I sent this to my best friend, Because she thinks I carry a gun just to look cool.

I don't carry a gun to kill people.
I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don't carry a gun to scare people.
I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.

I don't carry a gun because I'm paranoid.
I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.


I don't carry a gun because I'm evil.
I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the
world.


I don't carry a gun because I hate the government.
I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.


I don't carry a gun because I'm angry.
I carry a gun so that I don't have to spend the rest of my life hating
myself for failing to be prepared.


I don't carry a gun because I want to shoot someone.
I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and
not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.


I don't carry a gun because I'm a cowboy.
I carry a gun because, when I die and go to heaven, I want to be a
cowboy.


I don't carry a gun to make me feel like a man.
I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the
ones they love.


I don't carry a gun because I feel inadequate.
I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am
inadequate.


I don't carry a gun because I love it.
I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful
to me.

Police Protection is an oxymoron. Free citizens must protect themselves.
Police do not protect you from crime, they usually just investigate the
crime after it happens and then call someone in to clean up the mess.

And then her response;

Uh, The chances of you getting shot. Are veerrrrry slim. Second, If you are "attacked" Chances are you won't have time to whip out your gun. Third, You wouldn't need a gun to protect you if you can used your fists. Fourth. You only use it to shoot random shat, chances of you actually "defending" yourself and getting away with it in this fuzzed up court system...not likely. Don't mean to be mean, but seriosly, It's just a shiny toy to scare children.

I've never been so disappointed in her, Shes one of the the smartest people I know. Honestly, I feel like If my own child said that to me... Id slap'em for being so stupid (Not really, I'm frustrated as hell.) I don't even know what to say. Its like she forgets I'm not exactly that kid she knew in highschool, Quite plainly... I'm a professional Soldier... A REAL gunfighter, She doesn't understand the other side of the fence.

This post has been edited by Watson: May 11th 2009 5:59 PM

My wife had that same mentality a while back. She just couldn't comprehend why I carry. One day we were at the mall and I ran her through something, and it really opened her eyes. We were at a table in the food court and we were having the "why didn't you leave it in the car" talk. Okay, I showed her why.

I told her to just listen and keep a body count. I picked a random person out of the crowd as an assailant. Okay, he just pulled out a gun just like mine, 15 rounds of 9mm and he has 1 spare magazine. I told her to look at her watch, you just called 911, average police response around here on a GOOD day is 4 minutes. Four minutes from now i'll stop. He just shot her in the back, picking people at random, a few seconds later, he just shot him in the chest. I kept this going for about 3 minutes and she kept a count. I stopped and looked at her, are the cops here yet? Still about 1 minute left, too bad you're his next target. Now do we need to run through this with me carrying, or can we just forget this argument?

I haven't heard not one word about it since.

Well, they're right to a point. In my life, I guess I have pulled my gun a half dozen times for real and seeing how old I am, that's some pretty slim odds. I kind of do like the idea I'm still breathing so able to type this post which the odds are had I not had a gun those times, I wouldn't be.

The cultural difference between men and women was why our founding fathers did not give them the vote. Its that whole bread winner and protected thing and though not as prevalent today as then, it is still prevalent. You got that whole men should protect women and men shouldn't hit women thing going on as well. What's really bad is the media has many totally convinced, its a two way street equally applicable to males. There's a two way street alright, we see it all the time, like the girl who thinks she can stand up and pick a fight wearing the armor shield of her gender or the social lamebrain that thinks she can talk her boyfriend into going into the ethnic biker bar because she did it once and didn't get beat up.

Sometimes its just simply best in life we accept there is a difference between men and women and do the man thing.

Oh btw, As the TV is confusing women on the gender thing, its really confusing some men who think they are women.

TJ

And what expertise does she base her opinions on? It sounds like she is a degress in crime. Odds are you wont get into a car accident either but you still wear a seat belt. But hey would will have time to put it on right? A gun does more to defend agasint a knife than a fist does. You may also only need to show the gun in order to defend your self.

It sounds to me like she has watched too much 20/20 and drank that koolaid. Remind her that when seconds count 911 is only minutes away. If the shiney toy scares the kids then maybe the kids need a proper education on the subject. If all else fails remind her that maybe you wont have time to do this or do that but that is a choice that is yours not somebodys to take away from you.

"And what expertise does she base her opinions on?"- Absolutely NONE. Shes an armchair warrior who has NEVER been in a tight situation.

The strange thing is, She herself is very comfortable with guns. She has her own 12 gauge and hunts water fowl with her father down in North Dakota. Somehow she has it in her head that -I- shouldn't carry a gun because there are people -Trained- to use them to 'Defend' people, To her this is the police, And only the police. She used to say the same thing about 'hand to hand' combat, Because I always said if all else fails I could hold my own using nothing but my hands. One day I politely asked her to try and overpower me (She isn't a small 100 pound girl either, She used to wrestle for school, So she knew what she was doing. Hell, Shes bigger than me. I'm all of 145 pounds and 6') And ended up learning her lesson about Army combatives and how effective they are at not only 'detaining' someone on the ground, But killing as well (I used a sharpie marker as a fake knife of sorts.) She shut up about that real quick. This is different though, How do you convince someone the gun demands just as much respect in the hands of someone like me, Who IS trained and fully capable of justifiably defending himself and others within the limits of the law?

