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Defining Moment(s) that led to your decision to CCW

419K views 1K replies 1K participants last post by  Chuck Finley69 
#1 · (Edited)
[Edit on 12/09/2010]: I requested a change to the thread's name, and I've decided to add something to this OP to better clarify the thread's intent.

There are dozens of threads, if not hundreds, with the subject "Why I/you/we CCW"...which is why I started this thread in the first place: to ask specifically about "Defining Moments" that you may have had, which led you to the decision to CCW. I haven't kept track of exact numbers, but a considerable portion of the posts -- particularly those more recent -- have been along the lines of "I CCW because..." which doesn't fit the thread's intent.

I'm not trying to play Moderator here, nor am I criticizing those who've posted "Why I Carry" responses to this thread; I'm simply wanting to remind folks that this thread is meant to be different from those "Why I Carry" threads.


Thanks

[End of 12/09/2010 Edit]
I want to briefly describe two incidents that led me to the decision to carry a firearm for self-defense. And if YOU had a defining moment--or numerous ones--that led to your CCW decision, then I think it would be interesting to read about them.

My story isn't very exciting, but I do hope you'll share your "defining moment(s)" with your fellow GT'ers.

Brief Background
I grew up in a family that only occasionally hunted. My dad had a .22LR rifle and a bolt-action .30-06 for large game. As for "incidents," I'd witnessed a few road-rage episodes and the like, but no weapons were ever involved and no deadly threats--perhaps one possible threat of serious bodily harm at age 15 (road rage).

Defining Moment
It was around October of 2002. My wife and I were talking about starting a family, and my mind was occupied by the responsibilities of a husband and future father. One morning I was listening to a local radio talk show (Bob Lonsberry -- www.lonsberry.com) and he was talking about CCW (he's a CCW'er and a vocal advocate for it), and he urged his audience to read a column he'd written regarding CCW entitled "This is Why I Carry a Gun." (He wrote two versions: one version for a general audience and another version for Guns & Ammo.)

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

The Decision
Long story short, from late 2002 till early 2003 I conducted my own crash course in firearms (handguns mostly) and CCW -- did so via the Internet, books, magazines, friends, etc. I'd handled Glocks in the gun shops and took a particular liking to the Glock 19, but budget constraints forced me to settle for a Kel-Tec P-11, which I eventually purchased in early summer of 2004 and could legally carry concealed one month later, UT permit in hand. (I eventually purchased a G19 and subsequently sold the P-11.)

Like I said, it's not that exciting a story.

Anyway, I hope you'll chime in and tell us about your Defining Moment(s).
 
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#202 ·
Growing up my mother went through many hard times that remind me to carry.

She was held hostage by two armed robbers in Kmart.

My parents owned a small business here in sunny S. Florida that was robbed three times. She was robbed by gun point twice and once beaten with a metal bar.

My parents home had been robbed 4 times. 3 times in one location (one time we came home in the act and she restled with one of the three robbers trying to escape) and 1 time in another home years later where they pepper sprayed the trained dog in the house.

I also remember reading somewhere that pointed out that on the news you never hear the crimes police prevented. Instead every night you hear about all the crimes that have happened throught day.

Be safe
 
#204 ·
I decided to carry because of all your stories of being robbed, mugged, almost rapped (or seeing someone almost rapped) and I decided that I don't want a story like that to convince myself or others to carry. You all are not that different from me.
 
#205 ·
#207 ·
I made the conscious decision to get a CCW permit when I rode to the feed&grain on the outskirts of town (wearing, as usual in the saddle, my New Vaquero .357) and I opened my duster to get to my wallet ... in front of an off-duty cop.

I was lucky (this was prior to my lawsuit against the local law-dogs) and only got a butt-chewing and a business card for a local CCW instructor.
 
#208 ·
Tonight at midnite I turn 21. I will be going to get mine at 8a.m. when the doors open because I CAN. I've had some pretty close calls, having had friends that lived in the worse (not just the bad part,even worse) part of town, and looking down the barrel of a gun and feeling helpless is not something I want to go through again. I now have a fiance' and am getting married this august, and it will be MY responsibility to protect her. I would die if something happened to her, and I'm going to carry 24/7 to do everything in my ability to stop something from happening. and it also helps that I've had handguns for a couple years, and it sucks not being able to carry them concealed. After VA tech and all the other recent shootings, I decided that I will carry all the time, not just a couple nights a week when I go out. I've loved guns since I was young, love shooting them, love hunting with them, just fascinated by them. Even if I had none of the previous reasons, I would get it because I'm an American citizen, and I can. I won't be a victim. Neither will my family if I can help it.
 
