Defining Moment that led to your decision to CCW?

[HAP1978]

I can't say the exact moment that I decided to start carrying. I can probably pin it on the fact that I grew up hunting a lot and always being around guns. I got my first Daisy air rifle at the tender age of 8, one of the most defining moments in my life I might add. My father always had handguns and rifles in the house, so natuarally I liked them as well. I can say that I knew once I hit the age of 21 which is the legal age in Utah to get a CCW permit that I was going to get my CCW permit and start carrying a pistol. And I did just that.

I'm just curious what other people have to say about this topic. I've never been robbed or threatened and the last fight I got in was back in junior high, many many moons ago.

My philosophy is that it's better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it so that's why I always carry.

[b4uqzme]

I can't say the exact moment that I decided to start carrying....

You mean with a permit? :rolleyes:

[HAP1978]

Yes, with a permit.

[Bob T]

I am still waiting for that moment...:eek:

[ltxi]

You mean with a permit? :rolleyes:

Yeah, me too.

[berettabone]

As soon as I took off that nasty pair of rose colored glasses........................................... .......

[muggsy]

A life threatening encounter with an A-hole at a local gas station. He lost.

[pinehtr]

BB Gun at 7 yo. shotgun at 12. I started carrying a 22 cal. pistol in my car at 16. when I turned 21 I purchased a 38 cal. snub nose
Don't really really remember at what age I got a carry permit, To many moons ago.

[89grand]

You mean with a permit? :rolleyes:

Permits???? We don't need no stinking permits. Well not in Arizona anyway.:D

I started CCW much more often when they did away with the need for a permit a few years back.

[ScottM]

I grew up with guns and shot targets since I was a pre-teen, but I bought a .38 revolver in '94 while living in a dangerous part of town. Without a permit, I left it at home each day. Then 28 years later I went with a friend to do something new, and came out the other side with a CHL. I thought, what the heck, why not have the option to carry when I feel the need to. These days I don't carry every day but sometimes. When I ride my motorcycle longer distances I tend to carry, especially if I'm going to be in very rural or urban areas.

[Barth]

No defining moment.
Being armed just seems like common sense.

[marcinstl]

usually carry a CM9 or CW9 IWB at 1 o'clock. replaced the cigs and lighter in my shirt pocket with a Kel-Tec P-32. when Mo. offered the CCW permit, it seemed like a good idea to get legal.
had bb gun, .22, .410 when I was a kid. M14 in the army. always have had some collection of house, truck, toolbox guns. wife knows how to ride and shoot. one of the problems with getting old is that you can be mistaken for a victim, hope nobody makes that mistake.
(in 7th and 8th grade I'd take the .22 to school on Wed. for after school target practice with the gun club. range was in the basement of the police station. guess schools don't have gun clubs anymore).

[doublebarrel]

Started carrying when I got old enough to buy a handgun(1976). Started carrying legally the first year they passed the law in Texas.

[yqtszhj]

A life threatening encounter with an A-hole at a local gas station. He lost.

You know, that exact situation was the only place I almost had to present mine. It was July 2012. I was required to be out after midnight and an urban dweller was getting serious about wanting me to pull money from an ATM. He didn't get any and I don't use ATM's anyway. You know whats interesting is I never got nervous during the entire occurance. I guess because i knew I wasn't helpless and defenseless.

This post made me recall when I started carrying again all the time. I always had HD guns around but when a certain person was elected to office in 2008 things in my region took a turn for the worse and I bought my first pocket pistol. Now i never leave home without one.

[Hawkeye911]

I was a relatively new father when the terrible Brown's Chicken Massacre happened back in 1993. The murderer went from booth to booth, coldly executing people who were cowering and trying to hide under the tables. No one fought back. I told my wife, "If the day ever comes where we end up in a situation like that... goodby. I intend to stop it."

Our corrupt, liberal state had no provision for self defense with concealed carry. I was a strong ol' farm boy who had chosen never to get into a fight, but I intended to go for the guy in such a situation and remove his head from his body. I realized I would likely be killed in the process, but had no intention of curling into a ball while my family was injured. It was good to have thought it through and decided on an intended course of action, then hope it would never come to pass. Fortunately, it never did.

10 years later, I got sick and was diagnosed with MS. As the disease took its toll, I had to realize I could no longer fight, could no longer run, and had very few options for defending my family aside from the carbon fiber cane I carried.

Then finally last year, Illinois became the 50th state to pass some sort of concealed carry legislation. Forced into action by a case in Federal Court, they enacted it with weeping and gnashing of teeth. As soon as it was possible, I applied, tested, and passed the requirements. I have carried every day, everywhere I legally can, ever since.

It is my hope that I never, never, NEVER have the opportunity or need to use my firearm to protect myself, my family, or others. BUT, I finally once again have options open to me. That part is a very good feeling.

THAT'S why I carry.

