> I'm trying to find out what the reality of working an average street in America is like.
Fat people blocking your line of site.
To Work?
Conrad,
Yes, yes I did work in couple of neighbor hoods that even the local cops suggested if I was going to be there very late into the afternoon with all that expensive equipment and nice shiny SUV, that I be strapped. Now that I work in a rural area I don't feel the need if anyone threatens to shoot me I just walk away and call the cops. In Drexel aka "Little Detroit" they don't threaten, they just shoot.
When working for others you don't have a choice of where they take the jobs. Even s**t holes qualify for grants and need engineering upgrades.
> I'm trying to find out what the reality of working an average street in America is like.
Hi Conrad,
I don't know where you are, but the reality in America is that working on the average street is probably not much different than the average street where you live. I can see how people from other parts of the world might get the impression that there is chaos because of the way we are represented in the news, but that's not the way it is. Lots of Americans like guns, including me, but that doesn't mean we're out to shoot each other. Lots of states, including mine, have laws making it legal to carry openly, but I rarely see anyone doing it. It's just that the right to bear arms is guaranteed by our Constitution and many of us consider it to be an important part of our freedom. We also like knowing that in the event of an emergency we would be able to protect ourselves and not have to depend upon anyone else, in which case it might be too late.
+1
I live in a quiet town with very little crime. I live in a country that recognizes my right to self preservation that is actually built into our history. It was historically understood that citizens, ultimately, are responsible for defending their basic rights.
I am actually a pacifist. I don't like violence and I don't daydream about hero scenarios. That's not true for all gun owners, but for the vast majority I'd say it is. I cannot imagine taking another's life, particularly over material things. I also cannot imagine being helplessly victimized or seeing another be helplessly victimized by an evil actor. So I carry. I'm not a badass and don't want to be, so macho talk about hand to hand fighting - I'm not down with that. The only way I will fight is if it is life or death, and if it's life or death why would I want to automatically handicap myself by being unarmed.
Lastly, it is a sport I enjoy. I like the mechanics and artistic beauty of firearms. I like the science of loading my own ammunition. I like the skill required to place holes in targets.
I volunteer as an emergency medical technician. The only time I thought about taking a fire arm on a call (it would have been a .270 hunting rifle) was a call for a man gored by a bull, and the bull was still loose. I decided that the police would get there the same time I would, so I decided not to take time to put the rifle in my truck. It turned out a farmer had managed to get the bull into a barn before any authorities arrived, and the man was ill, not gored.
+2
Sums me up as well.
Hey man, I resemble that remark! If I am not standing on line, I have probably parked the truck on-line!!!:-D
Most of the time nothing.
But, when I don't want any work interruptions - a Ruger Redhawk.
General rule:
If you are afraid, you shouldn't be there.
Permit? We don't need no stinkin' permit!
Usually one of these ..
Astra A-70 9..
Ruger Security-six in .357mag.
Star .22 LR auto
Never really gave much thought to packing ALL the time until that incident where the dude went all ISIS on his coworkers and hacked her head off! Rather have it and not need it than to need it and not have it!
Conrad, I fail to see why you don't understand the seatbelt/fire extinguisher analogy?? Seemed pretty self explanatory?
-JD-
What sidearm do you carry? (a worldly observation)
It is really a laughable situation to read a number of Americans explaining why they are armed. We all are. I'm armed while I sleep!
Apparently we are in a minority. The rest of the world perceives "packin' heat" as either an aggressive intent or a criminal act. Of course in our great land it is neither; nor is it usually done out of fear. It is uniquely American. I have sat through sermons delivered by an armed preacher.
As our forbearers populated this country a firearm was a necessity. We provided game with guns. We provided protection with guns. We even provided justice with guns. As our society evolved it became apparent those unarmed folks that had met an untimely demise might have fared better with a gun.
I once read an article in a Leadville, Colorado newspaper from the late 1800's. A miner, thought lost and dead, had dragged himself down from the high country, seriously wounded from an encounter with a bear. All he had for protection was a knife. He was quoted as saying he would "never again fight a grizzly without a good shooting iron." Not a bad decision. 😉
EDC
Every Day Carry! It can't help you if it's at home.
