A bit of a hijack here:
Someone mentioned that it might be illegal to show that you have a concealed weapon -why? Do you need separate licenses to carry one in the open and one hiding (I assume so, but by that I mean that if you have the latter, do you need extra papers to do the former?) Can only one be used at the same time (well, now its showing, so you’d better have your paperwork to show that you’re allowed to show it?).
Thanks for the advice Billy Rubin.
Adding extra layers of clothing in the Texas heat is another problem I’m trying to figure out.
mnemosyne - Some states allow open carry and others don’t. In Texas failure to conceal a handgun unless justified by the use of deadly force is a class A misdemeanor. This is for normal citizens, police and such have their own regulations.
IIRC in Arizona anyone can carry a handgun openly. I’ve read that it’s not very common and people tend to panic when they see someone carry a gun in public. In a case like that one would have to be very aware of their surroundings and practice gun retention skills on a regular basis.
hmm. I thought open carry was more common in Arizona than anyplace else. I’ve never been there though, so I’m just basing that on what I read on the gun forums.
AFAIK, if a state allows open carry they allow it for any adult who can legally own a handgun. In some states that means anyone who’s not a felon, others require a permit just to own a gun. Some states allow minors to carry, some don’t.
There may, however, be different rules about where (what type of location) you can carry open vs. concealled.
In the 25 years I lived in Arizona, I don’t recall ever seeing someone other than a cop carrying a gun openly.
I was speaking hypothetically, I can’t get a concealed weapon permit because of my record.
[hijack]
Nothing to add to the OP, but I’m fascinated by this discussion. In my life, I think I’ve seen perhaps only one handgun that was not holstered on a policeman’s hip[sup]1[/sup] (well, being Australian would account for that).
I wasn’t aware that in the US people could carry concealed firearms (disclaimer: this is strictly not to express an opinion on your laws - I’m simply curious). How common is this? Do a lot of people own guns and carry them about, concealed or not?
Again, I don’t mean to comment on the wider gun issue. This is just fascinating to me - because personally, I can’t imagine ‘carrying’, or for ordinary citizens like me to able to roam the streets with firearms. So what does it feel like? Would you be ready to shoot another person?
[sup]1[/sup][sub]That gun was in a car glovebox - a rather bizarre story for another time[/sub]
[/hijack]
One very serious concern is if you plan to travel by car between any of the several states. In my home state of the Great Republic of Texas, there is a big difference between the concealed carry laws and the non-concealed carry laws. Without a license, you better keep it out in the open, just do not expect to walk around downtown Houston or Dallas sporting a side iron. I was required to keep it visible at all times.
But where I have most recently resided in the US, which would be North Carolina, the specific jurisdictional laws were slightly different. While travelling between the two, we would have to either place the weapon in the trunk separate from the ammo, on the seat next to us, in the glove box, or even on the dash (no joke) depending on which state through which we were traversing. So, be sure to check out the different laws of the several states.
When I decided to take the class I got the schedule and tentatively planned an available date a month away. Two days later when I went to pay for the class not only was that date sold out the next three weeks of classes were also sold out and I wound up waiting an additional month to get in.
From what I’ve seen yes “a lot of people” carry concealed handguns.
What it feels like is my question as well and I can’t answer that until sometime in January.
Being ready to shoot someone IMHO is outside the scope of this thread. I don’t think I can answer it without the risk of derailing my own thread.
I found a good website for this it’s
http://www.packing.org/
They have information on all the states as well as reciprocity agreements between states.
I thought minors were prohibited from having guns by federal law. IIRC, no person under the age of 18 may own a rifle or shotgun, and no person under the age of 21 may own a handgun.
The majority of the states have laws that allow concealled carry. However, the difficulty of getting the required permit varies widely. In some places you effectively have to be buddies with the local cops or politicians, on the other hand in states like New Hampshire anyone who doesn’t have a criminal record can get a permit. Then there’s Vermont, where you don’t even need a permit.
Statistics are hard to come by, but I’ve heard that in places where permits are very easy to get, maybe 5% of the population get them. Most of these people don’t actually carry on a regular basis though.
Open carry is very rare except for hunters, farmers on their own land, at a firing range etc.
Ownership also varies widely. There are rural areas where almost every household owns at least one firearm, and there are cities where no one can legally own one (the criminals still do).
Minors are prohibited by federal law from buying a firearm. They can get one as a gift, or use one that belongs to someone else. I don’t suppose most states allow them to carry in general (NH does), but they’re allowed to hunt alone in many places.
I don’t really feel any different knowing that people around me might be carrying,except that it’s nice to live in a place where the state government, at least, basicly trusts the people. [sub]although they trust us to have the ability to kill, but not to get high…[/sub]
I suppose if I lived in a high crime area, carrying would make me feel safer.
One thing I’ve noticed since I’ve been carrying is that I’m much less annoyed by bad drivers, rude people in stores, etc. I knew that I would have to have to try to avoid making comments to them or giving the finger to people who cut me off. You never know what little thing could cause an argument that might escalate. But I thought that I would still feel the same inside. Nope. I feel much calmer.
As with driving, carrying means I really shouldn’t have more than a couple of drinks. That’s not a problem for me. In some states you can’t carry at anyplace that serves alcohol. That must be annoying, not to be able to eat at a nice restaurant.
If you say so. I invite anyone who is curious about this sort of thing to the forums at http://www.thefiringline.com
I assure you that it is a very polite, well moderated forum, where people more articulate than I will be pleased
to answer any questions.
Just wanted to stop by and say that I’m a person who believes in gun rights, but has made a conscious decision not to get a concealed carry license or carry a gun in everyday life.
