Think about it: Concealed Carry is actually about fear

[Dragonbreath]

When you boil it all down, we carry weapons (concealed or open) because we're fearful of what might happen. And it makes sense, because bad things sometimes DO happen and we feel the need to be prepared for such situations.

OK, that said, how much sense does it make that we DON'T spend time and money "victim-proofing" ourselves, our families, and our surroundings, to PREVENT as many bad situations as possible? As we used to say in the Army, "Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance" (the 7 P's). So what if we learned how to recognize "warning signs" of situations developing, and learned what to do to stop them from escalating. What if we learned better situational awareness and what to look out for? What if we learned a few simple habits that would keep us and our families safer, so we'd never need to draw a weapon? What if we had it in our power to make it more likely that we'd be struck by lightning than become a victim of violent crime? Would that be worth less than $100 and a few hours of our time?

I'm not selling anything, and I have no financial or other connection with what I'm going to recommend. Still, I'd urge all of us on the Carry Forum to go take a look at Link Removed, and read the description of the various "don't be a victim" DVD's and books that they have available (you can probably get the same DVDs from Amazon or elsewhere, it's just that No Nonsense Self Defense has them all in one place, at very competitive prices).

And, importantly, once you've learned these prevention techniques for yourself, TEACH THEM TO OTHERS. Pass it on; it'll help make for a safer society for all of us, and the way I see it, that's a duty we all owe each other.

 

[tuts40]

The materials available at the site appear (to me) to be worthwhile, avoiding conflict and learning to better deescalate a stituation. The reason tho that many of us carry is because although it's more likely to get struck by lightening we still see the reports of violent crime happening even to those who think they are pretty street smart.

The door at home gets kicked in, for example, as for me I'm not going to be able to silver-toungue my guest into finding the reason he's attacking me or my wife with a knife and whip some Dr. Phil on him and have him realize how his life can better be used so as to have him cry on my shoulder and let me take him to a good shrink for treatment. No, I'm not ever going to think I could do that. He's getting lead, hot lead 165 grains at a time. I pray that kind of horror never happens to me, anyone I know or anyone here.

As for situational awareness away from home, I'm all for that. Condition yellow is always a good baseline when out and about. ...Instead of another book that nobody cares to read I'll stop here and just say that I did see some things on the site you referenced that might be interesting.

 

[Nightmare45]

To quote a great gunman " If you look like food you will be eaten"

Always be aware of your surroundings.

 

[Keykutter]

I'm gonna say something that will get a lot of disagreement from the gallery but here goes anyway.

As much as I like to think that I have situational awareness, and I do to some extent, I am never gonna be SEAL-like in the probable last couple decades of my life.

It's just like these questions on this forum that ask, 'what would you do in this situation'

Here we sit, at a computer and before we type our answer we make sure that's exactly what we want to say.

Well the facts are that we don't have that luxury in a real 'right now' situation.

I , although it sounds good in print, really never want to be or could, be in a state of perpetual awareness and still have fun with my kids and grandkids during any type of outing.

Yes, I keep the vigil when I notice someone approaching or when I am watching one of the children walking off by themselves, even when I send them over to a cotton candy stand to act like a 'big person' to buy their own cotton candy.

I see no problem with taking this training to see if there is something else I could be doing while still doing what i have fun doing.

But, the time that things happen is when you are not looking or paying attention and when they do, you either act or don't act and most probably spend the rest of your life second guessing your response.

So what I am really trying to say is that we can learn all we want, us old guys anyway, and we can say what we would do in any given situation but when it come right down to it, will we.

Or, will we look and see where are grandkids or our wives are before we act and will that 'born into us instinct' to keep our loved one safes cause us to miss out on the split second decision to take out the bad guy before he takes us out?

Doesn't that same instinct cause us to not even bring someone we love into a place where that situation will probably exist? But that is not where these things happen to good people, it happens in places where you never expect it happen and usually a place where your insticnts put you in a relaxed sense awareness anyway.

Yeah, I thought about taking more training classes but I think I will just keep my firearms training in the forefront, carry and just hope I will do the right thing in that split second without learning all the things that I could use besides a gun when some bad guy is bearing down on me and my loved ones with a gun or knife.

Leave the other things for Chuck Norris wannabe's. Not that a Chuck Norris wannabe is a bad thing. Who woudn't want to be Chuck Norris, but maybe with a differnt face

KK

 

[NCIC105]

When I have my Glock 27 in a ankle holster and my Warthog tucked inside my waistband I fear nothing!...lol

I lived with a weapon on my side so long I feel naked when I don't have it. For me it is not about fear but about habit and the knowledge things can go bad in a moment.