I work in a town that's dangerous most of the time. Crime rate jumped way up recently. We've had at least 5 shootings this year and a few stabbings. I'm not looking to shoot anyone but I won't be that guy in the newspaper who is recovering from a dog mauling. We've had those too.
> Oddly enough in gun friendly 'merica, pen flares are totally illegal, as is Canadian strength bear spray.
Without fear of diving of into the political pools. I'm sure the NRA had something to do with it. Only in the US can a 10 year old buy an assault rifle with a 100 round clip but a 40 year old can not buy non-lethal self defense items.
add another Ruger LC9. There ain't many single stack 9's.
What sidearm do you carry? (a worldly observation)
If Conrad has been watching the news reports over here lately, then he should understand why so many here carry. This is an extreme example of the attitude and work environment that one can find themselves in every day.
Judging us "from afar" is quite unfair. If you do not know the situation, then it's usually best to stay out of it.
I loved traveling to Germany. I felt VERY safe and the people were over-the-top nice. But then, over there the Police pack submachine guns. They don't play. You act up and they will smack the crap out of you in a heartbeat. There are no claims of "police brutality" over there. If the police had the same rules here, there would be MUCH less of a need for a concealed carry permit.
Each place is different Conrad. Do not judge one by the other. Your judgment that we are ignorant cowboys for carrying is totally baseless. It's OK, you don't know better.:-$
> > Only in the US can a 10 year old buy an assault rifle with a 100 round clip but a 40 year old can not buy non-lethal self defense items.
WOW...you don't know swat about firearms OR Firearm Laws in the US if you believe that!
o.O
Go to 2:50 of the linked clip below for a commentary on American society:
What sidearm do you carry? (a worldly observation)
Well said Capt.!
Conrad there was no address for you in your post header. People thought you were in the USA therefore the answers you got. If you can give us a country or region of the world you are in then we can a just our answers to what you are looking for.
My avatar from the 80's is carrying a 6".22mag. In the 90's I carried a 4".357mag. Now I carry a much lighter and smaller Taurus Millenium PT-145 (.45acp). Always in shoulder rig, open carry.
The swamps around north Florida are full of critters that can put a real hurtin on a fella. Hogzilla was 30 miles from me. We have bear, gator, hogs and wild dogs.
I can say from experience the facial expression of the hog trotting toward you does not betray his intentions and when you DON'T see the alligator it's time to worry.
But the worst is when I work in town with the crack and meth heads. They come right out and ask "why you takin my picture?","how much that cost?""you wanna buy a toolbox?"
What sidearm do you carry? (a worldly observation)
> Well said Capt.!
>
> Conrad there was no address for you in your post header. People thought you were in the USA therefore the answers you got. If you can give us a country or region of the world you are in then we can a just our answers to what you are looking for.
Hello Floyd,
I'm located in Australia and I'm very thankful the chances of running into someone, (besides police) carrying a gun is vanishingly small. Of course we have the occasional shooting, but it's so rare you'd be illogical to plan for it specifically.
What sidearm do you carry? (a worldly observation)
> If Conrad has been watching the news reports over here lately, then he should understand why so many here carry. This is an extreme example of the attitude and work environment that one can find themselves in every day.
> Judging us "from afar" is quite unfair. If you do not know the situation, then it's usually best to stay out of it.
> Each place is different Conrad. Do not judge one by the other. Your judgment that we are ignorant cowboys for carrying is totally baseless. It's OK, you don't know better.:-$
Cptdent,
Feel free to gather, and post back to me, my most judgemental postings in this thread. You will require a good imagination to make anything quite like what you've claimed above. If you see judgement there then you are seeing something of your own invention. I've certainly expressed a disappointment at needlessly rhetorical responses from professional adults in this thread, but I've not bought into the politics of the topic at hand.
I don't "know the situation" so I started asking questions. So far I have "stayed out of it".
