No cell phone...No gun?

[Firefighterchen]

If any of you read my other thread about my first negative encounter, you will know my cell phone has been a piece of junk, on and off, for a while now. Well, 2 days after receiving my replacement, it all ready has the same problem. My phone is unusable at the moment. So here is my questions, if you do not have a way to communicate to either the police or your family, should you carry a gun? Why did you choose to or not to carry the firearm?

I ask this (rhetorically because I know what I will do) because there is a lot of advice that if a situation occurs that you draw and/or fire your firearm, you should be the first on the phone with 911. There has been threads where carriers have told bystanders to call 911, and they were shot down because the carrier should be the one on the phone. So my next question is, if you are in a situation and you have no phone (whether it be broken in the act, you do not own one, or you have one that you know is broken), how do you propose to get a phone?

Tonight, I had to run a late errand. I do not like doing this, because it puts me in a situation I do not like being in, but it had to be done. I knew my phone was not functioning, but my life is worth more than the hassle of explaining why I could not contact the PD immediately. I did wonder as I left the front door, should I be carrying if I have no way to call for help, and thus prompting me to start this thread.

Let the discussion begin.

 

[joefor88]

Yes! Carry anyway!

For those of us who carried before cell phones were here... Yes, carry anyway. Cell phones help your situation, but the gun is your weapon not the phone. I already try to avoid situations where I need my gun, so if you are caught without your cell, try to avoid trouble even more. I am not on patrol, simply trying to take care of MY business. Granted, you need to get your phone situation fixed, but until then, you need to carry for sure... It's all you got without a phone.
Joe

 

[Flashlight22]

No mater what im doing I always carry. You may not have those few extra seconds to call the PD before you draw you firearm if your life is in danger. Gun 1st cell 2nd.

 

[The_Outlaw]

For those of us who carried before cell phones were here... Yes, carry anyway. Cell phones help your situation, but the gun is your weapon not the phone. I already try to avoid situations where I need my gun, so if you are caught without your cell, try to avoid trouble even more. I am not on patrol, simply trying to take care of MY business. Granted, you need to get your phone situation fixed, but until then, you need to carry for sure... It's all you got without a phone.
Joe

I agree.
Cell phones are a very importat tool, but at the end of the day a cell phone can't save you from a sudden knife attack.

 

[Keykutter]

I would say carry anyway. I understand the concern to be the first to call but if that was the reason you may not carry, you can always buy one of those burn phones you can buy in almost any Jiffy Mart.

Your not gonna get shot if you are standing there with your hands in the air when the cops get there.

KK

 

[Deserteagle]

Unless there is a law that says we must have a cell phone on us while carrying a gun, than we have nothing to worry about. If somebody wants to kill me and I dont have a phone, then they can lay there and bleed out until somebody with a phone comes by and calls an ambulance for them.

 

[JohnL]

It has come to the point that if I leave the house, I carry a handgun and a phone. The phone is my preferred defense but, as you have discovered, a gun is more reliable. The most popular place for assault around the area is a parking garage with intermittent cell coverage. The second most popular place is your own driveway.

I spend a few days a week at my farm. It appears and for the most part is bucolic but there are snakes, coyotes, and meth heads lurking.

The only time I don't have anything on me is when I am with my nieces and nephew. I am the cool uncle so there is a lot of rough and tumble play. They'd make me in a minute. My sister-in-law isn't ready to address the issue yet and I have to respect that. She is comfortable introducing long guns this summer to the older two.

I'll get the Mark III in her hands, shooting paper plates. That never fails.

 

[Tucker's Mom]

My husband's cell phone is a piece of crap (his words, not mine...) but he and I both carry anyway. Me more than him because he never go out without his sidekick--our dog. If my cell phone ends up being crap too like his, I don't mind...I seldom give my cell number anyway, only to people I care about. I am on the silent cell phone registry.

 

[Caribou]

The cell phone may help you survive the legal system but the question is moot if you do not survive the fight. I agree with all before me, carry the gun. You can always ask a witness to make the call.

 

[Firefighterchen]

The cell phone may help you survive the legal system but the question is moot if you do not survive the fight. I agree with all before me, carry the gun. You can always ask a witness to make the call.

