Why I don't carry a gun

I've seen a few threads regarding why folks carry, but I don't recall any about why they don't. Here's mine.

1. Guns are cumbersome and heavy.
My job requires a certain amount of physical activity. It would get in the way, if not get the shit beaten out of it. I suppose I could get something smaller than a 1911, but I'm a cheap bastard. Of course, I guess I could lock it in my vehicle, but if I'm gonna carry a gun, I need to maintain control of it at all times.

2. It makes me nervous.
Carrying a weapon is a big responsibility and I don't know if I want to have to shoot somebody out on the street. I figure I have a fair chance of finding a corner to run around. If anybody wants to shoot me they'll have to shoot me in the ass 'cause that's the last part of me they're gonna see.

3. It would make other people nervous.
Where I live carrying a firearm would be like having leprosy. It would make my friends and more importantly, my clients nervous. It's just not socially acceptable around here.

4. I live near a fairly affluent, low crime community.
I live near it because I can't afford to live in it. I'm not saying crime doesn't happen, but it's just not that bad here. An assault around here is someone sending you "bad energy". It's just not a particularly scary place, and I like it like that.

So, for me, at this point in time, I see no need to be better equipped or more prepared than I am in the event of a life threatening situation. It hasn't always been this way. I've lived in some pretty dicey neighborhoods and dealt with some pretty dicey people in some pretty dicey situations. I've had a CHL, mostly for defense against civil suits if I had to shoot somebody at my front door, although I don't know if it would have helped.

And that's the point. I walk around in my life. I look. I see. I make evaluations regarding my personal safety and act accordingly. All these reports of mass shootings and the erosion of the economy may force me to change my level of preparedness, but I'll have to start hearing about the effects societal erosion locally before I do anything. People don't snap all at once, neither do entire cultures. I should have time to see something coming before I make a significant change in my personal habits.

More importantly, I have no right to decide for anybody else how to evaluate their personal circumstances. If I can't assume responsibility for your safety, then it's up to you to take care of it yourself. The best any of us can hope for is to write laws that allow people to do that without endangering others. But there will never be a perfect solution because complex systems fail creatively, and there is nothing more complex than the human psyche.

Once during basic training and once, to fill some weird Navy regulation. I was awed and terrified, both times, by the potential for destruction that I was holding in my hands. I've never, again, wanted to even touch a gun. Maybe I had a bad experience, in a past life. I don't know. But even remembering those two times brings back those same gut wrenching feelings.

you might accidentally shoot yourself? :evilgrin: (seriously, that would be on my list)

Course... I guess a ricochet is always possible. I remember reading a story about a police officer killed by one during a training exercise a couple years ago.

Or accidentally being shot by someone else, who was as terrified as I was, of having a gun in my hands.

under responsibility. Crawling around under a house is no place to have a pistol sticking out.

Though for #1 there are sub compact pistols. You can fit a ruger LCP in your back pocket with ease. Just sayin.

I don't carry because it's pointless for me too. I live in a small community no real point or danger here.

...because I think it's a REALLY BAD idea!

if I killed someone with it--whether justified or a horrible mistake. "Gun" people will take that as suggesting I would not defend myself. To that, I can only say, don't count on it!

I think a lot of people forget that when they say "blah blah blah self defense"

and despite your possible intent to insult, what I was saying is that in the absence of a gun, I would look towards evasive measures or escape, but many people know they have it within themselves to fight back or to defend others. Having been put in that position before, I have been tested on that score. Have you? :shrug:

I was agreeing with you. A lot of people are going around "blah blah blah self defense, kill the fucker" with out actually putting themselves in that position, without actually thinking that they would be taking the life of another human being.

Sorry if it came out wrong... I need to choose my words a little better. I still think this is a little unclear.

:)

and yes, this is a key issue I have with some of the most impassioned gun advocates...Shooting someone may not be the hard part--living with oneself afterwards may be the real challenge.

that is how many I know that are dead because of guns. Five were murders, one was a suicide.

I don't like the energy that comes with a gun.

I can appreciate your perspective.

1) I would have to acquire a gun, for the first time in my life.
2) I would have to learn how to use a gun properly, about gun safety, and so on.
3) I have better uses for my money and time.
4) I have never, in over 62 years of life, had need of a gun.
5) I don't want to support the gun companies that, along with their NRA lapdog, have done so much damage to this country.
6) I'm not a raving-idiot gunnut.

Kimber Tactical Pro II™ / .45 ACP : MSRP $1250.00

Round trip airfare to Venice Italy: $734.00

No fucking contest.

There are just as good guns out there for a lot less....

others and they all give me sticker shock. The Kimber made a flashier point.

It's cause I'm such a cheap bastard. :) If I decide to carry I'll lug that big ass 1911 around for a long time before I get something else I guess. Even then, it'll be a .45. I just like 'em too much.

Good no frills 1911 that can be had for about $400(+/-).

Para ordinance is also a good one.

You could also build one from parts.

Or wilson combat if you like flash

I think I'm over doing this :P

5&6 were just fucking retarded.

Not right now. Who knows what the future holds.

Thanks for starting this thread.

1. The responsibility. I couldn't live with myself if someone was accidentally killed with my weapon. I grew up in a family of avid hunters and took (mandatory) hunter's safety in school. I know how to be "safe" around guns, but I have never been able to get over the overwhelming fear of being in their presence. I've never held one (even though I was required to shoot one in school) and I hope I never will.

2. I have no interest in hunting, even though I technically own a deer camp in the UP of MI, lol.

3. It would do little to protect me. I live in a high crime area. If I am going to be shot, statistically it will be a random event and likely a drive-by. Having a weapon of my own will not protect me from this. The shots would be fired before I could ever raise it. My dogs do more to deter other criminals than would a firearm.

4. I live in an apartment building. Other people have access to my apartment. I have a better chance of having my gun stolen from my apartment and used in a crime, than I do a intruder getting past my dogs to murder/rob/rape me.

5. I plain have no interest in shooting one. I adore violent video games, especially ones that involve shooting, but that's quite enough for me.

Because the State of Illinois won't let me. Thats about the only reason. I do own several though.

Plus the difficulty of convincing the San Diego County Sheriff that I have what he considers to be a "good reason".

If my state had a shall-issue law (i.e. set of objective qualifications for getting a permit to carry a concealed weapon), I would get the permit and use it only rarely.

I do occasionally carry one when I am in dangerous areas, and I often have one with me when I go camping. I consider weapons (including knives) to be basic wilderness survival tools.

Open carry of an unloaded weapon is legal in most places in California BTW, including the city of San Diego.