Do You Feel Safe For Carrying Some Kind Of Weapon?

I reread this and saw it a little differently this time. A weapon doesn't make you safe any more than a gun MAKES you shoot people. There are no dangerous weapons except ones that are poorly made that might injure the shooter due to malfunction. A gun without bullets doesn't make you a bit safer. A gun under your car seat is useless if you can't reach it. IT isn't the weapon that makes you safer!

It is the person that has decided to take that weapon in hand and defend themselves that makes them safer. The weapon simply offers that person a better choice than having to defend themselves unarmed. I assure you that if I am armed and am attacked I AM safer than if I am not armed. I'm NOT safer because the weapon is dangerous. I'm safer because I AM dangerous, willing to defend myself and now have a weapon TOO!!

If you are in an airplane that has a sputtering engine that is high up in the sky do you think that a parachute really makes you safer?

This is a dangerous world and getting more so all the time. A weapon simply offers you options.

 

LOL LOL LOL....at this by the OP on page 1 of this thread...incredible example of public education thinking across the board.

In case no one told you........

My day job is preparing and handing Nuclear Fuel Rods/Cells to be installed in Nuclear Reactors. Uranium 235.
I am part of the team which prepares and then installs them into the Reactor/Reactors.

Do you feel safer????



Not all of us out here have a movie and television Education and live to our fears and insecurities via such nonsense..and political hyperbole. We have been out there on the edge of the Razor blade...many times. And you'd better have some sense about what you are doing in this kind of work. And there are many such jobs in this country....many such jobs..not just this one.

And someone out there is worried about people like me with a gun...gunpowder??? Astonishing.!!!

There are far more dangerous items which transit through or near our towns and cities ..counties ..daily and for which most of us haven't a clue. Much more dangerous than gunpowder.
Some of us live in such a bubble of artificial safety which often turns out to be only an Illusion when the SHTF...just ask those people in Puerto Rico.

Again...I will repeat myself.....

If you cannot be trusted with a gun and or ammunition ....why would you ever be trusted with a vote????

This requires thinking outside of a television and movie education....in Accelerated emotions.



When you handle Uranium 235..and or contaminated and radiated materials...you'd better be able to do something more than emote your way through life and count on someone else to drive when it gets difficult or dangerous.

This does not make me or those like me better than others...

It does mean what we can see and smell someone "Gaslighting " us for political power ....someone trying to Herd us like cattle.

My non Ishmaelite .02,

Watcherchris

 

Do I feel safe or "safer" carrying a weapon? Yes, but only because I have had the training over decades of police work, instructing at two LEO academies, teaching lethal force to civilians, and competing in USPSA, IDPA, and 3Gun for over thirty years. I have the knowledge, skill, mental ability, and discipline to use the weapons I carry.

Honestly though...I feel far safer merely because I also have the fully functional brain to keep myself safer in situations that could turn violent because I can recognize when things are heading south and can either simply leave, or de-escalate them before using a weapon becomes necessary. Hand in hand with that recognition of "something not being right"...I can also recognize when things are going south and can employ my defensive tools ahead of the curve to be more effective.

More often than not...simply looking like a bad choice in potential victims will deter the human predator. Being alert, watchful, and not having your head up your ass or buried in your cell phone will make you less attractive to a potential attacker. A look of "I see you. I recognize what you are, and I am more than capable of handling you and whatever you bring" is nearly universal in deterring all but the most dedicated or crazy potential attacker.

I don't carry myself as a victim. Of course, being nearly 6'5" and weighing 280lbs, my size is often a deterrent...but there are times when that and a generally alert carriage and demeanor won't deter potential trouble. That is when being visually and verbally in command of your surroundings comes in. You must, by necessity, become one hard sonofabitch to surprise. If you can't be surprised, you can rarely be beaten. If you couple being a hard sonofabitch to surprise with skill with our hands, or with your hands AND your defensive tools...then you are nearly impossible to beat.

So, no...simply having a weapon doesn't make 99% of people safe, or safer. It merely means they own a weapon. But couple training, mindset, intelligence, and a defensive tool...then yes...you are MUCH safer.

 

Do I feel safe or "safer" carrying a weapon? Yes, but nothing.

Should one get training and go practice, yeah sure.

