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here are a few answers for you...

Posted by: RazorHawk on Dec 18, 18:44 in response to Paul2k's post Since I'm not a gun owner and thus haven't received...

I currently have a concealed weapons permit from two states.

I was required to take a weapons safety class which covered topics such as: gun safety; laws associated with owning/carrying/discharging a firearm.

I was also fingerprinted for both states.

A federal background check was done for both states. One of the states that I have a permit for does a federal background check EACH day on EACH person that it gives a permit to.

One of the states that I have a permit for used to require a demonstration of profienciency with a firearm in order to obtain a permit in the past , but it got to difficult to perform the profienciency tests so they dropped that requirement.

Whenever somebody purchases a firearm (legally) in the state I am in a federal background check is done before the transaction is completed (usually takes a few hours to a day).

A concealed weapons permit was obtained for my own personal safety. I do not have any notions of confronting somebody who is going on a public shooting spree (I hope I am never in that situation).

I spend a fair amount of my time taking turns with other family members taking care of my elderly grandfather who lives on a farm in the countryside 30 miles outside of a mid size city. There are sections of road that I travel where there are no houses and/or businesses for miles. If I were to break down in one of these areas I would need protection (from wild animals and/or people who could take advantage of the situation).

The county sheriffs are based in the mid sized city (30 miles away). My grandfather called 911 once because there were men with rifles walking around in his front yard looking into his trucks. County Sheriffs explained to him that it would take them 15mins to get there and that my grandfather would have to take care of himself until the sheriffs arrived.

Another time I opened the front door and found a black bear on the porch. Another time I walked down the 1/4 mile driveway (dirt road) to get the mail and on the way back to the house, a wild turkey jumped out of the bushes and tried to attack me. I have 'bumped' into coyotes in the front yard more than once. Raccoons are very dangerous if you corner them or suprise them. Different neighbors have junkyard type dogs to protect their herds/flocks and several of those dogs have come after me (or have wandered onto my property).

Last week I was driving down the main highway and I passed a van who was going slower than me. Immediately after I passed him (it was like he woke up or something) he started riding my bumper. After about a minute of that he swung out into the left lane to pass me and could not complete the pass (because a car made a left turn and blocked him) so he went back to riding my bumper. The next time I checked on him (a minute later) he was on my right side trying to pass me (half on the pavement half on dirt). He finally went way past the speed limit and passed me on the right. Once he got even with me I did slow down to allow him to complete his pass, but as soon as he passed me and got all the way back on the pavement, he slammed on his brakes and stopped in the middle of the highway. I stopped and so did all the cars behind me. He exited his vehicle with a baseball bat and started walking towards my vehicle. I immediately pulled out my pistol from under the seat, unholstered it, and placed it on the dash. As soon as the dude was close enough to realize there was a pistol sitting on my dash, he ran back to his van, burned rubber and drove away.

I carry my pistol with me when I am doing anything outside on my grandfather's farm. I also carry my pistol under the seat of my vehicle when I am traveling. I leave my pistol in my vehicle when I go to the movies, when I go into stores, etc.

There are two main reasons for not openly displaying a gun in public.

1) It makes people nervous. You try walking into a 7/11 with a gun (in a holster) and see how scared people get. You see how nervous mothers get when you are around their children with a gun.

2) If somebody knows that you have a firearm, they can easily take it from you. There is a reason background checks are done to obtain a permit and why background checks are done to obtain a firearm. Somebody weirdo who could not get approved to buy a gun could just suprise me, take my gun and go on a shooting spree.

Concealed weapons are 'concealed' and people do not know that you have a weapon. They dont get nervous and they do not take them from you.

It is state law where I am that each business can decide whether to let concealed weapons on their property. They just simply post a sign in clear sight at each entrance of their business and then it is against the law to bring your firearm onto that premises (even if you have a permit).

Not everybody lives where I live or experiences what I experience. Some people, some areas do need guns... other people, other areas might not. The United States is very large and laws for certain areas (like dense over populated cities) do not work well for other areas (like farm/ranch lands) and vice versa.

Re: Guns and crime: The rate of both homicides and shootings has been dramatically decreasing in the U.S. forlorne Dec 18, 07:46

What do you mean "all of the recent mass shootings have taken place specifically where firearms are banned". It's clearly legal to own RogerMore Dec 18, 08:52

specifically, the schools, the particular theater, and the shopping mall all banned firearms, including those with forlorne Dec 18, 11:56

I don't think it's very pragmatic to have loaded firearms in places where there are lots of children - like schools, or theatres. RogerMore Dec 18, 13:07

An interesting article from Ezra Klein of the Washington Post. He addresses Switzerland in a correction piece also linked. Paul2k Dec 18, 09:02

More American Stupidity - richest country in the world - and no Universal HealthCare for its citizens - Pathetic. {nm} RotoHockeyYTD2012 Dec 18, 15:13

From wikipedia, crime statistics and gun violence statistics for the U.S. Paul2k Dec 18, 10:38

I'm a pragmatist. It seems abundantly clear laws do not keep guns away from criminals, and random mental illness will always be with us. forlorne Dec 18, 11:58

Hmm. Laws do not keep guns away from ciminals? While that is true, from my perspective, it seems to be the wrong way of looking at it. Paul2k Dec 18, 13:53

Yesterday, someone pulled out a gun at a theater and started shooting. They got one shot off, and someone who had a gun dropped them. forlorne Dec 18, 11:59

That someone was an law enforcement officer, not some random citizen. {nm} Antibody Dec 18, 12:02

Pure luck. In his absence, a responsibly armed citizen would have been the next best thing. {nm} edzep - Port Monkey! Dec 18, 14:51