Gregg Ellifritz on the perils of open carry

[drgrant]

So you're saying that you knowingly put yourself into "several situations" where you needed to pull your gun?

I'm betting more like "situations where you weren't completely surprised but still had to use your gun anyways". Lots of legit shootings happen this
way all over the country. Including ones where cops and citizens get the drop on a problem and end it....

-Mike

 

[Dadstoys]

So you're saying that you knowingly put yourself into "several situations" where you needed to pull your gun?

If everyone "Knew" what would happen in the course of a day no one would need to carry.
You would just avoid the situation.

I might know a guy who just pulled into a shopping center parking lot only to find himself blocked into a space by three fine young gents intent on committing a robbery.
The way I heard the story they apparently thought they had an easy mark only to find themselves contemplating their life choices and maybe peeing a little.
At least that's the story I heard.

 

[Bonesinium]

If everyone "Knew" what would happen in the course of a day no one would need to carry.
You would just avoid the situation.

Exactly. Whenever I hear someone ask that stupid question "why do you feel the need to carry a gun?" or something along those lines, that's exactly my thought/response. The only times one would know they "need" to carry a gun would mean they are either intending to use it in a crime, intending to use it in some sort of combat situation, or have been called to respond to a threat as part of a professional (or personal) responsibility. So if you aren't a criminal or in some sort of war zone, your'e not gonna know!

 

[KBCraig]

I'm betting more like "situations where you weren't completely surprised but still had to use your gun anyways". Lots of legit shootings happen this
way all over the country. Including ones where cops and citizens get the drop on a problem and end it....

"Why do you need a gun at XYZ?"

If I knew I needed a gun at XYZ, I wouldn't go there. I carry a gun because things can happen at XYZ, ABC, or LMNOP.

If I had no choice but to go somewhere that I "needed" a gun, I wouldn't just go with a concealed handgun. I would go with a rifle or shotgun, and friends with rifles and shotguns.

And this still confirms what I replied to @Dadstoys: that he had lost the element of surprise, because he was surprised.

That is true for ALL defensive gun uses. If you aren't surprised, you're not actually a responding victim.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Exactly. Whenever I hear someone ask that stupid question "why do you feel the need to carry a gun?"

You could ask that guy in the Las Vegas parking lot who, along with his girlfriend, survived being shot at thanks to having a gun and training. Or perhaps the Uber driver who stopped a mass shooting. Or the old standby "tis better to have and not need than need and not have"