#210 ·
I lost some weight and thought the in waistband holster would let me extend the life of my pants... :whistling:


















:rofl::rofl:
 
#213 ·
It was never a thought for me. I grew up with guns. My dad had a good size collection. He bought me a .22 when I was 6, ( I could only use it with him). By the time I was 16 I was into hunting and had a few rifles and shotguns. Both my parents had carry permits, so it was just a fact that I would get a permit when I was 18. Ive carried for almost 20 years now. Im sorry to read so many of you have had to face such defining moments.... Stay safe all.
 
#215 ·
i have collected 11 pistols over the last 8 years and never gave a thought to getting a ccw. that was until about 3 weeks ago when my son was born. just took the ccw class today and will be heading down to the local pd to turn in the paper work tommorrow.

for some reason i never thought much about my safety but protecting my new family is now on the top of my list
 
#217 ·
I had two different situations that made me go get my concealed carry license. In The first situation, i was waiting with some friends in a Marta station in Atlanta after a game. About five twenty-something black thug dressed men came down an escalator, and started dancing around a single man holding a brief case, obviously waiting for the train after work. One of the young thugs finally gave him a good straight right to the face, totally unprovoked. Then when everybody started yelling and heading to the aid of the business man, the five cowards ran up the down moving escalator. It was a good ten minutes before on lone woman cop came running asking which way they had gone.

The second situation happened at a waffle house in a suburban setting-not a bad area. Everybody was eating and quiet when up rolls 7 cars full of thug looking young guys, complete with seriously loud music, sagging pants and more chains than huggy bear. they came in, walking up and down the isles, talking loud and daring anyone to say something. Some of them started banging on the windows, and shouting obscenities. The police were then called. I immediately told my then wife to get up and meet me at the cashier, we were leaving. They had crowded around the front door, and they did not move out of the way. Then when i got through them, and got to the car, i tried to back up and the good citizens proceeded to block me with their car.. I kept a cool head, and waited for them about 15 minutes to get out of the way. The police never did show up, as i drove off feeling lucky there was no confrontation. These are situations that i would have felt a lot better in being armed. I could not, and would not have pulled a weapon in these situations, unless it got clearly out of control and deadly, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know it could have easily headed in that direction.
 
#218 ·
I had two different situations that made me go get my concealed carry license. In The first situation, i was waiting with some friends in a Marta station in Atlanta after a game. About five twenty-something black thug dressed men came down an escalator, and started dancing around a single man holding a brief case, obviously waiting for the train after work. One of the young thugs finally gave him a good straight right to the face, totally unprovoked. Then when everybody started yelling and heading to the aid of the business man, the five cowards ran up the down moving escalator. It was a good ten minutes before on lone woman cop came running asking which way they had gone.

The second situation happened at a waffle house in a suburban setting-not a bad area. Everybody was eating and quiet when up rolls 7 cars full of thug looking young guys, complete with seriously loud music, sagging pants and more chains than huggy bear. they came in, walking up and down the isles, talking loud and daring anyone to say something. Some of them started banging on the windows, and shouting obscenities. The police were then called. I immediately told my then wife to get up and meet me at the cashier, we were leaving. They had crowded around the front door, and they did not move out of the way. Then when i got through them, and got to the car, i tried to back up and the good citizens proceeded to block me with their car.. I kept a cool head, and waited for them about 15 minutes to get out of the way. The police never did show up, as i drove off feeling lucky there was no confrontation. These are situations that i would have felt a lot better in being armed. I could not, and would not have pulled a weapon in these situations, unless it got clearly out of control and deadly, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know it could have easily headed in that direction.
And now you know exactly why I carry a subcompact glock with two full size reloads: all of the situations I've felt screwed and in desperate need of a gun has involved a small or large group of people. I can't imagine carrying some 5 shot snub!
 
#219 ·
My motivation for getting a CCW was living in a hurricane prone area. I thought it would be nice to legally carry in an evacuation type of situation. My decision to frequently carry was made when I went into a Winn Dixie and in the store were three different groups of thugs and none of them were connected to each other. In the store were three discrete groups of young men who looked like gangsters. This was at seven o’clock at night. A light went off in my head and after that, I usually carried after dark.
 
#220 ·
I am new to this forum. I want to say "Hi" and tell you how grateful I am to have a place to read about firearms and such. Anyways, I have read all 253 posts and really enjoyed the stories. I think that I need to tell mine though.

