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Why carry a gun?

Cougar125

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Aug 20, 2008
Messages
278
Location
Coupeville, WA
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Why Carry a Gun Today
My old grandpa said to me son, 'there comes a time in every man's life when he stops bustin' knuckles and starts bustin' caps, and usually it's when he becomes too old to take a whoopin'.


I don't carry a gun to kill people.
I carry a gun to keep from being killed.
I don't carry a gun to scare people.
I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.
I don't carry a gun because I'm paranoid.
I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.
I don't carry a gun because I'm evil.
I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.
I don't carry a gun because I hate the government.
I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.
I don't carry a gun because I'm angry.
I carry a gun so that I don't have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.
I don't carry a gun because I want to shoot someone.
I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.
I don't carry a gun because I'm a cowboy.
I carry a gun because, when I die and go to heaven, I want to be a cowboy.
I don't carry a gun to make me feel like a man.
I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.
I don't carry a gun because I feel inadequate.
I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.
I don't carry a gun because I love it.
I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.
Police Protection is an oxymoron.
Free citizens must protect themselves.
Police do not protect you from crime,
They usually just investigate the crime after it happens and then call someone in to clean up the mess.
Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take a whoopin' !!
 

3/325

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Joined
Oct 24, 2007
Messages
332
Location
Kitsap Co., Washington, USA
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I don't think there's a problem with reposting; but I know the author prefers it to be unaltered and credited to him so I post the link whenever I see the essay posted without a source.

No biggie.
 

FMCDH

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Joined
Nov 9, 2008
Messages
2,037
Location
St. Louis, MO
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Poetic and pointed!

I'm going to carry a copy of that around with me so that every time some knuckle head wants to argue with me about why I feel the need to carry a gun, I can just give it to them and watch the reality sink in.

The last part resonates with me most. Police don't stop crime, they investigate it after the fact. That's not a dig at LE, its just a fact. We can't have a law officer at every corner, but we CAN have an armed law abiding citizen at every corner!
 

FMCDH

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Nov 9, 2008
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St. Louis, MO
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True to my word, I revised this draft to carry with me and give to anyone who asks me why I carry a gun. You are welcome to use it yourself. Kudos to the originator!

When my wife read it, she cried.

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Why do I carry a gun?


I don't carry a gun to kill people.
I carry a gun to keep from being killed.
I don't carry a gun to scare people.
I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.
I don't carry a gun because I'm paranoid.
I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.
I don't carry a gun because I'm evil.
I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.
I don't carry a gun because I hate the government.
I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of the government.
I don't carry a gun because I'm angry.
I carry a gun so that I don't have to spend the rest of my life being angry with myself for failing to be prepared.
I don't carry a gun because I want to shoot someone.
I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.
I don't carry a gun because I want to play the cowboy.
I carry a gun because, when I die and go to heaven, I want to be a cowboy.
I don't carry a gun to make me feel like a man.
I carry a gun because a man knows how to responsibly protect themselves and the ones they love.
I don't carry a gun because I feel inadequate.
I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I AM inadequate.
I don't carry a gun because I love it.
I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.


I carry a gun because I took an oath to protect my country and its citizens from all enemies, foreign AND domestic.


I carry a gun because I would rather have it and never need it, then to need it and not have it, because one day God forbid, I may have to use it to save YOUR life, or the life of someone that YOU love.


Police can't protect you from crime.
Free citizens must protect themselves.
When seconds count in the defense of your life, liberty or property, the police are only minutes away.
All police can really do is investigate the crime after it happens and then call someone to notify your next of kin.


Thats why I carry a gun.
 

FMCDH

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Nov 9, 2008
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St. Louis, MO
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http://www.comeandtakeit.com/arms-lif.html

The following is an excerpt from an article titled "A Nation of Cowards" by Jeffrey R. Snyder. The full article can be found at the above link andhas been coppied here unaltered. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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Do you Feel Lucky?

In 1991, when then-Attorney General Richard Thornburgh released the FBI's annual crime statistics, he noted that it is now more likely that a person will be the victim of a violent crime than that he will be in an auto accident. Despite this, most people readily believe that the existence of the police relieves them of the responsibility to take full measures to protect themselves. The police, however, are not personal bodyguards. Rather, they act as a general deterrent to crime, both by their presence and by apprehending criminals after the fact. As numerous courts have held, they have no legal obligation to protect anyone in particular. You cannot sue them for failing to prevent you from being the victim of a crime.

Insofar as the police deter by their presence, they are very, very good. Criminals take great pains not to commit a crime in front of them. Unfortunately, the corollary is that you can pretty much bet your life (and you are) that they won't be there at the moment you actually need them.

Should you ever be the victim of an assault, a robbery, or a rape, you will find it very difficult to call the police while the act is in progress, even if you are carrying a portable cellular phone. Nevertheless, you might be interested to know how long it takes them to show up. Department of Justice statistics for 1991 show that, for all crimes of violence, Only 2 percent of calls are responded to within five minutes. The idea that protection is a service people can call to have delivered and expect to receive in a timely fashion is often mocked by gun owners, who love to recite the challenge, "call for a cop, call for an ambulance, and call for a pizza. See who shows up first. "

Many people deal with the problem of crime by convincing themselves that they live, work, and travel only in special "crime-free" zones. Invariably, they react with shock and hurt surprise when they discover that criminals do not play by the rules and do not respect these imaginary boundaries. If, however, you understand that crime can occur anywhere at anytime, and if you understand that you can be maimed or mortally wounded in mere seconds, you may wish to consider whether you are willing to place the responsibility for safeguarding your life in the hands of others.