This post has been edited by Watson: May 11th 2009 9:30 PM

Ask her if she has a fire entinguisher in the house. IF she does remind her that we have people that are trained to fight fires and are professional fire fighters and she should not be fighting fires because she is most likley not going to get there in time and end up just wasting carbon credits. See where I am going with this? I carry a 1st aid kit in may car too even though in the deep south we still have doctors and hospititals and things like that.

thank you thank you thank you. i will be using this next time the discussion comes up with my mom. im about to be 21 and will be getting my CCW soon after my birthday if not on it.

sometimes friends drift apart. usually starts to happen in your twenties.
I carry quite a bit and you can check the laws in my state. I don't care, my life and my wifes life is worth more than any stupid law. You cannot rely on the police to save your ass, especially when you are not sitting in a restaurant or a mall. Getting jumped in a parking lot or while walking down the street, you have no chance to call the cops. As far as her believing that only cops(read: government) should carry guns, that frightens the fuzz out of me.

Sorry man, some people are just like that. They want someone else to look after them, cradle to grave. They don't want to see the ugly underside of civilization, they don't want to deal with things on their own. They've made it to a point in their lives, the .gov is their savior, and will fix whatever is wrong in their lives. It's the police, the welfare folks, whatever. "Somebody SAVE ME!!" Have a little personal responsibility, save yourself, or at least attempt to. Would you rather be an opossum, or a badger? Which one do you fear more? Which one do you know not to screw with?

very very fine words sir!

Oh, And she likes Obama

Oh dear god. She dislikes guns being used for protection, and she's an Obama supporter? Exactly why is she your friend again?

Just one of those things I guess, Known her since elementary school. Shes never worked a day in her life, Never been in any bad situation whatsoever, Gets money handed to her from mom and dad... We just might not be getting along too well here in the 'later' life. Guess that's another one of those things.

She is a socialist that explains it all

Brother, you're facing what all of us do as we get older. It's growing apart, and sometimes it sucks. It happens to all of us, I can't count how many former friends have gone by the wayside, because we just drifted apart. Sometimes it was women that came between us, sometimes it was other things. I had a VERY good friend, the kind you could call at 3:00 am, and they'd come help you out, come dig you out of a ditch, snowbank, or help fix your busted pickup. We did it all the time. He got hooked up with this cute thing, and she was fine at first. After she got her talons into him, he started being quieter, not speaking his mind like he did before. Then she started running her mouth, and her opinions were in direct opposition to what I knew my buddy believed, as we'd discussed those things time and again. Turns out, she was one of those domineering types, the type who'd run his life, then proclaim to the world he was free to do as he pleased, all the while keeping him on a leash. We never got into an argument, we never had a discussion that our friendship was over, but we started calling less and less. We stopped going to the usual places, stopped hanging out. We both knew it was done, we were just trying to be polite towards the end. If he ever drops the domineering b****, I may look him up. But as it stands, I haven't spoken to him in a couple of years, and it was a couple of years between times I spoke to him before that.

It sucks, but people change. Maybe you did. Maybe she did. Maybe neither of you did, maybe you're just starting to see the differences between you now.

Uh, far from it.

Sounds like a typical intellectual elitist, who has never been a victim, or potential victim, of a violent crime.

Let's see how she feels after she's mugged, carjacked, or raped.

Abort!
Abort!

Good point. My Ex-girlfriend was mugged and sexually assaulted by 4 men one night in the town we live in, Where kids usually walk home from school. I wasn't with her at the time... Kinda makes you feel helpless. And to make it better, Her exact words were (And I shat you not.) "I'm glad you weren't there, You would have killed all of them." Can you imagine the look on my face? Damn right I would have shot every single one of them. I was furious, About as angry as I had ever been in my entire life. And I think I proved my point at the beginning of this story, Ex girlfriend (Though thats not why I broke up with her. Thats another story) Some people are just plain dumb.

I'm still mad about that one... They are still breathing a stones throw away.

This post has been edited by Watson: May 12th 2009 3:41 AM

Sorry to hear this, Watson.
I don't wish this on anyone.
I hope she's 'recovered' from this traumatic experience.

I'm not saying she is stupid, just naive.
I'll bet she's a youngish, college-educated woman, who still clings to her idyllic outlook on people and life in general.

There's a BIG difference between 'smart' and 'educated.'
Anyone who can read, and has the commitment to learn, can be educated.
SMART sometimes takes experience, be it 'good' or 'bad.'

Soon to be college educated, Perfect high school student working towards becoming a Veterinarian. You got it right, Thinks the world is how you view it, Not how it really is. I've tried their views... I dated a hippie once (I still carried my gun).... For about two weeks. I gave up after that, Couldn't take the bullshat anymore. I'll stick with being just the way I am. People say I remind them of cane-less House, From the TV show

What do you think it will take for these people to learn? Another World War, Revolution, Slap in the mouth?

This post has been edited by Watson: May 12th 2009 3:51 AM

Some people would just rather be victems that take a stand for anything.

The only thing worse than not taking a stand, is believing you have nothing to take a stand over.