"Got Guns?" Exercised My "Right to Bear Arms"

[headin_south]

well, i don't know how i feel about this but i received my O-fficial concealed carry permit today...

ever since the creation of the un-patriot-ic act and the shift in this country to confrontation and blind hatred i've felt antsy and kinda threatened. anyone else feel this way? anyone else decide it was time to arm themselves?

i tell you one thing about the election of bush, it's given me a new appreciation of the second amendment...it's not just a redneck right!

kinda reminded of the pic of malcolm x with the rifle when his life was threatened.

can't say i'm "really" happy about it though.

[Sandpiper]

1. Have you joined a well-regulated militia?

;-)

[headin_south]

10. Hahahahahaha

i don't know if the dem party counts and it sure doesn't count as a well-organized ANYTHING let alone a well-organized militia! :D :D :D

like i said, i'm not happy about it but a mind isn't much of a weapon when you're facing a bunch of idiots intent on kicking your brains in. also, ...i feel like the govt is slipping away, turning into something ugly. yeesh, i do sound like a militia dork, don't i??? "da gubmint's out to git us, bubba, git the ak so's we kin fight them commie bastiches!"

[tubbacheez]

2. Do what you gotta for the situation you're in.

The most lethal weapon is the human mind.


With guns or without, depending on the circumstances we envision for ourselves, my hope is that we use ours better than the opposition uses theirs.

[IronLionZion]

3. yeah I know what you mean

but is it really necessary to carry it around everywhere you go?

[Comicstripper]

4. i intend to arm myself when i'm an adult

if for no other reason, because it's fun to shoot things (objects, not people). there are plenty of gun-toting liberals: wes clark, john kerry, hunter s. thompson...
i know how you feel.

[Redstone]

18. Got a LOT of growing up to do, don't you?

Redstone

[thinking is sexy]

5. i know a district judge

who recently mentioned getting a permit and some target practice in, as a matter of self-protection. She says people leave her court in a rage on a fairly regular basis and the recent spate of violence and talk of violence against judges had made her apprehensive.

But in my own life, I still avoid guns whenever possible. Despite the scary times in which we live.

[Sandpiper]

6. I think she should also consider

Investing in a kevlar vest.

You can't always see the crazies coming.

[thinking is sexy]

7. True.

I'll mention it.

[newyawker99]

16. Hi thinking is sexy!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Stryguy]

8. I'm an avid gun owner but...

Concealed Carry permits for the general public is just moronic. Plus, it's a lawsuit just waiting to happen.

My advice to you is to fully read the laws regarding firearms for your state. Brandishing your firearm, pulling it out when feeling threatened, wearing your firearm when walking into certain buildings, your level of intoxication, etc. can land you into some serious hot water.

Also brush up on your state's self defense laws. Some states put the burden of proof of self defense on the victim. IE you shoot someone who you believe was going to kill you you may have to prove to jurors that your life was actually in danger.

My 2 cents, you're in far greater danger carrying that gun than not.

Now heading down to the range and popping some clay pigeons. That's more my speed. :)

[headin_south]

12. I'm in Virginia

we may have a dem governor but as far as guns and using them, it's far to the right...

i had to undergo mandatory training, including shooting my pistol. plus i plan on going a little further and will take a more "combat" oriented class.

i have some common sense (open to debate) so i know not to drink and carry, not to shoot the idiot who cuts me off in traffic :D, where i can and can't carry, stuff like that. i just need more hands on training.

it's gonna feel weird carrying it out in public for the first time...i was never pro-gun or anti-gun since i kinda grew up with them. i've always been neutral about them but leaning towards anti because they seem to be at the root of a lot of misery. now i'm not so sure...

frigging horrible times we live in, huh?

[Stryguy]

15. Horrible times?

Man you're a downer lol.

I personally don't see these as such horrible times that I have to arm myself. I mean the economy is in the crapper and the war in Iraq is a farce but I'm not any more scared of the guy next to me on the bus then I was 15 years ago.

Again, just my 2 cents. For whatever it's worth.

[Jack_DeLeon]

14. I agree permits are moronic....

people should just be allowed to carry whatever they want whenever they want.

Why should poeple need permits to exercise thier rights.

[Redstone]

19. Aha. We have to have a license to drive a car,

but we shouldn't need no goddam permits to carry a handgun.

Ohhhhhkay....

Redstone

[Jack_DeLeon]

22. Driving a car is not a right....

or do you think we should also have to get permits to post on the internet or otherwise exercise our freedom of speech?

[walldude]

25. Follow that logic to it's ultimate conclusion

and every nation in the world should be allowed to have Nukes. Hell following your logic I should be allowed to have nuke. While I'm not saying you shouldn't be allowed to carry a gun, I personally know people who should never be allowed near a weapon.
Personally I prefer a Lightsaber, a more elegant weapon for a more civilized age.

[Egalitariat]

20. You're only in more danger if you're a moron

The number one rule is: if you pull your gun on somebody, then you have to shoot them.

If not, they'll kill you with your own gun. Which would really make you look like a moron.

If the perpetrator hasn't done anything or isn't threatening to do anything that justifies shooting them, you keep your gun in your holster.

If you pull it out, you have to pull the trigger.

[ThumperDumper]

9. Been thinking about it

I've been thinking along those lines too.
My long-time girlfriend REALLY hates guns, though and she's already told me she'd be really uncomfortable with we walking around with one all the time, so I don't know what to do.

I know it's not just a redneck right. In fact, ever since the Matt Shepherd incident, it seems like a lot of gays/lesbians are exercising that right as well and I can't say that I blame them.

The right says they don't want restrictions on LAW ABIDING citizens' rights to RTKBA, as if they were all responsible, civilized angels or something, but if you've ever been to a gun show or hung out in a gun shop for any length of time you know that SOME of the people who are "into" guns are freakin' scary people.

Don't get me wrong. I'm "into" guns too, and many gun-loving, right-leaning people I know ARE very responsible and civilized people.

But I have certainly seen people who are legally allowed to own and carry, and do, who we SHOULD be afraid of.

[billbuckhead]

11. Terrorism, it's working.

[Mondon]

13. Here's what worries me--

Getting a permit is the same as being registered--it makes it easier for the fascists to confiscate your arms when the time comes. Today, at least in theory, there's no permanent record (in PA) of a firearm purchase.

[ThumperDumper]

17. That's assuming

you only have one. Nobody knows what you have in your den or garage or under your bed.

[solinvictus]

21. Good for you!

I wish more liberals or raging moderates would arm themselves. The vitriol directed against us is getting worse every day and I'd hate to see a Rawanda happen here.

[e75]

23. Fascist State

you are correct that we are going to fascsim due to the Patriot Act and everybody better get a gun. Liberals are on the list, we don't want to go out like the Jews did in Germany, I will put up a fight

[Nevernose]

24. Actually, Malcolm didn't need a CCW

He was in his own home (actually, he was in a motel room, but legally the same thing).

Malcolm also wasn't gunning for possible members of the government in that photo, he was afraid of members of his former religion (the NOI) who had begun making death-threats against him after he left and sought to work WITH white people and civil-rights leaders like MLK. That's the beauty of Malcolm's story -- how a man can change so much, for the better, in his lifetime. From neglect to crime to hatred to love. IMO, that's what makes him a martyr, not any of the political and/or religious stuff.