Should felons be sent to labor camps or maybe even shot in the head, yeah sure. As a matter of a fact, I'll shoot felons in the head so long as my wrist holds out. I could switch to a rifle and kill some more. My goggles are out in my workshop and they are kinda sorta scratched to death and very very dirty, so I'll need some new goggles. If my getting splattered with gore will make society a happier place, then Shiva and I will dance the happy dance with the scum. I'll just take a shower afterwards.

This is a right to carry state, but the commies point and stare ... plus they call the cops on you. But I'd like to have one of my toys with me at all times. Why not. I drive an SUV all the time. I don't drive up on sidewalks and crush the hoi polloi. Nope, I don't do that.

I watch "stupid criminal" videos. When I see a robber get away and run across a road ... only to be crushed by a truck, a wave of happiness spills over me. The suffering and death of evil people is a fountain of love for me. Bright colorful lights, the clean snowy air of Christmas time, fill my soul.

 

Do I feel safe for carrying a weapon...no I do not. But that does not prevent or discourage me from getting one, training with one...and or carrying one when I am out and about ...short and long gun both.

I don't feel safe when handling Uranium 235 even with all the strict procedures involved in this work. You still stay frosty and alert. But this too does not prevent me from doing my job.

Years ago, as a younger and more idealistic man, I bought myself a tree climbing outfit and cut down three trees in my yard from up in them...small sections at a time.

I learned on the job...on the job training...OJT for short.

I learned quickly two things about this type of work which stays with me to this day.

How dangerous it is to cut down a tree from up in it...a piece at a time...

And...that those people who do this type of work for a living....earn every penny they make. Those people have big ones hanging.....and I mean big ones...as the olde saying goes.

I don't feel safe up in the trees doing that type of work but it did not prevent me from doing more of it since..for myself and my dad at his house an his rental house. I know now....intimately ....how dangerous it is up in a tree doing that kind of work.

I have great respect for those people who do that kind of work for their monies.

High tension line work too. Those folks too have big ones hanging.


No ...carrying a gun does not make me feel safe. Learning better how to use one combined with reloading my own ammunition gives me confidence....but I know safety is not a guarantee in this world...in any endeavor.

When I work with another in a hazardous endeavor...task..I want to have confidence in that person.
No lightweights need apply.... no daydreamers. You want to be with people who have an attention span. People who know the risks involved..and or what to do when things go south. People who also understand plan B or Plan C...contingency plans...steps.
You want people who can watch your back so to speak.

We did a test..a high pressure test ...a group of four of us..about two months back.
The Pressure to which we were advancing in stages was 22,500 PSI. As we reached 8,000 psi one of the guys in this group began to duck behind a tall rolling tool box.

I was a bit stunned...for this guy was retired from the Army. I was given to ask what he did for the army...??
Must have shuffled someone else's paperwork. He said it was a lot of pressure.

Wow....no s--t Sherlock!! I know now never to want this fellow with me on a dangerous job.

I know that from time to time I will be tasked with doing this kind of pressure test again. I will tell the boss to not put that fellow with me and I have done this before with people in whom I do not have confidence.

I consider the question about feeling safe carrying a gun to be a dreamland question and I do not work and live in dreamland.


My non Ishmaelite .02,

Watcherchris

 

It depends. I'll carry one while staying in the wilderness.

 

carrying a hammer and saw does not make me a carpenter

 

But if you have to saw a board or drive a nail they are pretty handy. Doing it with your bare hands would be a little difficult and painful. If I'm attacked I want something better than empty hands to defend myself with. It isn't because I'm afraid I just like the thought of choosing not to be a victim.

 

When you talk about tree work in this way it reminds me that other people don't see things like that as I do. I put my trust in my ropes and harness on a regular basis...what is scary for many people is just another day at the office for me. I began working at heights during my career in engineering and fitting cranes draglines and forestry equipment....I'm getting close to 50 now and I don't heal so fast but I'm still doing the tree work.

 

I nearly always carry a handgun if I go in the woods here. Basically there are two things that make me feel more comfortable besides the two legged wildlife. I've never had a problem with them but we have a serious feral hog infestation and a bit of a rabies problem. Where I live is a quarantine county. That means you can't take any mammal out of the county that doesn't have a rabies vaccination certificate. I watched a guy chased across a pasture one time by a rabid skunk. His back door was open but the screen door was closed. He went right through it. Also if you live in the country stupid trashy people from the cities dump their unwanted animals out and after a while you have to deal with them. A feral dog pack is a lot more dangerous than our wolves or coyotes. They have no fear of man.