 

[Camerondavidl]

What if? What if? What if?

I hate to be the guy that has something negative to say. But seriously... 6 or 7 what if's? This is the real world. Bad people are around and they do bad things. You can train for all the "what if's" in the world and you will still never hit the exact situation with the exact conditions twice. Truth of the matter is. I am not afraid of the world. That's not why i carry. I am a husband, a father, a provider, and a protector. I don't know about you but i am afraid when i do not carry. Not afraid of the BG as much as i am afraid of being a failure. Failing to be that protector that i have vowed to be.

 

[titaniumman]

I carry because of the 7P's, not because I am afraid. If you are walking around with a gun, and you are scared of the what-ifs, you shouldn't be carrying.

 

[Deserteagle]

I have to disagree about the notion that we carry guns because we are fearful. Fear is an emotion we experience when something threatens us. I do NOT experience fear when I walk around in public without my gun. If I was truly AFRAID of my area, I would find somewhere else to live. Let me tell you about when I would experience fear. If a person started killing people at the restaurant I am in, I would be scared. If I am in a restaurant and everything is fine, I am not fearful.
I carry a gun because I would rather be scared and prepared to fight back if something happens, instead of being scared and unprepared.
As rude as this seems, I think that if anybody out there or on this forum is truly fearful for their lives everyday so they carry a gun, they might need to relocate to a different city, or visit a local psychiatrist and get your paranoid personality disorder treated, or be examined for possible paranoid schizophrenia.
Living your life in fear is not healthy and you should not call all of us scared for carrying guns. You shouldnt generalize and normalize something that is not normal.

 

[Kasper]

What if you win the Mega Millions lottery? Now that is a what if I can get behind. As for carrying a gun out of fear does that apply to having smoke alarms in your house out of fear of fire?

 

[Cotillion]

I hate to be the guy that has something negative to say. But seriously... 6 or 7 what if's? This is the real world. Bad people are around and they do bad things. You can train for all the "what if's" in the world and you will still never hit the exact situation with the exact conditions twice. Truth of the matter is. I am not afraid of the world. That's not why i carry. I am a husband, a father, a provider, and a protector. I don't know about you but i am afraid when i do not carry. Not afraid of the BG as much as i am afraid of being a failure. Failing to be that protector that i have vowed to be.

That's exactly why I carry also. In fact I never even considered cc until I got married. I've owned guns but carrying them never crossed my mind

 

[Bighouse Doc]

Having much dealings with criminal types. They aren't to be "Reasoned with." They aren't interested in your "Respect" or "understanding" of their plight and needs! They won't be "De-escalated" by anything you can say!

They really don't care that you might be a mother, father, sister, brother. They could care less if you are left traumatized or worse from encountering them. They are NOT the least bit concerned for your pain or suffering.

They want something you have and you are nothing more than the wrapper on the candy. Something to be thrown away without any concern. Even less so if the are on drugs. In fact, even if you give them what they want, maybe it's not enough, or maybe they might have some fun hurting you.

Nightmare had it totally correct about looking like food to them.

Of course, there is lots of money to be made selling things like the above product!

-Doc

 

[tcox4freedom]

I agree with titaniumman & deserteagle.

No fear here:
I carry for the same reason I wear a seat belt; it's just the "smart" thing to do.

-

 

[Shawn Jarman]

When you boil it all down, we carry weapons (concealed or open) because we're fearful of what might happen. And it makes sense, because bad things sometimes DO happen and we feel the need to be prepared for such situations.

OK, that said, how much sense does it make that we DON'T spend time and money "victim-proofing" ourselves, our families, and our surroundings, to PREVENT as many bad situations as possible? As we used to say in the Army, "Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance" (the 7 P's). So what if we learned how to recognize "warning signs" of situations developing, and learned what to do to stop them from escalating. What if we learned better situational awareness and what to look out for? What if we learned a few simple habits that would keep us and our families safer, so we'd never need to draw a weapon? What if we had it in our power to make it more likely that we'd be struck by lightning than become a victim of violent crime? Would that be worth less than $100 and a few hours of our time?

I'm not selling anything, and I have no financial or other connection with what I'm going to recommend. Still, I'd urge all of us on the Carry Forum to go take a look at Link Removed, and read the description of the various "don't be a victim" DVD's and books that they have available (you can probably get the same DVDs from Amazon or elsewhere, it's just that No Nonsense Self Defense has them all in one place, at very competitive prices).

