[majic man]

My dad is the Lt. In charge of a local and federal jail. On a few occassions when it is take your kid to work day I was in the isolated room overlooking the booking area. It really struck me that this guy I was staring at and he at me had just murdered a woman 3 days ago. It really opened my eyes to the scum on this planet. Therefore I intend on getting my LTCH when I turn 18.

[FireForged]

Nothing made me decide to lawfully carry a handgun.. It was a simple choice, same as wearing a seatbelt or owning a fire extinguisher/smoke alarm.

[flagg]

Bad guys carry.

But I'm not a bad guy.

Bad guys carry.

I'm not a bad guy.

Bad guys carry.

But I'm—oooooh.

So I should carry to protect myself and my family from bad guys.









Enter .357

[sugarcreek]

...and my desire to protect them...

This was a central element.

[certifiedfunds]

Originally Posted by sugarcreek

...and my desire to protect them...

This was a central element.

Myself as well. It also began my prepping.

[jimmeadows]

Originally Posted by flagg

Bad guys carry.

But I'm not a bad guy.

Bad guys carry.

I'm not a bad guy.

Bad guys carry.

But I'm—oooooh.

So I should carry to protect myself and my family from bad guys.









Enter .357

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Your statement is incredibly simple, yet profoundly meaningful. Thank you!<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
I know I may be preaching to the choir here, but it absolutely mystifies me that so many people in our society today do not understand this most basic point about the importance of guns for self defense.

The bad guys are going to carry weapons regardless; that is a given. Therefore, . . . . <o:p></o:p>

[beechers]

[quote=jimmeadows;12517272]<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>

I gotta' bet that was one of the intentions behind CCW.

[Acemedic1]

im like alot of you that decided to carry mainly just because thats what my family has always done. everyone in my family, mother,grandmother,grandfather, carry daily for protection it was a simple choice for me to do the same. fortunately there has never been a tiime when pulling/shooting was necessary for anyone in my family but when i was 20 yrs old i realized that at anytime your life could be put in jeopardy. i was alone at a gas station in a pretty rough part of town late at night, pretty cliche' i no but i was approached while going into the store by somebody that seemed to have known me from earlier in my life maybe school or something i just wrote it off because i was on the phone. while in the store i watched the man and his buddy walk around tothe side of the store where my truck was parked. thinking to myself dang another bum is gonna try and hit me up for some money, i pulled my cell phone back out and pretended to take a call. as i approached my truck he was on the passenger side still trying to talk to me and his buddy had walked around posting up probably six feet from me on a newstand. when i opened my door the guy quickly opened my passenger door which i had left unlocked like an idiot and told me to "get in now mother@@@@@" i slammed my door shut and ran around to the front of the store where everyone was oblivious and called the cops. of course they hauled butt and i couldnt describe them enough to satisfy my local SD so they went without chase. i just cant help but wonder that if he had timed his entry a little better and waited until i was seated in the truck that he could have put a knife/gun hell anything for that matter to me and i would have been at his mercy. that was when i decided for myself that personal protection is a must and cannot be overlooked, not ever, because you never no when something can happen.

[Taykaim]

I probably shouldn't admit this in an open forum, but I first started carrying after walking up on a drug deal in southern California and running away with a bullet in both legs. The wounds weren't serious, but they hurt plenty and even two hits out of many shots fired was enough for me. The irony being that both were ricochets from the concrete if the debris in the wounds was any indication.

However, it was illegal carry there, as I had no permit, and didn't really even look into getting one after I learned how tough it would be to get one with no "reason" good enough for local authorities. I carried on the premise that I had no plans of breaking any laws, and I would prefer to be incarcerated rather than embalmed. Just having it saved me from death or serious injury, and saved myself and my wife from what might have been a very ugly situation, but I was able to avoid shooting anyone. I don't recommend this to anyone, and while I cannot say I truly regret doing so, I do regret not working harder to do it legally.

Fast forward 12 years to when my daughter was born. I knew about shall issue permits, but had been lazy and not worried about it. But getting to know my little girl made me painfully aware of two things.


#1 Anyone threatening my kids has forfeit all chances of mercy or hesitation from me, and in fact has entered the rarefied territory of people I actively want dead on general and specific principles and for the betterment of the world.

#2 I am willing end the lives(or functional criminal careers) of any number of people who have an intent to harm my family and friends.

After that, I became aware of one other thing.

#3 While I'd rather be in jail than attending or starring in a funeral, if its avoidable I don't want to go to jail for defending those I care about.



Sorry, no big dramatic story, just an increasing awareness of how scary the world can be under the veneer of civilization.

[Harley Rider 1955]

I'm in my mid fifties and have 48 years of martial arts experience and 12 years experience carrying a CHL. Martial arts training and one real life knife fight taught me I don't want to be in another knife fight. I got a CHL as soon as Texas offered them.

[fmfdocglock]

A few times a year I go out to Astronomy Star Parties. Amateur observing is a hobby. I have had knee surgery and cant really run.

