I carried all weekend. I wore my pistol to the grocery store, to Target, to my mother's doctor's appointment, in a fast food restaurant, while hanging wallpaper, even while I took a nap in the armchair with the cats. No one noticed the gun strapped to my hip, it did not accidentally go off, and I did not go crazy and shoot anyone.
But now it's Monday and I am at work, feeling a little naked and defenseless.
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24 comments:
I hope you at least carry a good folding knife when you can't carry a firearm.
Self defense is an attitude. Always arm yourself with whatever you can.
Psst. You're an adult. Nobody has the power to prevent you from sticking a gun in your belt if you don't allow them to.
The only way they'd find out is if you ended up having to use the pistol at work. And hey, won't you be glad you had it if it came to that point?
"I hope you at least carry a good folding knife when you can't carry a firearm."
That's exactly what I was going to say. I don't carry a gun to work, but that doesn't mean I'm not armed.
[...] Naked chicks at the library - no guns allowed [...]
"naked chicks and guns"
Breda, you've managed to offend hoplophobe liberals and puritanical conservatives all in one post!
I have said before I'd rather be alive & fired, than dead & employed
Why would anyone know if you are armed unless you have to use your weapon? Better to have it and never need it than to need it and not have it.
After reading a female gunny's complaint about guys offering unsolicited advice at the range, I feel a bit hesitant about discussing things on female gunnies' sites for fear of sounding like one of those guys. So I'm addressing you here not as male to female, but as a recent CCW without all the answers yet to new CCW. ('zat sound chicken enough? :-) ) And I don't mean to get all philosophizy (it's a word - look it up!), but... well, actually I will.
Your post sort of opens up a whole new area of consideration. Do you feel honor-bound to obey the rules? And make sure you know the rules - not just what other people have told you are the rules, but the actual ones - read the statutes. I assume your library is a public one? I think that Ohio actually does allow employers to prohibit you from carrying on their premises.
I got lucky, and my state has a list of places my permit does not permit me to carry. But it's not a crime if I do carry there, and if someone notices and asks me to leave, I have to go. So, after I found out ALL the rules, I found that I have fewer to worry about than I originally thought. But I think you do have those rules.
So, what's more important? The rules or your safety? Which one are you more likely to get caught out on? I don't presume to know the answers to these questions for you, but they're good things to think about. I'd enjoy reading your thoughts if they became a post.
How about obeying a private property owner's rules? I believe firmly in the rights of private property. If a private business is posted, it's not a crime for me to carry there, but do I do it, or do I just go elsewhere rather than violate the property owner's wishes? I've fortunately not had to face that one except once. I left my gun in the car, but I didn't like it. (It was a funeral, so I really had no choice to go elsewhere.) Does Ohio make it illegal to carry on posted private property?
I actually mean all these as serious questions - with greater freedom or power comes greater responsibility.
As to the knife... Knife fights can get nasty. Make sure you're as prepared with that as with your firearm.
weetabix, zdog, duck, anon - I work in a library, one of Ohio's "forbidden carry" zones.
I understand that you work in a prohibited carry zone.
So, you are saying that you will follow the rules even if they inconvenience you? I fall that way, too. I find that being disarmed in a Criminal Protection Zone makes me just a bit more alert. And that's a good thing, too. I just figure it's better to work out one's philosophy behind one's actions before one acts much.
What are your thoughts on carrying where it's legal, but the owner doesn't want you to? Like I said, I've only been faced with it once. I complied. I haven't decided whether that means I believe I should comply in the future. After all, inside my waistband is my property. I'm still thinking about that one and so far it hasn't been other than a theoretical issue. I see good reasons for it to go either way.
Let's put it this way - I'm not willing to risk a felony that would forever remove my ability to own a firearm.
I have recently carried on private property that was posted as a "gun-free zone". Concealed means concealed, so no one saw my pistol or had reason to - but if someone had asked me to leave, I would have complied.
I hadn't thought of the point that carrying there, even with a permit, would be a felony. I'm the same on the felony thing - I'm not risking them.
It sounds like you've given this a lot of thought. I have to admit that I hadn't thought about a lot of this before I got my permit, but a lot since.
(Referring to the original post)
I know exactly how you feel, having felt the same not long ago. I got my permit in the mail when I got home on a Friday in September. I carried from then until Sunday night.
Monday didn't feel right at all.
