What Are Your Thoughts On The New Open/Campus Carry Gun Law?

[gsmj]

Originally Posted by MoNative34

You're the one that said the exposed weapon out them at an advantage.

Don't move the goalposts.

To be clear, I said:

Originally Posted by gsmj

Open carry actually makes you more of a target. You lose all element of surprise and tactical advantage by having your weapon exposed at all times.

This thread is about civilian college students open carrying. You attempted to disprove my assertion by using uniformed peace officers as your example. Uniformed officers dress nothing like civilians; undercover officers however, do.

Show me a gathering of undercover officers who would prefer to open carry (while undercover) and you will have successfully disproven my assertion.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by jerbear30

It would be interesting to see the data on "civilian combat situations." I am not certain but I would guess that there is not a lot of it out there because civilians don't often find themselves in combat situations, let alone situations were a gun is the most effective instrument of self-defense. My suspicion is that these situations are frequently fantasized and rarely encountered.

The gas station where I usually fill up.

Woman shoots man trying to rob her at gas station - Houston Chronicle

[jerbear30]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

The gas station where I usually fill up.

Woman shoots man trying to rob her at gas station - Houston Chronicle

I myself was held at gunpoint as a child by a man who threatened my life if my mom didn't give him money. For all of the trauma that accompanied that situation, I have learned NOT to live as if it will happen again since it most likely won't. Moreover, if it did happen, I wouldn't think to shoot someone unless I was pretty darned sure they intended to kill me. I care more about the life of a criminal attacking me than I do my money or my car (This is a sentiment echoed by many of the more responsible concealed carry crowd, btw.) I'm happy the guy who held my mom and I up is not dead and I wonder what his life is like now. I hope that he did not let that sort of action define him in the way that so many who are so quick to judge do.

The simple fact is that the average citizen is much, much more likely to die of a heart attack than of gun violence, yet there are lots of folks who spend much, much more time thinking about and planning for a potential gun battle than they do exercising or eating right. Why? If it's not fueled by fantasy, I don't know what it is. Look at how many donuts are consumed daily. Sure, bad things happen but it is exceedingly unlikely that most of us will be shot. I can't blame the woman in the newspaper article for her actions since her life may well have been in danger but your article also just proves my point since it is purely anecdotal. You can't point to one incident that is so singular that it makes the news and say, "see, that's how life is." If that's how life was, it wouldn't make the news. But enjoy carrying around your gun waiting for something to happen to you.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by jerbear30

But enjoy carrying around your gun waiting for something to happen to you.

Do you have life insurance? If so, did you buy waiting for something to happen to you?

[jerbear30]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

Do you have life insurance? If so, did you buy waiting for something to happen to you?

I'm fairly certain that yes, I will die. That's why life insurance makes sense. I may well be shot, too, but the odds of that happening are much less likely than the odds of my dying.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by jerbear30

I'm fairly certain that yes, I will die. That's why life insurance makes sense. I may well be shot, too, but the odds of that happening are much less likely than the odds of my dying.

At what age did you buy life insurance, and did you think you'd probably die within the next year?

I started purchasing life insurance quite a while ago knowing that I most likely will never use it. I bought a 30 year term policy that would cover me through my kids growing up and having my house paid off. After those events happen, I won't be getting another policy when this one runs out, because it's not worth it or really needed. This will be true for most people, since the scam know as "whole life" has been figured out and most people are buying term. I never bought life insurance hoping to die real soon so I could stick it the insurance company. "Ha, ha, I only paid eight payments at $30 and now you have to give my widow $400k. Score!!!"

I carry a gun hoping to never use it and not looking forward to the day I might end up in a life or death situation. I carry a gun as an insurance policy. You hope not to need it, but if you do, you want it there.

Contrary to the opinion of those who are scared of guns, the vast majority of people who carry aren't "fantasizing" about combat situations. They want a little insurance for the unlikely possibility they need one. For 15 years I kept a dive knife on me when diving without ever using it, until I eventually got caught in some monofilament while spear fishing in a rig. I haven't used it again since.

[theSUBlime]

At some point you recognize it's all about the people involved, and to that extent, you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. You can't always predict the people involved, either. Laws can't always protect people; laws don't always endanger them. Guns don't kill people, people do; guns don't protect people, people do. If we're championing personal responsibility and complete safety, balancing them, you have to accept that life is not computer simulated.