Why carry? My story may be unique.

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mbok1947

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Scanning various forums like this one, you see a lot of threads asking "why do you carry a firearm?" The answers are often "do you read the newspaper?" In my case I came to CCW because I wrote the thing.

In 1969 I started work as a rookie reporter for a daily paper here. I was soon assigned to full time coverage of what was then referred to as the "cop shop," meaning everything to do with crime and public safety. Very early the policemen I got to know suggested that if I was going to be out there on the street where they were every night I needed to be armed. This was in a pre-SDA era when there was no such thing in Oklahoma as legal CCW, but the police all issued what they called "wink and nod permits" to business owners who drove to the bank at night, nurses on the late shift and favored reporters, among others. So for about 11 years I carried routinely. I also saw crime up close -- maybe 600 homicides, countless shootings and stabbings and beatings, robberies virtually every night. Twice I was present when police officers killed armed suspects. A dozen times or so I was there when shots were fired. I went to scenes where store clerks had been executed by armed robbers, in one case a family of three, in another infamous case the entire night shift of six. Of course I became and remain a staunch 2nd Amendment advocate and firmly in the "lock 'em up" camp. I also knew several officers who were killed in the line of duty. In short I saw the elephant almost every night for more than a decade.

So post-newspapering I went into more sedate work, though I still kept several weapons at home. As I got older I realized that I would soon look more and more like a vulnerable victim with graying hair. The revolver went back under the car seat and more recently I made it legal with the full SDA course/permit. Today I always have access to a handgun at home and out of the house. My determination to protect myself is even stronger in the wake of the terrorist/mass shooter events of recent years. I decline to be a victim.

So when someone asks "why do you have that gun on your waist?" I say "I have been out there on the street at 2 in the morning, I have stood through the night watching them roll bodies out of businesses where unarmed people were executed by vermin, I have heard a few rounds zip past, been to the funerals of a few friends and seen those instances where armed citizens protected themselves from crime and possible murder. Why would I NOT carry a gun?"
 

BryanDP

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I think when you're out and in it you realize how crazy it really is out there. The media reports a lot of it, but there's so much more that the sleeping public never hears anything about. I was involved in the nightclub business for seven years and saw some crazy stuff for sure. I am thankful that I was able to narrowly avert utilizing deadly force myself on a couple occasions where I believe such force would have been justified. I'm even more thankful that my decision not to use such force did not make my wife a widow. I was pretty lucky a couple of times and still can't believe my staff and I dealt with some of the things that we did. I certainly can't argue with the old saying that, "nothing good happens after midnight."

Bryan
 

Old rookie

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My handle here says it all. I am, after all, just an "old-rookie" who only recently came to CCW under the SDA. As a military vet (many years ago) I understood adversarial combat, and for decades here at home, I didn't "feel" that adversarial environment. But I lived my entire adult life trying to practice "see and avoid situational awareness" until my retirement a few years ago.
THEN I saw that awareness alone wouldn't protect myself, my family, or my property. NOW I feel quite differently, and our deteriorating social infrastructure reported daily convinces me that my decisions to arm both myself and my wife were correct, even though perhaps later in life than I should have made them.

FWIW, I think the OP thread starter post here should be MANDATORY reading for anyone who is "on the fence" about CC. I very much appreciate his candor in the telling of his professional story. Thank you!!!
 

YukonGlocker

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Scanning various forums like this one, you see a lot of threads asking "why do you carry a firearm?" The answers are often "do you read the newspaper?" In my case I came to CCW because I wrote the thing.

In 1969 I started work as a rookie reporter for a daily paper here. I was soon assigned to full time coverage of what was then referred to as the "cop shop," meaning everything to do with crime and public safety. Very early the policemen I got to know suggested that if I was going to be out there on the street where they were every night I needed to be armed. This was in a pre-SDA era when there was no such thing in Oklahoma as legal CCW, but the police all issued what they called "wink and nod permits" to business owners who drove to the bank at night, nurses on the late shift and favored reporters, among others. So for about 11 years I carried routinely. I also saw crime up close -- maybe 600 homicides, countless shootings and stabbings and beatings, robberies virtually every night. Twice I was present when police officers killed armed suspects. A dozen times or so I was there when shots were fired. I went to scenes where store clerks had been executed by armed robbers, in one case a family of three, in another infamous case the entire night shift of six. Of course I became and remain a staunch 2nd Amendment advocate and firmly in the "lock 'em up" camp. I also knew several officers who were killed in the line of duty. In short I saw the elephant almost every night for more than a decade.

So post-newspapering I went into more sedate work, though I still kept several weapons at home. As I got older I realized that I would soon look more and more like a vulnerable victim with graying hair. The revolver went back under the car seat and more recently I made it legal with the full SDA course/permit. Today I always have access to a handgun at home and out of the house. My determination to protect myself is even stronger in the wake of the terrorist/mass shooter events of recent years. I decline to be a victim.

So when someone asks "why do you have that gun on your waist?" I say "I have been out there on the street at 2 in the morning, I have stood through the night watching them roll bodies out of businesses where unarmed people were executed by vermin, I have heard a few rounds zip past, been to the funerals of a few friends and seen those instances where armed citizens protected themselves from crime and possible murder. Why would I NOT carry a gun?"

Thanks for sharing your story!
 

druryj

In Remembrance / Dec 27 2021
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Good post. Why wear a seat belt? Why have a access to a fire extinguisher? Why take about any precautions in life whatsoever? We do these things; we have these things; just in case we need them. No reasonable person wants to have an auto accident, a fire in their kitchen, or be involved in a situation that may require them to fire shots in self defense. But in my mind, the prudent person is ready just in case. My wife and I are both senior citizens, we (she) drive a new car, and we have a handicapped parking tag. I imagine we look like a soft target to some predatory thug or thugs who may be looking for an easy mark. ("Hey, check these two out, all we gotta do is hit that gray haired old lady over the head with this crowbar, and then we'll (stab) (shoot) (beat to death) the old geezer, and then we can steal their car and rob them blind"). I may look like an easy to take down old guy with a limp, but I'm about as soft as a two-dollar steak. I pity the fool...Be prepared. Be aware. Be careful and be ready.
 

tRidiot

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I, too, have been out there for years, seen with my own eyes the carnage, seen what people can and will do to each other - and themselves.

I carry because of the full moon, the firewater and the entitlement attitude as well as many other reasons. Good post, and good return questions - Why WOULDN'T I? Why wouldn't YOU?
 

p238shooter

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I recently had a friendly discussion with a person who did not think people should CC, especially condition 1 unless they were concerned about a specific potential problem.

Wondering what that meant by a "potential problem," I asked and he really could not give me an example. I then asked him if he was concerned about a potential problem of having a flat tire on his truck on the way home? He looked at me funny, I asked is that why he had a spare tire on his truck? I asked him if he took it out at home and carried it only when he thought there might be a potential problem of having a flat?

After he got what I was saying, I hit him with "Does it have air in it, or do you have to fill it up first before you can use it?"

I left him with this thought "Potential problems are everywhere, everyday 24/7 and we do not get to pick and choose when or where they might happen. We can minimize our exposure by controlling our environment and having situational awareness, but that does not eliminate the possibility of a problem anytime. Stay safe."

I did not get much of a response, but I could tell he was thinking.
 

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