In reference to the second question of the OP, how would you go about getting a witness to listen to you? If they had seen the entire encounter they MIGHT listen to you...if they heard yelling, even if they heard the exact message, "STOP OR I WILL SHOOT," how many people are just going to listen to the stranger who shot another stranger? How do you get the witness to describe you so you aren't in more danger than you need to be when police arrive?

There is so much we can tie in here...for example a lot of people believe they should get out of dodge if something like this were to happen. What if no one shows up after you fired in self defense? Go to the closest house/business and knock? Explain to them what happened first before asking for a phone?

Here is another question, that is a little off topic. Say you defend yourself, and after you defend yourself, someone else draws their firearm and tells you to get down (not knowing everything that just occured) How far will you comply with this person not knowing who they are, just that they too are now pointing a firearm at you?

 

[Caribou]

Asking someone to call 911 does add another element of risk. If I stumbled into a shooting situation and a shooter asked me to call the police my first thought would be that this is the good guy. It is certainly best to call yourself but having a witness say that you wanted the police to call is better than nothing. Also anyone that did call will have their number captured by the police and that is one more witness that can't disappear. Will they call for you? I don't know but I would think they would be friendlier to you, less fearful of you, and have a better opinion of you for asking for 911.

As far as following directions to put down my gun, that would be situational dependent. If the person was a cop the answer is yes.

 

[Hoganbeg]

This is silly. People have grown so dependent upon instant communication that they forget their priorities. They are two different tools. Carry both whenever possible. I won't leave my gun home just because I don't have a phone. Even if you have a phone on you, you are still at risk of a bystander beating you to the call. The same as if the shooting situation becomes protracted, say a gang situation where you've dropped one perp and have taken cover but are still threatened by others. Are you going to risk your life in order to try to beat an observer to the 911 call? What if you are in an area where phone service is unavailable. Now you are really depending upon yourself. Always carry!

 

[Mobuck]

Oh come on!! Men(real men) carried guns for hundreds of years prior to the rise of the cell phone to necessity status. If I have to use my carry gun and the responding cop wants to shoot me just because I didn't call 911 first, then I might have to defend myself again.
Honestly, some people can't even take a crap w/o involving a cell phone in some way.

 

[Danmc]

As others have said, don't worry about not having your cell phone. As for your question about someone drawing on you after you just finished shooting somebody, you have to decide real fast if he is good or evil. Or is he a Zimmerman? Tough call.

 

[Hoganbeg]

After you shoot him, feel free to use his phone!

 

[Ghost Rider]

I don`t have a cell phone because I don`t want to talk to anybody, but I always carry my gun when I go out, and should I need to use my gun against a bad guy the police would eventually show up with out me calling them.

 

[Deanimator]

Contrary to the idiotic lies of anti-gunners, a cell phone is NOT going to STOP a deadly force attack... unless you're going to BEAT your assailant with it.

 

[Mobuck]

I carry my pistol for MY safety and peace of mind. I will use it to defend myself against ANY action which I feel is counter to my personal wellbeing. Regardless of whether it's some misguided citizen or an overzealous cop, I WILL respond. This may get me shot, but I'll be shot as a lion not a lamb.
The current idea of total, unquestioning compliance with police is going to have to end soon. You see the results of this rollover mentality being turned on the public every day in the form of abuse and/or death of citizens who had not done anything even closely endangering the officers.

 

[miah84]

Honestly, some people can't even take a crap w/o involving a cell phone in some way.

I can attest to that lol I won't do número deuce without my phone (online shopping, YouTube, etc.) but as far as not carrying without my phone, no way! gun first then phone. My gun is my first line of defense, phone is just a device to which I mostly do b.s. with... For example this post lol


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[tcox4freedom]

The way I see it is, If you don't have a reliable way to "call" for help, you DEFINITELY need to carry; because you've limited one of your best safety tools (a cell phone) You must carry because you don't want to eliminate another tool that may be your only "lifeline" should you find yourself in a bad situation.


BUT!!!!

You should get another phone ASAP!

You should ALWAYS carry!
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