Congrats. I've heard it said that once you carry a gun in public, you never view the world the same again. True?
tweaker
Breda,
Taser C2, unless Ohio prohibits them in the library as well, which knowing Ohio is possible. Otherwise the taser gives you that edge you might need to survive. I truly hesitate to suggest a knife. Admittedly, I carry one, but then again I have been trained in, and taught, a lot of HTH combat. Knives, like open hand or melee weapons, are a whole 'nother ballgame when it comes to deadly force. Most decidedly not for the faint of heart as it will end up being nasty disgusting and brutal.
Whatever it is that you decide to have in lieu of a firearm make sure that you devote a similiar amount of training time to it as you have your boomstick.
Oh, and you DO have one of the neat Buckeye Firearms CCW reminder cards don't you?
tweaker - very true!
gregg - what reminder card?
perhaps it's not as significant...but why are you hanging wallpaper? Don't you have enough wallpaper on your ceilings and baseboards?
"No one noticed the gun strapped to my hip, it did not accidentally go off, and I did not go crazy and shoot anyone."
Are you sure the gun isn't broken?
I think Marko commented on this recently. In a nutshell, he said that YOU will bear the consequences of being armed or unarmed. Perhaps a loved one or innocent person will share in the consequences.
If you get caught by the police carrying somehwere prohibited, it will be you that goes to prison, not the politician or the activist.
If you get caught by a bad guy carrying somehwere prohibited, it will be you that will survive (perhaps a loved one or innocent person as well) but risk going to prison.
If you get caught by a bad guy not carrying somehwere prohibited, it will be you that dies, not the politician or the activist.
A government that forces this choice on the citizens has ceased to be Just.
found it ...
I'm also a librarian (Cataloger) in the same boat Breda is in. If I got caught carrying in my university library, it's a felony, which means no gun ownership ever again. Not a risk I'm willing to take. Does it suck? Yeah. We do have a pretty small campus, and the campus cops are actually fairly close by, but still, it's still a minutes vs. seconds kind of thing in most scenarios.
Students for Concealed Carry on Campus will have to do the heavy lifting in concert with their local state rifle association to get these laws changed, at least with respect to universities, but faculty and staff with CHL's should be supportive of these brave students when and where we can.
As far as I know, Public Libraries in Texas are not on the CHL-exempt list unless they post a 30.06 sign, which our local Public Library does not have. I've carried in ours before, as a library patron. They could have internal policies for staff prohibiting concealed carry, however--I don't know.
I personally think teachers, coaches, and principals should be allowed to exercise their concealed carry rights in Texas, but I think we'll see concealed carry on university campuses happen first.
Have you considered a fighting cane?
I know you may think of it a point of honor not to use a cane, but the big advantage is you can take them anywhere. I have a Cold Steel rattan cane (no longer offered) that I keep in the car for long road trips.
Just because you can't carry a pistol doesn't mean you cant carry a weapon.
How about a taser? They even make them that look like a cell phone, belt clip and all...
Or you could carry mace, pepper spray, or a home made mixture of ground cayenne pepper, ammonia, and a little liquid soap to make it stick. Put it in a small pump spray bottle. Ad in some indelible dye and it will take some time for the assailant to be able to go out in public again. Remember to spray his hands after he falls over...
DoubleTapper
DoubleTapper@gmail.com
DoubleTapper, blogging on Guns Politics Defense from Israel
I'll echo the comment about not wanting to be the condescending guy talking down to the lil girl.
So that out of the way, guy to gal, adult to adult:
Don't fetishize the firearm, sistr. It's a self defense tool but it is not your self defense.
Your self defense strategy includes (or should) that particular tool and others, the most important tool in your arsenal is not your gun, but your wits and awareness.
You've made it through at least a couple decades without wearing a gun everywhere, every day. Some of that is luck, most of it is that the odds are in your favour. The rest is your common sense helping you to assess and mitigate your risks. Some risks simply have to be accepted.
So keep your wits about you, use the tools that you'e allowed to when and where you can, do your part to expand all of our practical rights, and relax and enjoy your day as much as possible.
I highly recommend one of these.
opencarry
I wasn't aware that a library was on of the no firearms places where you live. Here as I recall it's Post Office, Banks, Court House, Polling Places (on election day), Bars & Taverns, and a couple others. If it's a felony, better not to mess with it.
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