Why do I carry?

I've always been fascinated with guns. As a young kid growing up I owned many BB guns. My friends and I would often go into the woods and practice shooting tin cans, paper plates, each other and even an occasional stray cat here and there...sorry you cat/animal lovers.

Not so funny story though, someone called the cops on us when we were back in the woods shooting "stuff" one day. The police came and gave us all a tongue lashing then confiscated all our BB guns. We had to have each of our parents go to the police station to retrieve them. My parents never went to get mine back. Lesson learned.

I'm a little older and wiser now (at least I think) and my love for guns has stayed with me. Safety to me is the number one rule of owning a firearm. It takes a lot of discipline, self control, common sense and a complete understanding of the power a firearm yields. Not to mention the fact that it takes a great amount of responsibility and mental capacity and many many hours of training to even carry a firearm must less own one.

I have been licensed to legally carry a firearm for years now and I feel that it is my constitutional right to have that privilege as a US citizen. In order for you to receive this right however, you must jump through many hoops and pass all the tests and qualifications that the State and local governments deem necessary. Then and only then will you be considered for what is called a CPL (Concealed Pistol license), also known as a CCW (Concealed Carry Weapon).

I often get mixed reactions from people when they find out my stance on owning and being able to legally carry a firearm. There have been many times where people just don't understand the certain views and reasoning behind it all.

"My gosh, you carry a gun and you have kids!"
All the more reason to. I want to be able to start educating my kids early on and show them the importance of gun safety and it's consequences.

"It's not like you live in a bad neighborhood or anything"
Last time I checked crime has no boundaries. As a matter of fact criminals come to the burb's because that's where the money is. Many people deal with the problem of crime by convincing themselves that they live, work, and travel only in special "crime-free" zones. Invariably, they react with shock and hurt surprise when they discover that criminals do not play by the rules and do not respect these imaginary boundaries. If, however, you understand that crime can occur anywhere at anytime, and if you understand that you can be maimed or mortally wounded in mere seconds, you may wish to consider whether you are willing to place the responsibility for safeguarding your life in the hands of others.

"Why do you even need to carry a gun anyways?"
I can go on and on with with this question but I won't, instead let me pose this question, why do you need car insurance? We all know we have it just in case you get in an accident to cover property or personal damages right? Well the same concept here with a gun, just in case there is a need to ever use my firearm in a life threatening situation to protect either myself or my family it's there as my insurance policy. I've often said it's better to have it and not use it then to not have it when my life depended on it. Carry as if your life depends on it, because one day...it just might.

In 1991, when then-Attorney General Richard Thornburgh released the FBI's annual crime statistics, he noted that it is now more likely that a person will be the victim of a violent crime than that he will be in an auto accident. Despite this, most people readily believe that the existence of the police relieves them of the responsibility to take full measures to protect themselves. The police, however, are not personal bodyguards. Rather, they act as a general deterrent to crime, both by their presence and by apprehending criminals after the fact. As numerous courts have held, they have no legal obligation to protect anyone in particular. You cannot sue them for failing to prevent you from being the victim of a crime.

In light of the Virginia Tech massacre you'll notice a lot of movement from the government relating to gun control and it's laws. Movement such as trying to institute a law that would've prevented this type of situation to have even occurred. I think a lot of people are either mis-informed or very closed minded though when it comes to these gun control laws. Let's be honest here having more and more strict gun control laws in place does not stop the "bad guy" from getting there hands on a gun. Bad guys will always have a means to get guns anytime they want.

John Stossel, from ABC news just came out with a new book. It's called 'Myth's, Lies and Downright Stupidity'. If you haven't read or seen it yet do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. One of the things he covers in his book is about Gun control and it's laws. Here he is being interviewed about his book, specifically about the gun control.... http://www.abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3085634

Here's yet another video of Stossels reports about 'Gun control is not really crime control'
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3149487

So why do I carry? Simple, I refuse to be a victim. My motto: "be nice and kind to everyone but carry a concealed firearm."