More CCW Thoughts

More CCW Thoughts


I'm starting to get annoyed at the anti-gun propaganda, and people who think that guns in general, and conceal carry in Illinois are the worst things ever to happen to the state. I read the articles and editorials in local newspapers, and frankly am blown away by some of the things that I see.

"Carrying guns is about power, and frankly after I got out of middle school I stopped feeling the need for that power, I feel sad for the pathetic people who still get a kick, and fill some sick need by carrying a gun."

-Chicago Tribune Commenter

"I found your front page December 27th story on training people to carry concealed weapons to be disturbing. I find the issue of people carrying guns in public, in and of itself, to be extremely disturbing. If you need to carry a gun in public to feel safe, that is a mental health issue, not a safety issue."

Michelle Lowy-Springfield IL

Those are just a couple of the nonsense things I see people say, and think. In a way, I'm surprised that so much ignorance exists, and I realize that I should not be. There are plenty of people who are out there who are totally and completely ignorant, yet have strong opinions about the subject matter. Guns, and concealed carry law are not a unique issue, they are just one of the many places where people don't mind making an ass of themselves, without realizing what they are doing or saying.

I've had a gun pointed at me or shown to me three times in my life. In college at a party where I escorted a gang banger from the party, and he came back to show me exactly how tough he was. When I made a sales call and had the owner of the company go and get a shotgun when he heard what company I was from. (There was some history I was unaware of) and again this past fall when I went to find some equipment that had disappeared, and the person who had rented it was gone, there I had an upset Russian shouting at me, and pointing a gun at me.

This is hindsight, but despite all three incidents, I don't think that even if I was carrying a gun, I would have drawn it, much less used it. Bullets are pretty permanent, but my brain is a much better weapon. Someone might ask me, when might I use a gun? The only answer I'd have, is that if I felt that I, my family, or someone was in immediate danger of being hurt, and even though I have been thru it a couple of times, only once did I feel as if I was in any kind of real and immediate danger.

Carrying a gun is a responsibility, it's a burden, and it's a choice. I devoutly hope that I will never ever need to have a gun. I'd been on the fence if I would complete my classes, and apply for my IL permit, but seeing this mass ignorance in way helped convince me that I'm making the right call for myself. I'll finish the 2nd eight hour class, I'll send it my Florida and Arizona applications as well, and when all is said and done, I'll carry legally in 43 or so states. Don't get me wrong, I have no intention of strapping a gun on every single day, for every occasion, but I do want the ability to choose when I think it is appropriate.

I believe that the truth is that people don't realize how many crimes are committed by people who illegally have guns. How many times in the mall have they walked by someone who was carrying illegally? It doesn't just have to be a gang member, it could be a banker, a construction worker, anyone at all. You may never know. There are actually less incidents of mental health issues in people who legally own and carry guns .002% instead of 7% most studies show in the general population. More people in Illinois applied for a CCW permit the first day it was available than applied for Obamacare.

We are constantly taught to not judge the masses by the actions of one. Don't judge all muslims by one terrorist who happens to be one, but all gun owners are generally tarred by the brush of Columbine, Sandy Hook, and the shootings at the Aurora Colorado movie theater. There are still more deaths in the United States as a result of drinking and driving, is the outrage a result of more people are hurt at once? I realize folks don't want facts to stand in the way of what they believe.

I'm not going to tar and feather the people who are opposed, I respect their right to disagree, although I feel it is unfortunate that most objections are buried in ignorance, and it's even more despicable that politicans prey on that fear to advance their own agenda's. It's not about fear, it's not about power, you rarely if ever read or hear of incidents in the other 49 states where owners responsibly and legally carry every single day.

It's a personal choice, and I think every person considering it should read this "letter" that John Krupa of Spartan Tactical Training wrote and was published on Wiilshoot this past week. Be a responsible owner, learn from a responsible teacher.

Be the kind of person who is a model for doing things right, and makes it hard for those with an agenda to attack. Don't give people an opening. Exercise your right safely, as you see fit.

