I often hike in bear country. A .44 magnum is generally considered to be the absolute minimum power level for bear defense, especially against grizzlies. Bear attacks, when they do come, usually come very rapidly, where time is of the essence. A former coworker of mine will personally attest to this.
As far the “bigger being better” part, it’s pretty simple. I can shoot more accurately with a 4-inch barrel than with a 2" barrel. Most everyone can. Longer sight radius.
The chances that it will matter in the future? Animal attack, fairly low. Although as I mentioned, my coworker was mauled by a grizzly in an area where I hike. (Wind River Range.) I had an encounter with a black bear once. No shots fired, but I was glad I was armed. Odds are still pretty low, I think, but as they say, you’re more likely to die from lightning that you are by shark attack. But the money on the sharks goes way up if you’re paddling around in the middle of the ocean.
For personal defense, I will say this:
I believe in the deterrent effect of an armed citizenry. That is, criminals are less likely to commit crimes as the ability of the populace to defend it self goes up. I can’t quantify the crimes that weren’t committed because I and others were armed. But to deny they exist is foolish. I do my part.
Both times I was involved in situations where future physical violence was a possibility, I was advised by law enforcement officers to carry a firearm. Once was a threat from an unstable coworker who threatened to kill me and other employees. The second was after a home robbery when I inquired as to the likelihood of the criminals returning, as they’d obviously seen and not taken some valuables.
Overall, I like to think the chance of being a victim of violent crime is low. Probably less than 2.6% per year. Less for me, because I’m armed, live a well-armed local with low crime rates, and don’t engage in criminal activities.
That being said, even if the odds are in my favor, why not? I also carry a first aid kit
, fire extinguisher and tools in my truck, water purification tablets when hiking, etc. Better safe than sorry.
As to the why of it, I would wager that when it’s 105 degrees outside and you’re just wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt, concealed carry is a mite tricky.
Everything about my full size 9mm is better by orders of magnitude than my compact .380. I’m not a big fan of open carry but it puts a much better gun closer to hand. Like all things in life there are alternatives. A concealed gun is not static. it can go from unloaded and hard to reach to chambered and pocketed if the owner perceives a dangerous situation.
Others have provided substantive reasons why they prefer open carry, but “because I can” is not a perfectly valid reason. Use your imagination for all sorts of insults I could hurl at nuns, teachers, veterans, children, and so on. Just because the First Amendment gives me wide latitude to say all sorts of things, it doesn’t necessarily follow that such a constitutional right gives me a valid reason to be obnoxious.
Some take offense to the question, because we get it so often from the gun banners. “Why do you need to carry a gun” or “why do you need” an assault rifle? It’s seldom a legitimate question, an usually serves as a weak opening from a smug gun banner to advance his arguments. We get sick of it.
Same with Czarcasm’s question. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, on the off chance he was sincere. (Plus he’s polite.) But usually the question “have you ever needed your gun” come out of one side of a gun controllers mouth, while the other side is telling everyone how violence is so out of control that we have to do something.
I have seen a youtube vid where a guy is walking down the street carrying an AR-15 (or some other type assault rifle) . Police are talking to him about why he had it, and he said he was “exercising his right”. Granted, he was not breaking any laws, and I really dont have a problem with him having the rifle, but this in-your-face attitude is what I see as being a potential problem. When this new law goes into effect I suspect there will be a number of those types, at least until the novelty wears off.
As far as personal experience, I carried a gun (as well as a backup) under a suit for 20 years while at work. I always thought it was a PITA, albeit necessary. My personal opinion is that I would always want mine concealed.
Did the police seize him? That is, did they detain him such that a reasonable person would not feel free to disregard the police inquiries and go about his business?
I haven’t seen this video, but I’ll hazard a guess that they did.
And I’ll hazard a further guess that they did so absent either probable cause or a reasonable, articulable suspicion of law breaking.
How soon after the law goes into effect do you suppose there will be:
[ol][li]armed civilians pretending to guard military recruiting stations?[/li]armed protesters around the local mosque?[/ol]
They detained him briefly then let him go as he was not breaking any laws. This was some time back and I am not sure what state this was in and I cant find the video now.
I still have to question WHY anyone would want to do this other than just to feel empowered, however briefly, or just to be able to one-up the police.
It does the police good to be reminded from time to time that their job is to enforce laws that are actually on the books; they don’t get to just make shit up as they go along.
Why don’t people demonstrate using more understated acceptable methods? Maybe they could like, go to the back of a bus and quietly seethe or something.
I’m not sure why I should consider the opinions of racists or attempt to justify their behavior. Why should I be forced to carry their weight? I should also be considering that when disagreeing with “rational thinkers”, because somehow holding the same opinion about non-racial things such as guns with racists marks the very thought as irrational.
To the best of my knowledge, gun-control advocates are the people trying to ban black rifles. Racists all.
There is a world where gun controllers live, where otherwise rational people panic at the sight of a gun, where pistol grips and bayonet lugs make rifles more deadly, where I’m 42 times more likely to shoot myself or my friends than to use my gun for defense, where carrying a gun is of no value because bad guys can just take it away (why can’t I take their guns away?), where the cops that shoot 100 rounds per year are highly trained weapons experts but I and my ex-military friends are incompetent buffoons, and where the best defense against mass shootings is to put up a sign that says “no guns allowed”.
Yes they can. In fact, H.E.B., which is a Texas based grocery store chain, has announced they are going to ban open carry in their stores. They have not yet banned concealed carry which, incidentally, they have the right to do.