There are a lot of reasons I did this, though perhaps the largest one is simply that I live in a very safe place and don’t consider the trade-off worthwhile. My odds of being killed on the street because I didn’t have a gun are utterly dwarfed by my odds of carry a gun legitimately but having a jumpy novice police officer put a couple of holes in my chest when I tell him and offer to surrender the gun.
There’s also the little fact that I do not way to kill anyone, even in self-defense. (Though non-fatal injury I would have no problem with.) So I suspect that I would not use a gun even if I was carrying one. If I’m going to carry a weapon, I’d rather carry my katana - or fall back on my martial arts training.
So anyway, as to keep this moderately on topic, to address the OP’s last question: Do you have any advice for me?
I’d say, while there’s nothing wrong with a carry license, if it turns out on some occasion you don’t want to carry, then don’t. I’m a firm believer that the Second Amendment gives us a freedom of choice on the issue of guns. You have a right to have a gun, if you want to. Just like you have a right to vote, if you want to. Right now, I exercise my freedom to NOT carry a gun. And last election, I exercised my freedom to NOT vote for either of the clowns vying to be leader of the free world.
People may criticize me for these decisions, but I believe that both of them are right for me at the present moment. I look with some sadness at those people who feel carrying a gun is some kind of obligation or duty. A duty is something you have to do - a right is something you may or may not do as your judgement best tells you.
My advice to you is fairly simple, then. If you want to carry, great, more power to you, do so. If on the other hand you don’t want to, then don’t - and don’t let anybody give you shit about it.
-Ben
Gun laws aren’t consistent. They’re not supposed to make sense - they’re supposed to appease soccer moms.
It’s illegal for people of those ages to BUY those guns. Not use or own them.
waxteeth- since you are not a policeman, you will not likely be getting into any extended gun battles- one good reason to carry a high capacity, magazine fed gun. Thus, for self-protection only, a small revolver is your best bet. No worry about “safetys”- especially in forgetting to take them off when you REALLY need the gun. If you need more than 5/6 shots, … well, forget it, you’ll never need more than 5/6 shots.
Billy- I must disagree with a .25 being useless. Again, it is for self-protection, not police work. You do not need “knock-down” power. To someone not hopped up on meth or adrenaline- the good ol’ .25 will convince them to stop the rape/robbery just as well as a .45.
When I was delivering the cash, I carried a .45 auto(In this case, since the very large amounts of cash were a known factor, it was not impossible for a group of well armed bandits to hit us). When just “in a bad area”, I carried a .25 Barretta. Did the job just fine… especially as I never had to fire it, and only pulled it out, once.
.25 is praticaly useless. a prety big guy wearing a thick coat or a leather jacket will probably only get pissed when shot with a .25. The only good point of the .25 is that it is so small you can hide it in your sock, in your mouth, or up your ass.
Id personaly reccomend a .38 or 9mm. A small frame .357 has plenty of knock down while only weighting as much (and being of similar size) to the .38 (bonus…a .357 revolver can fire .38 ammo)
if you must carry a .22 or .25, be prepared to shoot your attacker in the FACE.
of course, what you realy need is to get an ankle lengnth trench coat or duster and cary a Belt fed .50cal Browning BAR.(Bonus if its the jacketed water cooled kind)
I garuntee you will never need to fire it. just the sight will send people runing in fear.(ok, just kidding about this one)
I am not old enough to buy a conclealed cary permit yet, but i do uasualy cary a Buck brand skinning knife on me. I keep it honed to a razors edge.
Anything smaller than 9mm or .38 is not enough. I’ve seen a video of a guy who was shot in the chest with a small caliber pistol and he was walking around normally (well except for the bleeding and cursing) until the ambulance came. The cops were telling him to sit down and be quiet and he wouldn’t.
I know a girl that shot her mother in the head with a .25 several times at point blank range. The mother was still alive approx. 8 hours later when the ambulance got there.
She did eventually die but would have more than likely lived had she received medical attention sooner.
I don’t think the .25 is “useless” but would not rely on it to defend my life. Sticking with your theme I do agree that a small revolver may be a good option for me. At this moment I plan on carrying a small .38 revolver in a smart carry during the summer, and a mid size Glock when the weather permits a light jacket. The revolver is 5 shots and the CHL class I took claimed that the average number of shots fired in a defense is 8. I’ll carry a speed loader with the revolver in case they’re right.
I read an article in Guns and Ammo which had an interview with a New York ballistics expert. They discussed the effects of various firearms on people when they were used in crime or self-defense. There was one killing where a mugger shot his victim in the head with a .25 automatic. He said that this mugger had used the same M.O. in 7 muggings, and this was the first guy who actually died - the mugger would take the victims valuables, then shoot him in the head with the .25, but in the first six cases the bullet ricocheted off the skull of the mugging victim, usually knocking them unconscious. They all woke up later with a headache, the seventh guy’s skull wasn’t penetrated but it hit him just right to rupture a blood vessel in his brain which led to his death.
Needless to say, after reading that I decided I would never rely on a .25 for self-defense.
now that you have decided on a gun, the hard part comes. deciding on ammo. Unfortunately, you just cant go up to the local sporting goods store and simply ask for “.38 bullets”. There are many types, weights, and speeds of ammo out there.
I would go with a relitively fast round, with a little bit of weight to it. Also, you have to decide whether you would rather use hollow point, solid tip, or balistic tip ammo. Holow point or balistic tip are good for taking out an attacker. Both types deform ( hollow points form a mushroom, where as balistics shatter inside the body) Both create very nasty wounds which are hard to repair and dont easily heal (assuming the attacker lives)
Solid ammo,and steel jacketed ammo are the types used by the military. They create puncture wounds that are easier to repair, but nontheless, still deadly.