Why I carry a gun… and where.

Why I carry a gun… and where.

I carry a gun because I am a good guy…

For just a bit of background I will tell you I live in California. I have a CCW permit issued by the Placer county Sheriffs department. It took me almost a full year to obtain the CCW permit. I am now legal to carry a concealed weapon in any county in California, and in a few other states that recognize a CCW permit issued in California. There was a fair amount of required training and extensive background checks including the FBI & DOJ. And these came after the California BG check. 
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When you begin carrying a concealed weapon you are exposing yourself to enormous potential liability. First, should you ever find yourself in the position of having to shoot at someone, you better be darn sure you really needed to shoot. Even if you are in the right 100%, you are going to be arrested and spend at least one night in jail. Then, you will begin a long and expensive legal battle, because you are going to be sued. Ether by the recipient of your bullet(s), or his/her family. You can count on that. That is just the way our world works today. It is my fervent  prayer that I am never put in the position of shooting someone. Having said that and being very serious about it, I would like to be clear on one thing: Should I be in a position where my defensive posture is to shoot a bad guy/gal to protect myself, my family or anyone else… I will do it without hesitation. As fast as possible I will put two 9mm holes in the chest of the threat. With the ammunition I use, there is a better than 90% chance the perpetrator will not survive. 

Okay, so why do I carry a gun? There are really two reasons. One reason is for self-protection and the other is for protection of others. At my age (I am 70) most people are retired and living a life of leisure. While I guess that technically I am retired, I am still working. I do property inspections (Fannie Mae, HUD etc.) to supplement my Social Security income, and my wife’s employment income. The properties I inspect are owned by the mentioned quasi-government agencies, and are supposed to be vacant. Because the agencies became the owners via foreclosure you can imagine that a fairly high percentage of them are in blighted and high crime areas.  I call it visiting the “badlands”. These are dangerous areas and it’s risky just going there, not to mention I have encountered squatters, evidence of drug parties, etc.  I carry a gun for protection in these high risk areas.
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When I am not working, and I am just living my life, I am carrying my gun most of the time. I am not carrying it because I feel the need for protection personally, I am carrying it to protect others. Others like my wife, friends, neighbors, and other church attenders. Yes, I usually carry my gun when I attend church. Again, not because I feel the need for personal protection, I don’t. But because we live in such a crazy society, you never know what some nut is going to do. And when that nut appears I will do my best to stop him/her. I carry my gun to church and other places to protect others… to protect you!  We are about one year past that terrible movie theater shooting in Colorado.  Wouldn’t it have been nice if there had been a couple of people attending that movie who were carrying a gun? No doubt there would have been a different outcome.

Except when working, I don’t carry a gun for my own protection, but for yours. I don’t know where the dangerous crazy person is going to be. If I did know, I just would not go there. But I can’t know, so I carry my concealed weapon most of the time. Again, I pray I will NEVER need to use it, but if necessary I will.  

Quote from: Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association’s executive vice president

“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

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