Why do you carry a gun sir? - Take 2 - Please keep it OT.

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I rather liked the idea of a card explaining why I carry a handgun that was suggested previously. That topic of course got seriously off track. So I created a first draft of a card on my own, and I am posting it for everyone who wants to use it or make suggestions to improve it.

This is not an OC specific card, it is a general gun carry card, but since the OC is what brings the subject up you can address that issue verbally if you desire. I am also open to major edits to improve it or make it more OC specific if people desire.

All the facts are from Guy Smiths Gunfacts PDF, and I of course stole the second sides text from all the posts of it around here. I did cut out two items to make it fit though, the government one and the cowboy one. I don't CARRY because of the government, that is what all the guns at home are for. I also don't think the cowboy one fit very well with the subject matter.

Here is the text, and attached is a word doc that can be printed, cut, folded over, and laminated and it will end up the size of a business card:



Who is responsible for my safety?
The supreme court has ruled police are not actually obligated to protect me. Besides, there is almost no chance they will be there to protect me if I need it. If firemen put out fires then why do people have fire extinguishers in their homes? Because the firemen can't respond to an emergency in 3 seconds and neither can the police, but a fire extinguisher in the home, or a gun in the pocket can do so.
So who is responsible for my safety?
[align=center]I AM[/align] Private citizens defend themselves with guns an estimated 2.5 million times per year in the US. 2.4 million of these incidents go unreported to the authorities mostly because a gun ended the incident with no actual crime taking place. Of reported crimes stopped with a gun 83.5% of the time the attacker used force of some kind first. 92% of the time the attack was ended by just brandishing a firearm. Firearms are used 60 times more often to protect lives than to take lives. Robbery victims are 4 times more likely to be injured if they do not resist at all than if they resist with a gun. Robbery victims are 7 times more likely to be injured if they resist in any way other than a gun than if they resist with a gun. 77% of all violent crimes take places in public places.

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'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 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 an armed thug, I am inadequate.
I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.

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Wow, no comments on this since 4/10?

I like this. Great job! This would do good with some supporting graphics in a brochure format of some kind. The KY forum has a great brochure for KY gun rights/laws. Check it out.

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While I sincerely like the copy/message, I tried to print this in a bi-fold business card size and found the font much too small and very busy.

Perhaps a larger size, shirt pocket edition with an attention grabbing graphic could be produced.

Yata hey

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Missed one small point as to why "I" OC.

To discourage whiny assed liberals from moving into my neighborhood/community.

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Statesman wrote:

Wow, no comments on this since 4/10?

I like this. Great job! This would do good with some supporting graphics in a brochure format of some kind. The KY forum has a great brochure for KY gun rights/laws. Check it out.

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I was starting to think everyone hated me and my stupid card.... Glad to see some people appreciate it.

I am thinking that the statistics are kind of too much for a wallet version, and a bit confusing. I will maybe take those out tomorrow and see if I can create a more readable version.

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Ilike it. I think I'll use it.

My wife was raised by hippies (this is not a joke, it's true), they don't understand why we feel a need to be armed. This could help them understand.

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I carry a gun because the obvious right to self defense in the United Stateswas recognized, codified and ratifiedon September 17, 1787. I don't need no steenkin' cards.

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Gordie wrote:

Ilike it. I think I'll use it.

My wife was raised by hippies (this is not a joke, it's true), they don't understand why we feel a need to be armed. This could help them understand.

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If you need to convince hippies, just give them the data from this chart. It's available in PDF format for printing. http://www.jpfo.org/filegen-a-m/deathgc.htm#chart

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Because it defines me as a Citizen and not a subject...and now it is a part of me and I am not complete without one. I OC because my weapon of choice is too large to readily conceil.:what: Ace

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ace1001 wrote:

Because it defines me as a Citizen and not a subject...and now it is a part of me and I am not complete without one. I OC because my weapon of choice is too large to readily conceil.:what: Ace

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I know what you mean man. Those dang Howitzers are a pain to drag around, too.

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I love that chart Stateman, the best single argument I've ever seen against gun control... But since that isn't the point here I will move on to the original point.

Attached to this post is a version of the foldable card without statistics and with the front side being larger so it is more readable.

The back side is small still since I couldn't fit it on any other way, and because I can't figure out any one I want to erase. However, erasing one line yourself and then increasing the font to much more readable 8 shouldn't be hard if someone wants to do that.

For some reason I am blessed at the ripe old age of 37 with eyes that can still read almost any font in 7pt, and even some fonts as small as 5pt without difficulty. (Sadly this helps not a whit on the firing range). So sometimes I make my documents too small for the general masses because it is so easy for me. Sorry about that Grapeshot!


I wouldn't mind a larger size one, but I would sure appreciate more ideas from everyone on what should specifically be on such a document. I don't want to create an entire pamphlet, this is meant to be small and easy to carry.

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Maybe this for an Open Carry Specific version of the pocket one:

Ben Franklin said it best when he explained that "the very fame of our strength and readiness would be a means of discouraging our enemies; for tis a wise and true saying that one sword often keeps the other in the scabbard. The way to secure peace is to be prepared for war. Those who are on the guard and appear ready to receive their adversaries are in much less danger of attack than the secure, the supine, and the negligent."



(Copied from: SouthernBoy in the same thread as above, would be good for OC specific:

It is far, far better in my opinion to have not had to draw or discharge my weapon but merely let my "friend" speak for me than it would have been to deal with the aftermath of even the most righteous shooting.

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I thought OT mean Off Topic???

I carry a gun because:

1. I like guns.
2. Carrying a gun is cool.
3. I don't like the idea of being trapped in a situation where I am helpless, and subject to the whims of people who may be violent, or even murderous.
4. Somewhere in the back of my mind I think It would be cool to be in a situation where I save someone or something because of my leet skillz.
5. A lot of BIG animals that will eat you where I live.

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Actually it can mean On Topic as well.. depending on who you talk to or the context in which it is used.

Just like GTG can mean "Good to Go" or "Got to Go"... Lots of initializations have double meanings.

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I carry for 2 reasons of equal importance.

(1) Because it's everyone's right to do so.

(1) BecauseI dont intend to be a helpless crime victim.

That pretty well sums it up.

(Scaring the liberals during tourist season is a nice side benefit)

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Love the why I carry card. That's a daisy!!!

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Huck wrote:

I carry for 2 reasons of equal importance.

....

That pretty well sums it up.

(Scaring the liberals during tourist season is a nice side benefit)

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I'm curious. Is that really a benefit? Is that part of the OC deal for you? How so?

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Just tell them you carry because if you don't, your pants will ride up and look funny, after all, its all about how you look in public, right?
After that comment, you're in their "good-guy" circle and they become more responsive to reasoning, then tell them its not only for your own safety, but also for those around you, and since the police can't be everywhere it just makes sense to be prepared. (then babble about something like; "its kinda like making sure you have your debit card before you go shopping").

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If I'm out with my 3 year old daughter, I simply point to her and say "Do you see that little girl.........I'm her bodyguard". That usually ends the conversation in a pleasant way.

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Why do you carry HankT ??

Sorry, I forgot...You don't !


HankT wrote:

Huck wrote:

I carry for 2 reasons of equal importance.

....

That pretty well sums it up.

(Scaring the liberals during tourist season is a nice side benefit)

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I'm curious. Is that really a benefit? Is that part of the OC deal for you? How so?

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