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The long and short of why I, we, choose to carry afirearmcan be summed up I believe in one sentense. "When seconds count in the defense of your life, libertyand orproperty, the police are only minutes away."
 

FMCDH

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Nov 9, 2008
Messages
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Location
St. Louis, MO
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I have a good friend who is also dealing with his wife on this very matter. Attempting to get her to see reason on the necessity to allow him to carry for protection.

Mind you, this is a guy who is a former Marine and CERT team trained corrections officer. Hes not a stranger to the responsibilities or logistics of owning and carrying and using a firearm, but she opposes it as if it will be the end of their family.

She simply cant get past the programming that tells her they don't need to take steps to protect themselves in such a way as that's what the police are for. (sigh)

Odd thing is, they are both Conservative Republicans. :?
 

Richard6218

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Joined
Jun 4, 2008
Messages
649
Location
LaConner, Washington, USA
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FMCDH wrote:
I have a good friend who is also dealing with his wife on this very matter. Attempting to get her to see reason on the necessity to allow him to carry for protection.

Mind you, this is a guy who is a former Marine and CERT team trained corrections officer. Hes not a stranger to the responsibilities or logistics of owning and carrying and using a firearm, but she opposes it as if it will be the end of their family.

She simply cant get past the programming that tells her they don't need to take steps to protect themselves in such a way as that's what the police are for. (sigh)

Odd thing is, they are both Conservative Republicans. :?

Well, I might as well tell the story .....

Last week my former wife, who has been so for 25 years but remains a friend, called about something un-related to guns. The subject got on to guns when the subject of last Christmas came up. Because this was in Oregon and I don't have an Oregon CPL I was disarmed. (OC isn't legal in Washington County) My daughter hid my gun in a closet to keep it from becoming the subject of any controversy. Nothing was said at the time although the fact that I had it leaked out. So last week the ex took the opportunity to totally rip me just for having it. You've heard all these excuses before: 1. I don't live in a high-crime area, so why do I need it; 2. SHE would never accept a date from anyone who carries a gun; 3. carrying a gun is socially unattractive; 4. a bad guy would probably get the drop on me before I could get my gun out; 5. a gun might be ok for plinking at the range but carrying is bad. And on and on and on..;... Now my daughter lit into me today on the subject and said she doesn't want her (future) kids being exposed to guns "because kids get curious and want to play with them" and because she's a pediatric nurse, she "sees kids with gunshot wounds about once a year". The only member of the family who's in favor of them is my son who is in the Navy down in San Diego. He left all his guns with me when he transferred down there because they're all illegal in CA: an M14 and a H-K P2000. He's wisely staying out of this battle.

After the phone call I wrote a lengthy email to the ex about guns and Obama and his gang. Here's part of what I wrote:

The Second Amendment as part of the Bill of Rights is under attack as never before. Their excuse is that they claim to be protecting the citizenry. It’s a little-known fact that one of Hitler’s first acts as Chancellor was to confiscate all guns from the German people. Disarming the population is a dictator’s most pressing priority if he is to control them. The Attorney General and some members of Congress are making statements about making it illegal for any citizen to own or use any firearm for any purpose. This is an outright abrogation of the Second Amendment. To say that this is frightening is a gross understatement.

For us as citizens to simply throw up our hands and accept what is going on as inevitable or beyond our control is to take the path of the German people in the 1930’s. Our Constitution and all the fundamentals written by the Founding Fathers are being ripped to shreds before our very eyes. Unless we move to take our country back, before we know it, all of our freedoms will be gone. Carrying a gun is my statement of my rights under the Second Amendment and resistance to the onslaught of tyranny.

I followed this with a copy ofWhy I Carry by email but she probably won't seethat till Monday when she goes back to work.I don't know how she will react to it. It's probable all it will do is piss her off, but hey, she doesn't owe me anything
 

adamsesq

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Joined
Oct 1, 2008
Messages
367
Location
, Oregon, USA
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Richard, great post and good job dealing with your family in a tough situation. Some minds are just not going to be changed until they are a victim of a crime.

Richard6218 wrote:
Because this was in Oregon and I don't have an Oregon CPL I was disarmed. (OC isn't legal in Washington County)
Don't know where you got this idea. There is nothing that prevents you from OC in Washington County. In fact our next OC lunch is in Washington County on the 19th. There are certain cities in Wa. Cnty. (Beaverton, Tigard and the part of Portland that is in Wa. Cnty) where loaded OC is prohibited but there is no county prohibition.

-adamsesq
 

Richard6218

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Jun 4, 2008
Messages
649
Location
LaConner, Washington, USA
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adamsesq wrote:
Richard, great post and good job dealing with your family in a tough situation. Some minds are just not going to be changed until they are a victim of a crime.

Richard6218 wrote:
Because this was in Oregon and I don't have an Oregon CPL I was disarmed. (OC isn't legal in Washington County)
Don't know where you got this idea. There is nothing that prevents you from OC in Washington County. In fact our next OC lunch is in Washington County on the 19th. There are certain cities in Wa. Cnty. (Beaverton, Tigard and the part of Portland that is in Wa. Cnty) where loaded OC is prohibited but there is no county prohibition.

-adamsesq
Well, this is in Tigard, and most of our ventures out of the house are to Beaverton. So add this to my daughter's attitude and I might as well cave on the issue while I'm there :X Incidentally, I lived in Tigard myself only 5 years ago but that was before I started carrying.

BTW, some background on the ex: she lives in the SF Bay Area and 25 years ago when we were together she was a pretty solid Republican. But it seems the left-wing mainstream media must have twisted her thinking since then and now I wouldn't be surprised to hear she voted for BHO --- don't know that for sure.
 
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