When I was 18 I lived in a party house with 4 other friends in Muncie IN. On a usual weekend night, we had a party with kegs and probably 30 people in my house. Late in the night, a friend of mine came in all beat up. I'm talking broken nose, ribs, he just looked like hell. We tried to get as much info out of him as we could but he wouldn't talk. All he would say was he got jumped in the side of our yard by a couple of guys. An hour or so later I had 7 to 8 guys in my house brandishing handguns. They were gang members looking for my "beat up" friend. Apparently my friend was not on the losing end of his fight. Luckily a girl from our party ran out and waved down a police car (we were on BSU campus); the police showed up within minutes and the gangstas ran off after hearing all the sirens. I have never felt so helpless in my life. When it all happened I was in my kitchen with a couple of friends just chillin at the keg. One of the invaders came in the kitchen waiving his gun in our faces. We wanted to wrestle the gun out of the dude's hand and beat the living piss out of him, but we were afraid of someone getting hurt (not the gangsta). If you're wondering if we pressed charges or not, We didn't. We were all underage and with all the kegs in our house, we ran too!

Fast forward 10 years. After serving 8 years in the USAF (OEF Vet) and meeting my wife (who is also military) I was stationed in Florida at Hurlburt Field. Immediatly after Katrina I bought my Glock 19 (same reason as many others). No CCW though. Now we are stationed in New Mexico. I have been honarably discharged from the AF and now I'm a Sociology major at ENMU. So its my job to find out about society and stuff. Down to the nitty-gritty! I am going to the CCW class Mar 8&9 because in my research I found out that 1 in 166 people in my area are the victim of a violent crime. I've also talked my wife into getting an AR-15, which is perfect cause she and I already know how to field strip the weapon and shoot it effectivly. It just sucks cause if I did all of this (CCW) while still active duty, I wouldn't have to take the class; which would save me $100

Thanks for reading, you guys/gals seem like a good bunch.:cheers:
 
#221 ·
I had my CCW last June of 2007. A year before that i was awakened by the phone early in the morning and the hardest news id ever had. My wife got jump in the parking garage on her way to work. She was on her way to the hospital. She fought the attacker inside her car and ended up getting beat up. The guy was captured after 3 days. It was hard for me seeing her and to hold my emotion and tears for a long time. The individual was convicted and sentenced 6 years. We both work now on the same shift and carpool. He got denied 2x already for parole since then. I thank all of our relatives & friends that help us go through those hard times. I thank God for giving her strength at that moment. As for me I no longer think of revenge. Time heals...
 
#222 ·
Later 80s, Norfolk Va. High number of car jackings where the driver was killed. Surgical Resident at Norfolk Gen was car jacked in the hospital parking ramp, raped, beaten within a inch of her life and left for dead.
Last, a poor women car jacked, killed and left in the trunk of her car parked along the freeway. I drove past that car several times over three days, even wondered why it hadn't been towed. I started carring my 1911 that day.
a few weeks later it saved my life. Been carring every since.:wavey:
 
#225 ·
A few things happened to convince me:
-My state became shall issue.
-I started reading about how my state may change the law.
-I joined the local gun rights organization and the NRA to help protect the shall issue laws.
-There were many CCW classes offered in my area.
-The Brady bill/laws ended and I was worried that they would come back and I would miss my chance.

So I took the training, bought some Glocks and a large number of the 33 rd mags (worried that the Brady laws might come back)
Joined GT took more training and started to really enjoy going to the range.
-------------------------------------
Now my wife's moment was different.
She shared my enjoyment of the range and we shared the Glocks and a ruger 22/45, but she traveled on a lonely highway once and was frightened by a potential stalker.
She returned from the trip, took a CCW class, got her own sub compact- G36 (she likes the single stack) and her own ruger 22/45. We still share the 17L and G21. I do catch her looking at single stack 1911s - uh ooh- lol

She actually came home this week with the Guns and Ammo mag with the Kimber SIS on the cover... (hummmm..)
We actually held one at our range/shop later on this week.
 
#226 ·
In 1993, there were 2 students killed at the college I was attending. They lived a few buildings down. No signs of forced entry, no witnesses, and it was done in the middle of the night. The guy was killed downstairs, and the girl was killed upstairs....both shot in the back of the head.

A few months after that, I was at home with my then girlfriend and someone entered my apartment....with a key, no forced entry and proceded to come upstairs to tell me that my stereo was up too loud. I didnt open my bedroom door waited for him to leave....and he left. I made a report to campus police and heard nothing else about it.

The very next day, I went and purchased my very first G22 (still have it) and got a CCW. And have been pretty much carrying every since!
 
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