Concealed Handguns Create a Climate of Fear, Gun Industry Research Reveals
Concealed Handguns Create a Climate of Fear, the Gun Industry's Own Research Reveals
Also Gun Industry: "We like fear! More people buy guns!"
Right? Like, this is market research. "If we encourage concealed carry laws in more states, we will foster a wider atmosphere of fear, and we will sell more guns to more people, perpetuating the cycle. Win-win!"
Concealed carry or not, your shit is all fucked up if you find yourself in a situation where you wish you were armed. But if you are armed, you might not also die.
Yeah, I don't need to walk around packing. People doing that will just lead to unnecessary conflict. I just need one at home for when we decide it's time to deal with the fascists.
You may change your mind when you have to leave your house to get food, water, fuel.
In my state it's illegal to have a concealed pistol without a CPL yet I can guarantee you nearly every week we get another shooting near nightclubs from someone unlicensed and nearly every other day another murder in our highest poverty stricken areas by someone who has obtained a firearm illegally.
The laws are not working if no one is enforcing them and our courts just spit the criminals back out into the streets.
In my county, it's illegal to carry a loaded firearm, concealed or not, without a permit.
Yeah, nobody checks.
No shit.
Stat is old, from 2018. Pre-pandemic. Pre-George Floyd.
""In the 2018 multigenerational study, respondents were asked to finish this open-ended statement: “People legally carrying concealed guns makes me feel …” Overall, 57 percent of non-gun owners said “less safe,” while another 27 percent said “no impact.” Meanwhile, 28 percent of gun owners specifically said they felt “less safe,” on top another 27 percent who said they felt “no impact.” That meant, the researchers noted, that despite the prominence of concealed carry, a majority of gun owners “still don’t feel safer.”"
I can say, as a concealed carry permit holder, yeah, I feel safer. But then, my city has been under seige and the cops not only do nothing, they actively work with the people beseiging the city:
https://theintercept.com/2021/08/23/portland-police-proud-boys-protest/
As for the new legislation being discussed, the "forced reciprocity", not necessarily an awful idea.
For example:
Oregon and Washington share a border, but a concealed carry permit in one is not valid in the other. There is no reciprocity between Oregon and Washington.
So it's on me, as a responsible gun owner, to plan ahead. "Am I going to Vancouver, WA today?" If I happen to be carrying, I need to be mindful that I do not cross the river into Vancouver.
I COULD contact the Clark County sheriff and get a WA permit, but to be honest, I don't go to Vancouver often enough to merit that.
Where it gets squishy is states like Idaho which have no restrictions. "Are you 18? Can you legally own a gun?" that's pretty much it for concealed carry.
So under the new federal legislation, if it's legal for you in your home state, it's legal for you in ALL states. But home states that don't require registration are going to cause problems in states that do.
And you think people do feel safer now? That pea shooter in your belt gonna save you against fully armed and armored police and/or national guard who are being ordered to abuse citizens?
The illusion of safety can be pleasant, but dangerous.
I have no idea how your concealed carry is supposed to actually make you safer.
If it's concealed, a potential assailant isn't going to be stopped because they don't know you're carrying.
And if they find out you have a gun they might just kill you the moment they're aware of it.
Concealed carry makes you safer because you have a weapon for when the situation is out of hand and you have no other options. A concealed gun is not a threat or deterrent.
You deescalate, you disengage, you do everything you can to avoid the conflict. If those fail and you remain in danger, you shoot them.
If the attacker knows you have the gun, that will escalate things. Which is why you want to make sure they only learn about your gun after you already shot them, justifiably in self defense.
Carrying concealed doesn't make you safer, it makes you FEEL safer. Your safety is now up to you, not a 1 hour hold time on 911.
https://katu.com/news/local/portland-man-waits-on-hold-with-911-for-nearly-45-minutes
Good point. Open carry!
In South Africa, it is illegal to open carry, unless you are a police officer or security guard. So citizens are required to conceal carry. Yet in the rural areas where I am from, most of the firearm carrying people prefer to open carry, they feel it is a deterrent and easier to reach.
It's really weird how everyone in America, what I assume we are referring to, wants to conceal carry because the government does not want you to, and here in SA we want to do the opposite because of what the government wants.
PS this is my opinion from personal experience, maybe a lot more are carrying but I do not see them.
CC and open carry laws vary by state in the US.
I am in an open carry area with lax laws. Most people don’t open carry because it’s dumb in an urban area. Out in the rural areas it makes more sense.
…and Other Obvious Facts by Captain Obvious
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no shit
That's what they're going for. Fear sells guns and keeps fascists in power.
Gun nuts HATE being reminded of this, but historically carrying a concealed weapon was considered cowardly and something only a criminal would do. Because of that it was common for the practice to be illegal.
"An armed society is a polite society." Because people have to be stupid, crazy, or on drugs to start shit when everyone might be packing heat.
Thank god no one in this country is stupid, crazy, or on drugs.
The really funny thing is that this quote is from "Beyond This Horizon" by Robert A. Heinlein.
It's one of his lesser works, but it features a government that monitors and encourages human breeding and keeps a lower caste of 'control naturals' to ensure there is wild stock on hand.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_This_Horizon
full quote
Well, in the first place an armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life. For me, politeness is a sine qua non of civilization. That’s a personal evaluation only. But gun-fighting has a strong biological use. We do not have enough things that kill off the weak and the stupid these days. But to stay alive as an armed citizen a man has to be either quick with his wits or with his hands, preferably both.
Or you could just be polite. Canadians are not armed. We have plenty of stupid, crazy, and people on drugs. It's not the guns that make you polite.