When you retire, you find much more time to just sit and think. During one of my mental exercises, I posed this question to myself: Do I have a duty to carry concealed? I took the class, paid the fee and received the permit. Practice on a regular basis. But I don’t always carry concealed. My reasoning was I never go into what may be considered the bad part of town, don’t walk the city streets late at night and rarely patronize convenience stores or self-service gas stations after dark. Also, carrying concealed isn’t always comfortable. All poor excuses.
My brother religiously carries when away from home. Maybe it’s his lifelong association with law enforcement and the justice system. His wife was initially uncomfortable with him being armed, but he brought her around to acceptance. As they would watch the local news together, he would point after each news story about an armed robbery, mugging or assault, “That could have been us”. In fact, after a while she bought her own firearm, because he is not always around.
If evil always appeared where expected, the police wouldn’t have a problem stopping it. Or would that be profiling? The current venue for mass evil has been malls and the college campus. Any business I patronize could be the victim of an armed robbery. One second of distraction while driving could start a road rage incident. Maybe the Boy Scouts got it right: Be Prepared!
There is some data that indicates just having a concealed carry law in a State MAY help reduce crime. Let’s take that one step further. In You are responsible I wrote about Kennesaw, Georgia. In 1982, they passed an ordinance requiring heads of households to keep at least one firearm in their homes. Crimes against persons plummeted 74% and fell another 45% in 1983. In the first 15 years after the law was passed, there were only three murders, two with a knife, one with a firearm.
What if we took this to the next level and required all males age 25-55 to carry concealed when in public? Like the law in Kennesaw, it wouldn’t be rigidly enforced; but wouldn’t it have a major effect on crime just as the “gun in every residence” law did?
The reason we all got concealed carry permits is personal security 24/7, wherever we go. Not just our own but for our loved ones. They need to know they are safe when they are with you.
I took my granddaughter to a local landmark. We walked from there to a McDonald’s. We passed a building that for some reason struck her as creepy. She told me she was scared a crazy clown would run out of the building and get her. I told her if anyone tries to get her I would shoot them in the face. In retrospect, maybe not the best choice of words. She asked me how I could shoot the crazy clown and I raised my shirt and showed her my carry weapon. She was fine after that. A month or so later, we got back to my house one night after dark. The coyotes were raising a ruckus for some reason. She asked me if the coyotes would get us. I told her they don’t attacked people, we are too big. She replied, ”Well if they did, you would shoot them in the face, right?” She feels safe with me and that’s what I want for her.
That is why we carry, for the peace of mind of our loved ones. I still don’t carry all the time, but if my granddaughter is with me and we are going anywhere other than a relative’s house, I do. I want her to feel safe and protected.