Responsible Citizen Helping us All
I have a Concealed Weapons Permit from the state of Utah. It is valid in 40 or so other states. When concealed weapons carry comes up in conversation one frequent question is “why”? The second is “are you carrying now?”.
The obvious answer to “why” would be “so I can defend myself and family”. That is a plus but it wasn’t my reason for applying for and getting a permit.
I got a permit because I believe that as a responsible citizen I need to do my part. Having randomly seeded armed citizens reduces crime and makes us all safer. I got a permit not to be John Wayne but to be an anonymous contributor to all of our health and well-being.
Consider it this way… a strong army is rarely tested. So with more responsible people armed, crime becomes less likely – and we all have less a chance of being in a situation where the weapons we carry are needed.
I know that some of you liberal readers may have trouble wrapping your heads around this one. But give it a try. Try to think of it as a “tax” on my maturity and responsibility. There… does that help?
A caveat… while I believe that everybody has a right to carry, I don’t believe carry is for everybody. Not by a long shot. I’m at the upper end of experience with firearms, stress and maturity. And while I consider the permit training requirements good, they are minimal at best. I spent two months studying, practicing, and thinking through my obligations/responses before ever leaving home with a weapon.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:50 am
do you think most with a concealed weapons permit are in your category? that is, those who actually get the permit are trained, know what they are doing and are doing it more out of being a good citizen? seems if you go for the permit then you’d probably at least have gone through some kind of training to be comfortable carrying a fire arm…versus those that do not have a permit, but are packing the heat, are probably either gang like in nature or are stupid football players
and do you agree with a permit process to carry a concealed weapon? or do we have the right to bear arms period, no questions asked?
btw…don’t think you actually answered your second question, you carrying now?
December 16th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Most that get a permit decide not to carry. Or they only have it in their car. The folks in my class seemed to be quite knowledgeable and a few were retired cops who were getting a permit to continue carrying like that had while off duty when a cop. My instructor was quite clear with the folks who weren’t experienced that they needed to go to a range and get instruction.
I do not think a permit should be required anywhere in the country. It seems a basic right to be able to defend yourself. It is the classic case of criminals doing what they want and the law forcing us to be their prey.
I don’t answer the question about “if I’m carrying right now”.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
yeah, I can agree, and I can’t see a permit process making much of a statistical difference to the use of fire arms in criminal activity anyway
it would however be nice if there came a day when humans did not need to defend themselves from other humans…but that is probably a hurdle that evolution wouldn’t even be able jump over…will always be a small percentage of ‘bad’ mutation going on
December 16th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
It would be nice. Perhaps in a world with infinite resources. But even then bad eggs will still arise.
February 24th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
[...] George, UT P.S. For a brief overview of why I have a CCW see "Why I Carry" on my personal [...]
April 30th, 2009 at 12:21 am
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