# A couple of concealed carry questions **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 21, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-concealed-carry-questions/653563 "2013-03-21T19:33:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-concealed-carry-questions/653563/21 "2013-03-22T18:20:58Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > FWIW, I’ve known a lot of people that carry, and they tend to be pretty level headed people. I’ven ever met anyone who carried because they wanted to feel macho or something like that. And the statistics bear this out - people licensed to carry concealed are far less criminal than the average person and IIRC they also have far fewer negative incidents in regards to improper shootings than police do. This is directly attributable to the fact that in order to get a CCW permit you have to identify yourself to the police, often get photographed and fingerprinted, and go through a background check. As a rule criminals do not stand up and say “Hey, here I am!” ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-concealed-carry-questions/653563/22 "2013-03-22T18:22:21Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > This doesn’t mean that you absolutely shouldn’t intervene in the case that one party is unambiguously perpetrating an assault again a non-aggressive, non-instagatory party, but you should be very circumspect. In general, you should desire to avoid conflict whenever possible; drawing and using your weapon should be an action of last resort when either leaving the scenario or seeking protection is not feasible. The legal and liability consequences of an actual fight, even if a shooting is deemed justifiable, are too significant to take casually. This is not a television show. Couldn’t agree more. Let’s say I’m walking down the street and I see a guy beating up his girlfriend, and that he is clearly overpowering her. Should I get involved? Should I pull my weapon, point it at him, and demand that he stop? **No. Way.** I will walk in the opposite direction and call the police. Pulling my weapon in this case would be stupid and very risky. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-concealed-carry-questions/653563/23 "2013-03-22T18:40:38Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > What I find strange is that a lot of people who have never been in an accident - incident will think that anyone who has been the victim in several accidents - incidents MUST be partly responsible because it has never happened to them. So they must be somehow at least partly to blame. I don’t think it was your FAULT, but I do wonder where you were to have these things happen. Just because it sounds so foreign to my experiences. Someone upthread talked about driving alone in rural areas late at night. Makes sense to me. Or maybe if I were - I don’t know - a building inspector or tradesman in high crime areas. Or carrying valuables or large sums of money. But I came to the realization some time ago that I could avoid the majority of potentially dangerous situations by simply avoiding certain areas/situations - which my lifestyle allows me to do pretty easily. I’ve given this quite a bit of thought. Studied martial arts including knives/sticks for a number of years. Only carried a blade briefly, and never had occasion to use any of my fighting training other than awareness and avoidance. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-concealed-carry-questions/653563/24 "2013-03-22T20:11:50Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > There is a lot of fog surrounding that situation, but it seems pretty obvious that Z perceived of himself in some kind of neighborhood watch, junior cop capacity. And I never heard ANYTHING to suggest Z would have been in danger if he had stayed in his frigging car as the cops instructed him. > > I guess I really don’t want this thread to turn into a rehashing of this incident, but do any responsible gunowners and concealed carry advocates think Zimmerman acted as he should have in that instance? Everyone I know who carries thinks that Zimmerman’s big mistake was getting out of the car. Why initiate a confrontation when it’s not necessary, and when you _know_ that if things go wrong a fatality could result (because you are carrying a lethal weapon)? But that’s the point. Zimmerman no doubt thought he was doing a good thing with his neighborhood watch gig, helping to keep the neighborhood safe - and he was, right up until the moment when things went horribly, horribly wrong. And now his life is screwed, regardless of whether or not he goes to jail, because he lacked the judgment to avoid becoming involved in a situation that didn’t directly concern him. If you’re going to carry, you need to remember to leave playing cop to the actual cops. If you can’t do that, you need to get rid of the gun before it wrecks your life. As someone said up thread, there are no winners in a gunfight, so do your damnedest NOT to get into one! ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-concealed-carry-questions/653563/25 "2013-03-22T20:13:47Z")
I don’t really know much about the Zimmerman thing, but based on my impressions he was absolutely wrong and yes a good example of a bad CCW holder. He seemed to seek out confrontation rather than avoid it. Zimmerman is sort of the exception that proves my point - the media would love to cover more stuff like that if it existed, but the rate of misbehavior by CCW holders is very low. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-concealed-carry-questions/653563/26 "2013-03-23T04:56:31Z")
> [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by GusNSpot View Post > > What I find strange is that a lot of people who have never been in an accident - incident will think that anyone who has been the victim in several accidents - incidents MUST be partly responsible because it has never happened to them. So they must be somehow at least partly to blame. > > I don’t think it was your FAULT, but I do wonder where you were to have these things happen. Just because it sounds so foreign to my experiences. Our front door was kicked in during dinner in a very good part of town. ( Tulsa, OK. Not anything like Chicago or Detroit. ) At a stop sign while driving. ( Attempted car jacking with intention to rape my date. ) While doing survey work standing on a public street. Situational awareness is always good but it is not a guarantee… A couple were when I was in a rough place. One I did not know was rough before entering. Stuff happens… YMMV ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-concealed-carry-questions/653563/27 "2013-03-23T11:17:24Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > I mainly got the license because I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m transporting a firearm in some obscure way that the police will have a problem with it if I’m stopped. The nuances of what is a concealed weapon in a car is difficult to weed through and I feel could be subjective to the whim of the officer at the time. With a license, it gives me a bit more protection against what may be viewed as illegal possession when I’m transporting it in my car. I entered the thread to make this point, but \*\*Sigene \*\*has stated it very well. Even in Texas there are myriad ways to run afoul of the law when vehicles and weapons interact. As an RVer, the law still seems vague on whether the weapon is in a home or a vehicle. Ditto when I use my boat to spend the night at an island. Is the weapon legal while the boat’s moving? Should it be in the truck or the boat while trailering it somewhere? The license cuts thru the legal questions, imo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-concealed-carry-questions/653563.md?page=1)