very safe area and I know most of those with whom I come in contact. Being prepared, however, costs nothing and might someday might save my life or the life someone I care about. I don't think that carrying a firearm makes me more confident. It does, however, make me more judicious in my interaction with other people. The old statement that an armed society is a polite society is true. It doesn't give me confidence as much as it creates a greater responsibility.

 

[S&W645]

God made man... Colt made them equal.

Be situationally aware at ALL times. Be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. This is what brings confidence. If one has confidence only because they are carrying, one should rethink why they are carrying. Do I feel safer when I carry, yes. As far as confidence goes, no.

My confidence is based upon my preparedness, which in small part is having my firearm on me. I haven't voted, because I don't believe my rationale is listed as a choice. (Possibly, "no, but I hope for the best?")

A better answer choice would be, "my confidence isn't based upon my firearm, but in who I am as a person and how I have prepared myself for life."

Reasoning for why I voted for the " no, but I hope for the best".

 

[apvbguy]

this is idiotic on a lot of different levels, if you need to carry a weapon to feel confident you are the person who should not be carrying a weapon!

 

[AndeyHall]

A rather personal question of why we carry. As most know,people who carry a gun every single day for personal or family,friends protection, are in the great minority in America. Even with perhaps 50% or more of households having firearms of one sort or another.Most of those guns never leave the homestead.

So,while out shopping today in the very early season shopping sprees and seeing the intensity of some of my fellow Miamian's searching for that bargain flat screen,Smartphone,tablet or Bose speakers, it made me think that:

Among all this clamor ,I felt calm,almost relaxed ,even though no longer the young,tough tanker of years gone by when it seemed any challenge could be overcome. With ease. Was it the Smith & Wesson 686P .357 Magnum on my belt with an extra 7 round speed loader in waiting? Or is it just the inevitable malaise of life and realizing it is mainly, que sera sera?

Wording the elective answers was difficult.We'll start here. Perhaps in the future a better perspective will evolve.

A final note.The Holidays are about to begin. Life is quite short.We should take nothing too seriously. So,back into the flames. :laugh: See the 4 states poll! Or better yet,don't!
This is a recreational poll ,as we would say in the 1970's, which I must admit had the greatest music, and was my favorite decade.

All,IMHO,of course! Peace to all. I only can pray for civil discourse. It's been done! Aloha!

Confidence, pride, and being able to relax are all different phenomenon. The only sense of pride I get out of carrying is the pride in knowing that I am one of a dying breed who support and uphold every bit of the Constitution. As far as being relaxed, that never happens. You should never be "code white" (totally relaxed) when out in public. I am, however, more confident. But only to the extent that I realize I have one extra tool in my belt that could help me save my own or someone else's life some day. You should never get yourself in the frame of mind that just because you're carrying a gun all of the sudden means you cannot be a victim. You're still vulnerable out there in the world. As far as WHY I carry a gun, the reason I carry a gun is to shoot another human being. If that's not why you carry, reassess your priorities.


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[big K]

This is a second on what spdracr39 said. I try to not get caught in that situation as I fear that is when Murphy will test me.

My work and where it is located dictates that I carry daily. Besides I was taught that if you carry daily that it will become the norm, i.e. you will do so without telegraphing that you are CC'ing.

 

[telpinaro]

I think this is one of those questions where there is no good way to word it without making it excessively long. Are we more confident because we feel more prepared? Are we more confident and will go places we otherwise wouldn't? Or a thousand other things.

I don't feel more confident. I do, however, feel less afraid. I'm a worrier by nature... one of those people who is constantly asking, "What if <insert terrible thing here> happens?" Before I started carrying I just had to cross my fingers and hope it never happens. Now, at least, I have an answer. My behavior didn't change at all... I still pay attention, I still take all the same safety precautions (more, actually, as thanks to a Marc MacYoung Self-Protection and Criminal Avoidance class I now know more things to look for). I'm just less afraid, because now I'm not that annoying little dog you can kick to the side and do whatever you want with. Now I have teeth.

 

[dogshawred]

Confident - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary
~
con·fi·dent
adjective \ˈkän-fə-dənt, -ˌdent\

: having a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something : having confidence

: showing that you have confidence

: certain that something will happen or that something is true
~
Your questions is incomplete, without enough information to adequately formulate a proper response.
~
Confident is an adjective and you don't have it associated with any particular noun to be properly descriptive.
~
Your survey answers make the assumption that "confident" is being applied to the individuals ability to do something better by carrying a weapon, yet you don't give the reader what it is that you wish to know about.
~
Here is my answer to your question "Carrying a firearm either OC or CC makes me confident that I have a weapon on my person" beyond that too much is left to discretionary thinking and is entirely to vague for any other proper response. Unless of course you go outside the point of the question to respond.

 

[Coyote Blue]

Thank you all for your answers. A difficult question to phrase as I said in the header. But we have to start somewhere. Some excellent criticism. A tough demanding audience,more so than on any other gun forum. Only the strong survive this gauntlet! :laugh:

At this point,70% vote,"more confident".

 

[Rich M]

"Does Carrying a Gun Everyday,OC or CC, Make You More Confident?"
.
I would say, I feel more relaxed, when Im carrying. Its comforting.

 

[unintentionalracist]

I clicked the first answer, but really I carry for my family. It's not about me at all. I've had a pretty rotten life, but theirs would be worse without me and mine would be worthless without them.

 

[Coyote Blue]

I clicked the first answer, but really I carry for my family. It's not about me at all. I've had a pretty rotten life, but theirs would be worse without me and mine would be worthless without them.

I'm proud of you, no matter about how you feel about your "rotten" life. You have dedicated the rest of your life to protecting your family.
There can be no higher goal.