 

I guess my point was, if you are going to carry a saw or hammer, train to become a carpenter.

 

Anything can be a weapon it's more or less about the intentions of the individual. But I personally would want something to defend myself and others with even if it's just from wild animals and not people.

 

I agree. The thought of some idiot running around with a gun that has not spent time learning how to shoot is frightening!!! There were two people in the claas I took to get my license to carry had never shot a gun in their life! To me this is like giving a kid a driver license that has never driven a car if they can pass a written test and drive a couple blocks without having a wreck. I am a big believer in drivers education and a learning permit before you turn a kid loose. It wouldn't bother me a bit if they tightened up the scoring requirements on the shooting part of the test so that someone that has no experience would need to get at least a little training before you gave them a license to carry.

 

Good point
I would agree with that
Most test only cover the minimum requirement to pass they should have more detail.

 

I have spent a large portion of my life learning how to be a dangerous person. Part of that is to be good with as many types of weapons as possible but in the end I am deadly butt naked. If I am attacked I am going to harm my attacker. There are NO rules and no boundaries. Attacking me is about like trying to french kiss a running circular saw. there are no good results. I don't fight. I will totally go off on an attacker.

Watch a mixed martial arts fight and then think of all the things that they are forbidden to do. Those things will be the only things that I will be doing to you. Most fighting arts are aimed to make your opponent submit or surrender. I'm going to cripple you for sure and maybe kill you. At the very least you are going to have to spend some serious time in the hospital and probably see a plastic surgeon.

The most awesome thing that mixed martial artists do is not what the do to you, it is what they resist doing to you. Arm bar holds are easier if you just go ahead and break that arm. Most choke holds could be turned into crushed windpipes and broken necks faster and easier. They don't kick you or grab you by your balls. they don't bite chunks out of you, pinch or poke out your eyes. They don't break your fingers or sidekick the knees. They don't even spit in your eyes or grab your ears!

Guns and knives just make it neater. I bit a German Shepherd in the face one time. After that when I showed up he crawled UNDER his dog house. LOL...

I'm old I gave up fighting years ago. Now I cheat!!! Old farts are dangerous. They are past the games. They don't warn you. By the time you realize that there might be a fight it is OVER WITH!

 

Up north when i go for a long walk down a lumber road that is very remote, and i see large wolf footprints i have to keep my eyes open, but if i go for that same walk and i have a gun my whole being is different now it is more like yea though i walk through the shadow of death i will fear no evil for i am armed and ready to kick ass.

 

I do not know if i got my point across, so let me try again, i watch a lot of national geographic, when a predator is hunting he is always looking for the easy kill, the weak, the lame, the old , but when you have a gun your whole being changed to one of confidence, the last thing a predator wants to mess with .

 

I like having a gun on me. Given ultimate Liberty, I'd stick a .357 in my belt walking through Lollipop Land.

 

Honestly I feel butt naked without some sort of weapon. I started carrying a knife daily when I was in elementary school. Even with the availability of a gun I still carry multiple weapons in my truck, car and boat. I ALWAYS have a pocket knife, I usually have a sheath knife. There is a large heavy walking stick in each vehicle and either a sword, machete or sharpened entrenching tool, I also always have some sort of handheld small weapon like a roll of nickels, a kubotan, brass knuckles or nylon knuckle covers with horns.

Weapons are like hammers there are a LOT of different kinds and each is designed for a specific purpose and use. A gun is not always the best tool in every situation. The problem with a gun is that you NEVER pull a gun out unless you plan on immediately shooting someone. They are not for threatening people. For one thing they may take it away from you and shoot you or they may pull their own gun and shoot you. Because you didn't immediately shoot them they have the advantage. They can ACT while you have to react and that takes time to make the decision and act on it. If someone is threatening to kick my butt a lesser weapon is more likely to dissuade them without escalating it into a life or death confrontation. I have talked myself out of a lot of fights this way. I have found that pulling a knife and then begging them not to make you gut them works well. They can back off "as a favor to me" and not lose face. I don't care about face I just want to avoid a fight. Nobody wins a fight.