Daryl

[TheTman]

I always had a gun in the vehicle when traveling, legal or not, it's easy to get into a bad side of town when you don't know your way around. Or for someone to jump you in a rest stop on the interstate at night. Then when my state passed the CC law, I got a permit to be legal in my state and all the states that reciprocate. Those are usually the states I vacation in now, or make a bike run through or whatever. I don't let stupid laws violate my right to defend myself anywhere I drive, but I don't have any business anymore back east in CT or NY or Illinois, so I have no intent to go to those places. I've been to Kommiefornia once, and that was plenty. That would be a real nice state if it wasn't for the libtards and foreigners and the just plain weirdos.

[marcinstl]

Hawkeye911
Daryl, I lived in Chgo. back in the 70's. at that time it was estimated that 1 in 3 cars had a gun in it. cops would come into a restaurant where I ate and have a duty pistol, something in a shoulder rig and something in the small of the back, probably something on the ankle too. over dressed? if I lived in metro Chgo. today, I'd be over dressed too. the Il. gun laws, the extra gun laws in Chgo. did nothing.
glad you got your carry card. good luck.

[marshal kane]

The day I moved to Arizona. Here, you may legally carry concealed or open without a permit except in government buildings, schools, places where liquor is served, or where a "No weapons" sign is posted. You may apply for a permit after attending a licensed permit class, then passing a written and range proficiency test.

[340pd]

Legally. The day the laws changed and I got my permit, about a decade ago.
Prior to that, randomly, as I felt warranted.

[Armybrat]

No defining moment.
Being armed just seems like common sense.

Same here.

After watching the U. of Texas Tower sniper do his evil work firsthand, I saw how a carry weapon could have prevented much of it from happening. After college & getting married, I always carried a handgun in the car while traveling. However, I did not start carrying a gun on my person until 20 years later, then a few years afterwards got a CHL when Texas passed the legislation & George Bush signed it.

[C_Class]

Born, raised, and still live just NW of Chicago. The Brady bill passage is what got me to research firearms. I quickly realized that it's MY responsibility to protect myself and my loved ones.

A firearm is not a magic talisman that wards off evil. It takes "sweat equity" to build proficiency with a firearm. Having taken Mas Ayoob's LFI-1 class in 2008 (now called MAG-40) one of the takeaways from the class was to document my training. I've taken several defensive training courses, participated in USPSA matches with my various carry guns over the years, become an NRA certified Instructor (Pistol, PPITH, PPOTH), IL CCL Instructor, and partnered with a very sharp self defense attorney in our area to teach the IL CCL classes.

Even my wife has come to the realization that she needs to develop proficiency with a firearm too...

[RRP]

~ Having taken Mas Ayoob's LFI-1 class in 2008 (now called MAG-40) one of the takeaways from the class was to document my training. I've taken several defensive training courses, participated in USPSA matches with my various carry guns over the years, become an NRA certified Instructor (Pistol, PPITH, PPOTH), IL CCL Instructor, and partnered with a very sharp self defense attorney in our area to teach the IL CCL classes.


Congrats. You are in the minority of gun owners.

[robk]

I moved from CA to Or. Done deal.

[HAP1978]

There are a lot of reasons why I always carry and will always be armed. Incidents like this one reiterate that fact. I cringe whenever I hear about this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi-Fi_murders

[SlowBurn]

I used to be a prosecutor in the late 70s and early 80s. About a year after leaving the state attorney's office, the prison system wrote to inform me about a prisoner they caught trying to escape. Co-conspirators who ratted him out said his motivation for escaping was to come after the sentencing judge, the victim and me. I had convicted him of repeatedly smashing his ex girlfriends legs with an iron bar, trying to permanently crippled her because she had dumped him. He didn't make it, but it made me think other sickos might also decide to make it personal. I got a CCW permit and bought a G17.

But I only started carrying every day a few years ago after a good friend, a (mostly) retired cop and expert handgunner, showed me his new LCP. A serious, reliable gun that is incredibly small and easy to carry- at that time it was a revelation.

[CharlieW]

There WAS a specific moment in my case. I was driving my little Geo Tracker on the highway a mile from my home, and as I entered an underpass, there was a loud bang on the door frame just behind my ear. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a white SUV racing the other way. When I got home I found a deep dent in the panel behind the door, perfectly round, and my son, who is an LEO, confirmed my suspicion that it was probably from a pellet gun. If the shot had been four inches forward, it would have hit the glass right where my ear was. There had been several reports of shots being fired at random cars from a white SUV, but no one was ever caught. From that point I proceeded to obtain my CHL, and I have continued to take defensive firearm classes and train and practice for the past 5 years.

[Ron AZ]

Two things swayed me. 1.) I decided to start carrying while bowhunting as I was starting to go into bear country, and 2.) Aftermath of the 2012 election, when they started to talk about taking away the right to own the kind of guns (large cap mags) that I wanted. So I went out and became a centerfire handgun owner (always had a .22 handgun).