One of the events I went to in WV was at the butt end of an hour drive on dirt roads. Some of the locals changed the signs, sent some people off to a dead end and robbed them at gunpoint. Luckily I know how to read a map, and I wasnt one of the victims. I don't need Billy Bob or Cletus telling me to sqeal like a pig.

Was thinking about the CCP for about a year, then the election, decided to get the permit before the laws changed.

[xray678]

My sister was on a subway in NYC, and (not smart) she was wearing a gold chain on the outside of her sweater. While the door was open at a stop, a kid on the train grabbed for her chain and also ended up with a hold on her sweater. He did not release it and started to drag her off the subway. The friend she was with grabbed her legs and hung on, or the guy may have pulled her right out the door. The kid finally let go, and ran off. The truly scary thing was other than her friend, no one on the train lifted a finger to help her. Even my liberal sister said she wished she had a gun that day. I have been a gun owner ever since, and carried when I have lived in states that allow it.

[AmbulanceMonkee]

It's an absurd, dumb story, but it was the kick in the a** I needed to turn in the application for my permit.

[Blitzer]

Weak heart, bad hip, being unable to take flight if a bad guy wanted me ass.

[BobInTX]

Stuff like this that happened today http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/03/...ing/index.html

[Glock21sf-miami]

I was recently overseas visiting some family in a rather dangerous place. My father in law and brother in law were held at gunpoint, beaten and shallowly stabbed with the tip of a homemade knife-like long blade.
They were then robbed the next week twice with couple of things taken each time. They obviously moved. I thought to myself that ..... I felt unsafe without my g30sf by my side. It's a shame you can't take it to other countries were you might need it even more than in the US.... I have been carrying almost a year now and it has become part of my routine...

[Glocktastic]

Just got my CHP. Since I was a kid, I always thought carrying a handgun would be both cool and wise. I put it off for a long time, but the event that lit a fire under me was VTech. I kept thinking about it and other possible scenarios, as well as my young family.

I eventually overcame my anti-gun upbringing and bought a Glock 17, started open carrying, and then applied for my conceal permit. I have no regrets. My gun is a part of me. I just wish I would have bought it and started carrying a lot sooner.

[glockdad]

more bg than good guys!

[myright]

IMO most smokers believe that only other people get cancer and that only other people become victims of crime. After many years I finally realized it ain't so.
No more roulette for me, I quit smoking and I got my concealed carry permit.

.

[Plyr58]

I was in the process of buying my first handgun when I found this website. This one thread alone is enough to make anyone want to get his CCW and train in self defense 8 hours a day!

[peacefulshotta]

Originally Posted by Patronus

Defining Moment
It was around October of 2002. My wife and I were working on starting a family, and my mind was occupied by the responsibilities of a husband and future father.

I read both articles, and it was as if lightning had struck me. Paternal instinct? Maybe so.

I concur Patronus, my wife and daughter ABSOLUTELY contributed to this decision. I would anyway because it's my legal right, but the thought of me not being able to defend them against an armed fool is not something I'd like to consider.

Raise your glasses (and glocks on predators), to well being of our families...

[frankg256]

I'm Like Blitzer
Weak heart, bad hip, being unable to take flight if a bad guy wanted me ass.
<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

[slammed89swb]

Originally Posted by Stupid

Hurricane Rita evacuation. First time i ever loaded my M4 in my house, then I realized that I couldn't carry - not the M4, but my handguns because I didn't have a carry permit, nor did TX allow car carry back then. Followed my wife all the way through the jam-packed traffic that moved at 1 mile/hour with all my guns locked in cases on my back seat - not a comforting thing, but luckily things did not turn bad.

Got my CHL right after. Another reason was because I am not a citizen and i am always subject to checks when illegals could have just lied on the form.

Didn't carry for a long time and only did some car carry. Then one day 4 of us went to a club which was located at a far end of a very dark and deserted parking lot, far away from all the traffic. The club was terrible - no customers, so we decided to leave. Once we got into my car, a black SUV pulled right behind me and blocked us in. I could only drive forward into the club. For a long time, the SUV just sat there with no light no movement. I went to my gun stored in my console, but realized that i had left it with a gunsmith. I was sweating and was fully expecting some guys to jump out and proceed to rob us. Should that happen, I decided to drive into the club. Luckily, it was a carload of some girls.

Since then, always carried.

I remember that I didn't have mine CHL then and I still carried when we left for Rita. I remember going down a street called cypress wood in North Houston in bumper to bumper stop and go traffic and I looked over and there was a bus of prisoners being transported for the storm. I know I was doing wrong but things were kinda of crazy because every body was freaking out because of how bad Katrina was. I keep thinking back to the bus scene in the Fugitive and it made me feel better I had the full size HK on my side!

[verb1]

I grew up in a ghetto, and guns were everywhere. As a kid, they represented power because the guys with power in the neighborhood had them. That began my fascination. I've now had five friends shot and killed, my house has been invaded (kicked in door while I wasn't home), I've been stabbed, and had guns pulled on me several times. I've just seen too many people victimized I guess. I don't carry because I can't in my state, but I damn sure keep a gun by my bedside just in case...even though I don't live in the same areas anymore.

[KCCAD]

-----