I'm a good talker. I nearly always can talk a cop out of giving me a ticket. (That just infuriates my wife.) If I can get out a weapon I can nearly always convince you that WE don't want to do anything ugly where someone is going to get hurt bad. Even when I've been massively outnumbered I've always managed to make them not want to get close enough to me to force me to gut one them. You need to make each one think "What if it is ME'" and then it is no more dangerous than facing off just one. I always smile and am friendly and show my concern for them. I have no fear. I really don't and that bothers people a lot. I'm sort of crazy in that way. If I could pick my way to die it would be in battle against someone that really needed and deserved to be beat to death.

At the age of 65 I am many time more dangerous than I was at 25. I don't have a lot to lose and have my life well in order.

 

Nothing you carry makes you "safer".
It just makes you more prepared for things that might happen.

 

If in Minneapolis, you REALLY should consider mounting a Ma Deuce on your vehicle's roof:

https://www.kare11.com/article/news...eries/89-98fa8cde-e96f-481a-af7e-0c857802593c

https://www.kare11.com/section/news/crime

https://www.kare11.com/article/news...ebate/89-7dc39d1d-5987-445a-b3c3-1a88e3068b20

https://kfgo.com/news/articles/2019...arged-with-setting-girlfriend-on-fire/939042/

Police shortage; who'd want to patrol a third-world dung-heap?!

https://video.foxnews.com/v/6078470807001/#sp=show-clips

 

More in Minneapolis

https://alphanewsmn.com/minneapolis...li-used-machete-in-multiple-target-robberies/

https://kstp.com/news/suspect-kenya...pes-robberies-in-minneapolis-charged/5291026/

"Minneapolis’ ‘Little Mogadishu’ Sees 56 Percent Increase in Violent Crimes Caused by Somali Gangs"
https://tennesseestar.com/2019/01/0...ase-in-violent-crimes-caused-by-somali-gangs/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/minneapolis-has-become-recruiting-ground-for-islamic-extremists/

 

America is melting

https://www.zerohedge.com/political...s-missed-100-days-school-failed-classes-still

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/will-chicago-be-largest-us-city-declare-bankruptcy

 

When I carry a weapon, that usually means when I am breathing and not inside my home, I'm not carrying it to make me safe. I'm carrying it in hopes that when the grim reaper comes for me that I can send an escort through the gates of hell ahead of me. The only way a weapon can make you safe is if you are the aggressor and don't give them a chance to defend themselves. Otherwise, the purpose of the weapon is to make sure that the price that they will have to pay to take you is as high as possible. Most of the time that price will be too high for them and you get to walk away. In my experience when a thug tries to jump someone he is expecting a sheep. When I show my teeth and he realizes that instead, he has a wolf by the tail he starts looking for a way out. 'The weapon is part of the package. The lack of fear and the willingness to fight is probably as important as the weapon.

 

NEVER WITHOUT A WEAPON! Gun or knife, NOT required.





Dale

 

The firearm does not make me feel safe. I do feel slightly safer, but not safe. Humans are the least likely to be a problem for me, as I have so little human contact. My problem is bears or "PMS" moose encounters at very close distance.

 

My most frightening moments over the past decade involves PMS moose. These encounters can be very sudden and very dramatic.

 

I have never had physical contact with a live moose, I have needed to dive out of the way of charging moose on two occasions, both were cows. And neither one had calves with them. Other times not actually dive, but had to move out of their way, with them coming straight at me, but not really aggressively charging.

I have seen videos of cow moose attempting to kill dogs. And I was impressed with how fast and agile the moose were. One thing interesting I have noticed is that nearly all humans killed by moose happen the urban or suburban environment.

I remember one year there was two people killed in Anchorage by moose, and one person over near Wasilla, Alaska killed by moose, and all three happened with-in about six weeks time. One was in the school yard in south Anch..

I once watched a large heavy built moose slowly walk up to a 6 foot high chain-link fence, with nose almost touching the fence, stand there totally still as if thinking it over, it jumped over that fence and never touched it. I went over and measured the height where it happened, it was 6 feet high. And it was from a standing still jump. I was sure it was going to bend the top rail.

I watched a moose birth two calves, it took several hours each, easy to see how helpless they are to predator attack during birthing.