What Do You Carry?

I haven't thought much about carrying either of my pistols. One is a Ruger Bearcat .22, useless except as a conversation piece. The other is a Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 magnum with a 7 1/4" barrel. THAT one would be a bugger to conceal.

But then again if that one were visible, it would probably never be needed.

tom

 

I just found a set of instructions on how to build a homemade 4 gauge . Fires ping pong size lead balls LOL. I may have to try it out lol.

 

I use two diffrent weapons constantly. I always carry my Taurus Millenium series in the 9mm Perabellum. I think it is great as it was designed for those with the CCP, so U can see my wallet in my back pocket much easier than you can see the iron on my hip. Since I'm left handed I always keep my S&W .357 under my seat since when sitting in my car it is easier to get too. Just in case some scumbag decides he needs to look down a nice shiny barrel today.

 

It does here, or it did back when I got my Permit. It was like a 3 hour class. Like you mentioned, most of it was dealing about laws. Then came the firing range bit. Purely the basics, how to line up the sights, squeezing the trigger, etc.
After passing that, comes the police station. There you get your mug photographed and all 10 fingers get printed.
I got my Permit using a Glock .45. Then I carried a six inch Colt King Cobra in a shoulder holster.
Ended up, one of the guys at the local gun shop liked my Colt better than me(it is heavy) and offered to trade it for any gun they carried valued at $500 or less.
I picked out a medium size Glock 23 in 40cal. It stays in a holster that can be worn a number of ways but I mostly stick it in a coat pocket or my lunch box.
My main reason for getting a Permit was so if pulled over by the cops, I wouldn't have to
go through the hassle of explaining why I had a gun on the dashboard or anywhere, really.
You can carry open in my state, but if a cop spots your gun hidden in the car he can take it so you put it on the dashboard.

 

Interestingly, the law is basically the same in most western countries.

ie; you may use reasonable force to defend yourself, your family or your home.

The difference is, how jury's interprete what is reasonable.

 

I'm not familiar with the English experience of late, but from the citizen's perspective, it is not usually a problem here, and there haven't been many controversial cases reported in this country. That may be because prosecutors are loathe to get involved in cases involving the issue of self-defense and won't bring charges against citizens who claim to have been defending themselves unless they are almost certain they can obtain a conviction. Most juries don't have a problem putting themselves in the citizen's shoes and empathizing with them. The right of self-defense is taken pretty seriously here and juries tend to be rather forgiving of mistakes if there is any rational basis for them.

 

as in the song by Jamie Brockett... (Ballad of the Titanic)

Among the First Mate's belongings...

497.5 feet of rope...."I just carry it." peppy: approved)

 

During war there were several incidents where reckless gun handling caused several deaths. Not many books mention this.This is also one point one must take into consideration. I am not saying that I´d keep this as a reason not to have a gun if you want one. But it is a fact that a certain number of people will get hurt by reckless gun handling. Others are better in handling a gun and that´s just the way it is. But taking care of the gun is important and also that it is out-of the kidz´ hands.

'Reckless handling of gun' blamed in death of boy, 17, shot at Lincoln Park | www.azstarnet.com ®

 

I always interpreted this as equal or lesser force.
ie: he has a deadly weapon, I am justified in using mine if I feel my life is in acual danger.

 

Kai, I saw a stat a couple of years back to the effect that something like 8 out of 10 people killed by privately held firearms are killed by accident.

At the end of the day I look around at most of our population overe here and think 'honestly, would I feel safe if some of these people could legally own firearms?' The answer is a resounding no. Sadly I look at our nation and can't help thinking we have more to fear from idiots than criminals.

 

Stefan, I am afraid your figures are very close to the truth.

During my NATO/SFOR time at times I saw horrible gun handling even by Finns....I ws sitting in the back of an armoured car and one chap threw an MG in the back and his "M16" on the floor, too. After that I have been the last to enter an armoured car or such.

I was wondering about the US troops in Iraq. Any figures for the wounds, which caused them? I did not find any sites for showing wounds caused by reckless gun handling. Thanx if anyone could show such a site. That would give figures for trained people with mishandling their weapon.

And how many of these were possibly caused by wrong handling?

US army suicide rates highest on record | Herald Sun

 

Hi Stefan, was that a stat for worldwide? I found from the NRA website that in 2005 only 1.2% of the total deaths in the US where caused by firearms(30.000 out of almost 2.5 million). Of the 30.000 firearms caused deaths only a total of 736 are accidental discharges. thats only two and one half percent. Of these more than half are committed by those between the ages of 4 and 14. this tells me that most accidental firearm deaths are committed by those who want to show off and play with daddy's guns. For the most part I think in the US we are fairly reasonable with gun safety. Hell even one of the most adamant US senators for revoking the right of individuals to own guns, Dianne Feinstein, has a CCP for California.

Kia, I found no such numbers for the military.

 

Nope, these stats were for the US, think it may have included injuries as well as deaths though. Does it not still worry you that 736 people accidentally shot themselves? That half of those people didn't care for their weapons well enough to stop their kids shooting each other?

Maybe I'm just a cynic, but to my mind most people are too stupid or too dangerous to be trusted with something like a firearm.

Ed: I've just realised what it was, the stastic related to legally held privately owned firearms and would have included suicide, thus you get rid of killings by police or with ilegally held weapons.

 

I'd be interested in the details of that stat as well as the source; it sounds way off to me. I happen to have done some research into US accidental firearms discharge statistics a while back and they were nothing like that.

As a matter of fact, when compared to other accidental deaths or injuries, firearms are an insignificant factor. Mistakes by doctors, for example, kill something like four times as many people annually as firearms accidents.

 

ditto!

 

We have an Armalite AR-10, a Ruger P85 9mm, two Walther PPKS around the house, and I carry a Walther PPS on me. Looking for another assualt rifle. An I do have some knifes and daggers lying about the house and in the cars.

I also saw a news report that 55% of the gun fatalities were suicide. If someone wants out, then they will find a way. If not by a gun, then jumping off the bridge. So IMO, these numbers skew "fatalities" by guns.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/30/guns.suicides.ap/index.html

 

Annoyingly I can't find it, so don't worry too much. That said, the 700 odd kids killed in an average year by privately held firearms is a tad tragic.

Would I be right in thinking this is your particular hobby horse DA?

 

Hello Stefan, In all honesty yes and no. What does bother me is not the fact of the accidental shootings, but the ignorance of the parent to not properly teach their children the dangers of a firearm (this relates solely toward accidental discharges in age groups of 4-14). As I said, I believe most of those are when children get together with friends and want to play with daddy's toys. I'm not worried about an accidental discharge from my gun as I take, what I feel, are necessary measures to ensure it can not. I am much more likely to die driving home from work in my automobile than I am of shooting myself with my own weapon. Although one instance I can remember involving an accidental discharge was with my uncles Remington .300 ultra mag. During hunting season about 4 years ago my uncle tried shooting at a deer. Unfortunately the firing pin failed too work and the round did not fire. He flipped the safety back engaged and went about the day in his hunting stand. At the end of the day, walking out from the woods, he went to unload the rifle. Since you must disengage the safety to work the action and unload, he did so. As soon as the safety was slipped off, the firing pin went forward and the rifle went off. It was in no way his fault, the gun malfunctioned. Which brings me to another thought. How many of those 700+ accidental shooting deaths where from inexperienced hunters not properly identifying what they aim at. When it comes to guns that is the thing that worries me most.