This question has come up before. I hope you don't mind my pasting a canned answer here.

Bob

I have a CCW permit, and usually carry a gun, when and where I legally can. During an exam this week, my doctor noted that I was armed and asked why. This is my reply to him:


To My Doctor,                                                         November 20, 2003


Monday, you asked me a fairly serious question: Why do you carry a handgun? I dismissed your question with a glib response: Because I can. That is, of course referring to a constitutionally protected right, much like freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, etc. However, I feel that you deserve a more complete answer.

The issue of armed citizens has a practical side. Like my Boy Scout training taught me: Be Prepared. I carry first aid kits and fire extinguishers in my vehicles. I have life preservers and man overboard gear on my boat, smoke alarms and CO2 detectors in the house. I hope I never need any of them, but if I do, I want them immediately available. When you notice that you are about to have a collision is not the time to begin fastening your seatbelt. A personal defensive tool serves the same function: immediately available should I ever need it, but I hope and pray that the need will never arise.

Armed citizens do much to raise the cost of doing business for the criminal element. They dont know if their next victim may be armed or not. John Lott has estimated that personal defensive tools are used over 2 million times a year to prevent crimes. Many times the mere display of a handgun is enough to convince a would-be mugger or rapist to choose another victim. I hope that we can convince them to go into another line of work entirely.

Ive never been mugged or assaulted, and hope that I never am, but I am prepared to defend myself should the need arise.




Bob Carr
For God and Country