Conceal Carry in Illinois

Conceal Carry in Illinois

Because I shoot, this topic seems to always get brought up with friends; they all feel that I must have a strong opinion on the topic. I find that I rarely discuss this with friends I shoot with, not because we don’t have opinions, but for us, shooting is a sport, not a political volleyball that gets batted around. Being honest about it, I’m not sure that I had very strong opinion, in large part because concealed carry was not part of the scope in which I was considering owning a firearm.

I loosely followed the debates, and then earlier this year got more involved, because I felt that it was a fundamental right that was being denied to residents of Illinois. Every major credible crime statistic did nothing to prove to me that concealed carry would increase crime, or shootings. Then again, I don't think it will eliminate it either, in all honesty though, I don't think we'll see it's true impact until a few years down the road, and that's when I would expect the data to start to show a decrease. Go figure that Chicago has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the United States and there are more homicides by gun than anywhere else. By contrast, Houston is a similar city from a demographic standpoint, they have concealed carry laws, but the homicide rate is far lower. Do I believe that is because citizens have the ability to carry a firearm? Honestly? No, it may play a part of it, but it’s not the sole reason. People don’t want to go beyond numbers and look at why certain areas have crime, but if we examine those, I think we’ll see greater contributing factors.

When I go to a major match, I’m around 200 to 300 people, all with guns in holsters on their belts, and I feel absolutely safe. I know that the competitors are safe, and that the match staff is keeping them, and everyone else safe. I noticed it at my first match, it’s now unremarkable to me. Most gun owners responsibly own, their firearms. Competitors have to have a degree of gun safety to compete.  It’s a different environment, but it surprises people when I tell describe having 300 people with guns around me, and I don’t think a thing of it.

Let’s be honest, background checks fail, the Washington Naval Yard shooter? He legally owned the shotgun he had, despite having mental health issues. I happen to have heard that at least one Illinois resident who had applied to teach concealed carry was approved, and then had his credentials pulled; the word is that there was something in his history that should have flagged him. There will always be people who slip thru the cracks, who are going to own guns. No system is perfect. Am I saying don’t try? Absolutely not, but I’m also not naive enough to believe that criminals will stop owning and using guns, much less that they will suddenly respect the law.

Personally, I debated if I ever would, and it was not really until August of this year that I decided that eventually I would. I can’t have a firearm in my work vehicle, and I have no intention to bring one, I don’t expect I would carry a gun that much. I hope I never have an occasion to need a gun, but if I did, I’d rather have one than not. Ultimately it came to me deciding that I would do it, because I could. I want the choice. That does not mean I think I need to go armed everywhere, or that I will, but if I choose to, I can. I don’t know if it makes me safer, I do know it’s a responsibility above and beyond the basic 16 hour class I must take in IL. There are some pretty deep questions there, like “could I use this gun if I had to?”, and that answer had better be yes, otherwise you are probably better off not doing it at all. There is a moral, an ethical, and a personal level of questions and comfort to be considered. I still have not worked my way completely thru it, at least to my own satisfaction just yet. I want to take some specific classes, because most of what I have done is competition oriented.

Walther PPS

My wife is still on the fence, and she’s not ready to consider it yet, both for what she does, and on a personal level.  She makes some pretty good points, and it makes me realize that CCW is a personal choice. There are going to be people out there who carry irresponsibly, just like in other states, there will be people who will be conscientious, and there will be people who will choose not to. I will take the class, and leave myself the future option to carry, or not to carry. 

MISS Match tonight, video in tomorrow’s update.

Practice note, Dave is going all in, doing his drills strong hand, weak hand and so on. I’m not quite there yet, I’m going to drill down my par time until I can consistently hit 1.9 seconds, and then I’ll start adding some off-hand/strong hand to my drills, probably once a week, for 10 minutes each time. It’s a valuable skill, and there are stages and classifiers where you have to do those things. I need those skills too, but I'm just not quite ready to add those yet. Give me a week or so.