And, importantly, once you've learned these prevention techniques for yourself, TEACH THEM TO OTHERS. Pass it on; it'll help make for a safer society for all of us, and the way I see it, that's a duty we all owe each other.

Although, there are times, violence may be talked down, but the fact is it cant allways be, It almost seems like some thing the gun grabbers would put out, we can train to be aware of our surroundings, aware of (BG) intentions, but we cant see everything all the time, i have been a victim on more than one occation, And as I refuse to live like a hermit, never enjoying life, being in fear at all times, I will prepare myself as best as possible, I do carry 24/7/365, im just not going to let life just pass me by, if that means i must let my guard down from time to time, so be it, and before i get ridiculed for that last statement, i dont let my guard down completely, But I will have some fun in my life, stay safe

 

[Tucker's Mom]

I am the other way around -- when I wasn't carrying, I was scared : of guns and BGs. I was raised with fear in guns and BGs instilled in me for so long that I became scared that every man that will approach me was a BG. Now I carry a gun not because I am scared. I carry a gun because I do not want that chalk line around my body nor my husband and children's. I am a mother and a wife after all...

 

[luv2shoot]

Not my fear

I like options. I like to be prepared in more ways than one.

With BGs, I don't need to get bogged down in my fear. I carry because of THEIR fear: the unknown, pain, and death. They don't fear my skin and bones, but they fear my weapons and not knowing how well I may use them. Our weapons provide the capability to turn away threats and prevent unnecessary pain/death.

 

[kelcarry]

Many interesting and good replies. In particular, I would like to thank Keykutter and Desearteagle for replies #4 & 8 respectively; I agree with your comments. I can only add one other non-fear comment to having the ability to be CC and to even owning a firearm. With the current assault on our Constitution, particularly 2A, and our historic American way of life, I purchased my several firearms only within the last 3 years and also have my CC; I did these things not only for the reasons mentioned by my fellow forum members but as a middle finger to Washington DC and a despicable federal government.

 

[olsparky]

I don't think that fear is my motivation. As an Eagle Scout and Scoutmaster I have always subscribed to the motto "Be Prepared." I view the reasons for my desire to carry as being responsible, alert, prepared, and confident. Fear is only a factor when I am not armed, or in other words unprepared.

I am very much in favor of increasing situational awareness. This is why I am a Refuse To Be A Victim instructor. It is my hope that because of my awareness of potential situations I will never find myself in a position where I have to draw my weapon. That is actually the opposite of fear, it is confidence. To enhance that confidence, and further eliminate fear, I remain prepared for the very small chance that I may need my weapon.

I carry a fire extinguisher, first aid kit, sleeping bag, food, fire building supplies, etc in my cars not because I think I will need them, but for the peace of mind that I can handle any situation that might happen.

Situational awareness is not expecting bad things to happen around every corner, but understanding what potential situations can exist and having a plan ahead of time in order to eliminate the fear of the unknown.

I understand what you are trying to say, but I don't think alert, prepared, and responsible should be included in the definition of fear.

 

[fiasconva]

A lot of the things we do are based on fear, or knowing that there are really evil people out there. That is also why we have police departments and the military.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

Saying "Concealed Carry is actually about fear," makes precisely as much (or as little) sense as saying "carrying a spare tire is actually about fear." The subject line is simply trolling.

I carry an axe, shovel and chainsaw in my car in winter, because I may encounter a tree or other obstacle across the road. It's not because I fear trees, but because it's prudent to be prepared to deal with them.

I carry a sidearm because it's prudent to be prepared to deal with Goblins. In historical fact, it is my Right and my Responsibility to be "at all times armed."

Likewise, my wife carries because she may have to deal with goblins, not because of fear. True, the worst of her knife scars was given to her by a child rapist trying to kill her; and true, she survived the encounter while he did not because she had a .357 Magnum. But she does not carry because of fear. We both carry because we are practical minded realists who have seen the world around us.

So quit trolling. The man who is not armed, shirks his responsibility as a man and as a free citizen.

 

[Huskybiker]

I hate to be the guy that has something negative to say. But seriously... 6 or 7 what if's? This is the real world. Bad people are around and they do bad things. You can train for all the "what if's" in the world and you will still never hit the exact situation with the exact conditions twice. Truth of the matter is. I am not afraid of the world. That's not why i carry. I am a husband, a father, a provider, and a protector. I don't know about you but i am afraid when i do not carry. Not afraid of the BG as much as i am afraid of being a failure. Failing to be that protector that i have vowed to be.

Yep, that's it in a "nutshell". If something unspeakable happened to my family because I didn't have the foresight to prepare for it, I would NEVER forgive myself.