gravedigger
Regular Member
imported post
I am carefully studying ALL of your responses! I'll get into it in more detail in a while, but for now ...
I am of the belief that if a person is an honest law-abiding citizen with the usual "good guy" credentials; no criminal record, no mental illness, yadda yadda ... (admittedly difficult to find in California) he or she should be trusted to carry a loaded weapon open OR concealed just about anywhere without restrictions. The law would never have to worry about me robbing a convenience store, or blasting away at some jerk who doesn't know how to use his turn signals. I just don't need that sort of drama in my life.
I can understand not allowing them in courthouses and government buildings like the DMV and the post office and such, but restaurants? Come on! Haven't they heard about the McDonalds Massacre at San Ysidro? If I can't carry in a restaurant, the state falls lower on my Excel analytical spreadsheet!
It isn't that I WILL OC or CC on a regular basis. I just want that option. I want the option, because it tells the "bad guys" that I might be packing, and that alone will make it far less likely that I will be the target of a criminal. An armed society IS a polite society, after all!
I'm only 50 now, but age has taken its toll already. The bad knees make running away from a threat nearly impossible. The bad back makes duking it out with Rocky's drunk, drugged up younger brother unappealing. The finances make the willful reception of a long hospital stay or a permanent crippling injury insurmountable.
I'm the kind of guy who thinks, I'll treat you with respect and honor regardless of your age, race, religion, ethnicity or social status, as long as you respond in kind. I judge a person by their character.
There is another factor in this decision. My dear aging mother (PLEASE don't tell her I used the word "aging!") lives here also. If I move, she would move to wherever I am. We have almost no family, so if I leave, she would be left here alone. She needs to be within a reasonable distance of a quality medical center, so we can't buy homes out in the boonies, where it would be a 50 mile ride to the medical center for her various ongoing issues.
Please keep the responses coming. It is VERY encouraging to read your responses after living here in California, where you have a very good chance of being sentenced to a long prison term for shooting someone who is attacking you with a machete or for some similar defense of your life.
I am carefully studying ALL of your responses! I'll get into it in more detail in a while, but for now ...
I am of the belief that if a person is an honest law-abiding citizen with the usual "good guy" credentials; no criminal record, no mental illness, yadda yadda ... (admittedly difficult to find in California) he or she should be trusted to carry a loaded weapon open OR concealed just about anywhere without restrictions. The law would never have to worry about me robbing a convenience store, or blasting away at some jerk who doesn't know how to use his turn signals. I just don't need that sort of drama in my life.
I can understand not allowing them in courthouses and government buildings like the DMV and the post office and such, but restaurants? Come on! Haven't they heard about the McDonalds Massacre at San Ysidro? If I can't carry in a restaurant, the state falls lower on my Excel analytical spreadsheet!
It isn't that I WILL OC or CC on a regular basis. I just want that option. I want the option, because it tells the "bad guys" that I might be packing, and that alone will make it far less likely that I will be the target of a criminal. An armed society IS a polite society, after all!
I'm only 50 now, but age has taken its toll already. The bad knees make running away from a threat nearly impossible. The bad back makes duking it out with Rocky's drunk, drugged up younger brother unappealing. The finances make the willful reception of a long hospital stay or a permanent crippling injury insurmountable.
I'm the kind of guy who thinks, I'll treat you with respect and honor regardless of your age, race, religion, ethnicity or social status, as long as you respond in kind. I judge a person by their character.
There is another factor in this decision. My dear aging mother (PLEASE don't tell her I used the word "aging!") lives here also. If I move, she would move to wherever I am. We have almost no family, so if I leave, she would be left here alone. She needs to be within a reasonable distance of a quality medical center, so we can't buy homes out in the boonies, where it would be a 50 mile ride to the medical center for her various ongoing issues.
Please keep the responses coming. It is VERY encouraging to read your responses after living here in California, where you have a very good chance of being sentenced to a long prison term for shooting someone who is attacking you with a machete or for some similar defense of your life.