Public Perception of Guns and Gun Owners

A Public Perception of Guns

I’m tired of seeing guns, and gun owners get a bad name. When I turn on news or open a paper, hardly a day goes by when I don’t see multiple stories about gun violence, both in Chicagoland and in the country. I would expect no less, since Chicago has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the U.S., and has also managed to be the murder capital of the U.S. in 2012, and looks to be again in 2013, this despite Chicago having 1/3^rd less the residents of New York. Perhaps criminals are not aware that they are also subject to the same laws as everyone else, and choose to carry, and shoot guns at whom they please. Does making gun ownership more restrictive or challenging really make people safer there? Is it guns that are the problem, or is there more to the story than that? Are there contributing factors, socio-economic issues, lack of jobs, and gang’s that cause a large part of the issue? Did I miss a memo that criminals suddenly follow laws? There are plenty of laws on the books, and honestly, I thought criminals just did not follow them, which is one reason why we are where we are today. Are people naïve enough to believe that if gun ownership was limited, that criminals would still not have guns? If a law was passed, would you expect gangs to show up at their local Police Department and turn in their arsenal?

Truth? 

It may be a bad comparison, but in 2010 there were over 10,000 traffic fatalities reported in the U.S. related to driving under the influence. (30,000 traffic fatalities overall.) In 2010 according to the F.B.I.there were 8,775 deaths related to firearms. That’s less death by firearm than by either traffic accident or due to drunk driving, yet I would wager more news stories focused on firearm death. We have all heard the adage “if it bleeds it leads”, and there usually is a “story” to be told in a shooting death. As a country, we've become that desensitized to hearing about people dying in traffic accidents or as a result of drunk driving.  That’s pretty sad.

I can already hear the arguments, about how people can handle alcohol, and it’s just irresponsible people who get a DUI, or could let that happen. Not everyone who drives, or drinks should be tarred with that brush, and by the same right, not every gun owner is irresponsible. Most gun owners are law abiding citizens, who own guns for a variety of reasons. The problem is when gun’s are front page news, we are all associated with someone who should not have had a gun.

When I looked at shooting sports as possibly a recreational outlet, I started to clarify my own opinions, and my wife and I had a lot of tough conversations. I’d had a gun pointed at me, and she lost a cousin she was close with to suicide with a gun. Both of us had a negative association, but it came out that neither of blamed the gun, we realized it was about the people. A gun in and of itself is a tool, nothing more.

Maybe not quite.....

We have had a string of high profile crimes committed with guns in the U.S. the past few years, we’ve also had an act of domestic terrorism in Boston that demonstrated that people who are of that mindset, don’t always have to use guns. The shame of the matter is that most gun owners are responsible, we own for a variety of reasons, and our freedom’s are impinged upon. Not every driver or drinker has his rights taken assaulted. How many DUI’s before a person loses their license?

While the NRA often get’s a bad name, and while I do support them, Wayne LaPierre does often take some extreme stands, nobody obscures facts more than politicians, and what is worse, is that they are legislating things that they don’t understand. This past year, a house co-sponsor claimed that high capacity magazines are a one time use item. What? She is helping write a bill, and she has no idea at all what she is talking about? It’s a culture of fear, and the politicians are using massacres, and death to scare people, and advance their own agendas. It may be good politics, but it’s a disgusting behavior that will never change as long as voters don’t take the time to educate themselves better than politicians. Why persecute the gun? Simple, because it’s easy to blame an object than solve the reasons behind people having, and using them in that manner.

  

As I came to slowly change my perspective, I’d hesitated to discuss this topic with friends, but as I took the time to get the facts, I dipped my toe in the water several times, and almost universally the results were the same. Too many people are willing to take the easy road, and just assume that guns are bad, because they see them on TV, the newspaper said so, or a politician said so. It’s convinced me that most people will take the easy road, and then get offended if you challenge that point of view.

So where am I going with all this? I’m not sure, I’m tired of the attack, and bad name gun owners get in main stream media. I wish people would take the time to really consider what the problem’s are, and what is really to blame. I’d like to see politicians stop using tragedy to scare Americans, and advance their own agenda. Most gun owners are responsible, considerate, intelligent, and accept the burden of ownership with pride. There are exceptions to every example on every side, but Americans need to wake up, we put band-aids over too many problems, and expect them to go away. This one is not going away, this is a cause worth fighting for.