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Concealed Handguns Create a Climate of Fear, Gun Industry Research Reveals
(www.rollingstone.com)
No shit.
Concealed carry or not, your shit is all fucked up if you find yourself in a situation where you wish you were armed. But if you are armed, you might not also die.
"An armed society is a polite society." Because people have to be stupid, crazy, or on drugs to start shit when everyone might be packing heat.
Thank god no one in this country is stupid, crazy, or on drugs.
The really funny thing is that this quote is from "Beyond This Horizon" by Robert A. Heinlein.
It's one of his lesser works, but it features a government that monitors and encourages human breeding and keeps a lower caste of 'control naturals' to ensure there is wild stock on hand.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_This_Horizon
full quote
Well, in the first place an armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life. For me, politeness is a sine qua non of civilization. That’s a personal evaluation only. But gun-fighting has a strong biological use. We do not have enough things that kill off the weak and the stupid these days. But to stay alive as an armed citizen a man has to be either quick with his wits or with his hands, preferably both.
Or you could just be polite. Canadians are not armed. We have plenty of stupid, crazy, and people on drugs. It's not the guns that make you polite.
We’ll just head back to Wild West days.
Actually, if I remember my history correctly, the so-called Wild West actually has better gun control than the US currently.
Did you have a source for this? This sounds very interesting!
Like that Sliders episode where Texas was the whole US
Yeah, I don't need to walk around packing. People doing that will just lead to unnecessary conflict. I just need one at home for when we decide it's time to deal with the fascists.
You may change your mind when you have to leave your house to get food, water, fuel.
Also Gun Industry: "We like fear! More people buy guns!"
Right? Like, this is market research. "If we encourage concealed carry laws in more states, we will foster a wider atmosphere of fear, and we will sell more guns to more people, perpetuating the cycle. Win-win!"
…and Other Obvious Facts by Captain Obvious
In my state it's illegal to have a concealed pistol without a CPL yet I can guarantee you nearly every week we get another shooting near nightclubs from someone unlicensed and nearly every other day another murder in our highest poverty stricken areas by someone who has obtained a firearm illegally.
The laws are not working if no one is enforcing them and our courts just spit the criminals back out into the streets.
In my county, it's illegal to carry a loaded firearm, concealed or not, without a permit.
Yeah, nobody checks.
In South Africa, it is illegal to open carry, unless you are a police officer or security guard. So citizens are required to conceal carry. Yet in the rural areas where I am from, most of the firearm carrying people prefer to open carry, they feel it is a deterrent and easier to reach.
It's really weird how everyone in America, what I assume we are referring to, wants to conceal carry because the government does not want you to, and here in SA we want to do the opposite because of what the government wants.
PS this is my opinion from personal experience, maybe a lot more are carrying but I do not see them.
CC and open carry laws vary by state in the US.
I am in an open carry area with lax laws. Most people don’t open carry because it’s dumb in an urban area. Out in the rural areas it makes more sense.
Stat is old, from 2018. Pre-pandemic. Pre-George Floyd.
""In the 2018 multigenerational study, respondents were asked to finish this open-ended statement: “People legally carrying concealed guns makes me feel …” Overall, 57 percent of non-gun owners said “less safe,” while another 27 percent said “no impact.” Meanwhile, 28 percent of gun owners specifically said they felt “less safe,” on top another 27 percent who said they felt “no impact.” That meant, the researchers noted, that despite the prominence of concealed carry, a majority of gun owners “still don’t feel safer.”"
I can say, as a concealed carry permit holder, yeah, I feel safer. But then, my city has been under seige and the cops not only do nothing, they actively work with the people beseiging the city:
https://theintercept.com/2021/08/23/portland-police-proud-boys-protest/
As for the new legislation being discussed, the "forced reciprocity", not necessarily an awful idea.
For example:
Oregon and Washington share a border, but a concealed carry permit in one is not valid in the other. There is no reciprocity between Oregon and Washington.
So it's on me, as a responsible gun owner, to plan ahead. "Am I going to Vancouver, WA today?" If I happen to be carrying, I need to be mindful that I do not cross the river into Vancouver.
I COULD contact the Clark County sheriff and get a WA permit, but to be honest, I don't go to Vancouver often enough to merit that.
Where it gets squishy is states like Idaho which have no restrictions. "Are you 18? Can you legally own a gun?" that's pretty much it for concealed carry.
So under the new federal legislation, if it's legal for you in your home state, it's legal for you in ALL states. But home states that don't require registration are going to cause problems in states that do.
And you think people do feel safer now? That pea shooter in your belt gonna save you against fully armed and armored police and/or national guard who are being ordered to abuse citizens?
The illusion of safety can be pleasant, but dangerous.
Not worried about the cops or national guard or even ICE.
Worried about the Gravy Seals who would shit themselves if they faced armed opposition.
Gravy Seals
I have no idea how prevalent or dangerous these people are and think they are not the biggest threat - why are you afraid of people who shit themselves?
In Portland they were a HUGE problem, repeatedly, mostly because a) the cops were doing nothing about them and b) the cops were actively working with them.
This year has been remarkably calm for some reason.
Well, we can use any good news we get, right? Good luck out there.
I have no idea how your concealed carry is supposed to actually make you safer.
If it's concealed, a potential assailant isn't going to be stopped because they don't know you're carrying.
And if they find out you have a gun they might just kill you the moment they're aware of it.
Concealed carry makes you safer because you have a weapon for when the situation is out of hand and you have no other options. A concealed gun is not a threat or deterrent.
You deescalate, you disengage, you do everything you can to avoid the conflict. If those fail and you remain in danger, you shoot them.
If the attacker knows you have the gun, that will escalate things. Which is why you want to make sure they only learn about your gun after you already shot them, justifiably in self defense.
You deescalate, you disengage, you do everything you can to avoid the conflict. If those fail and you remain in danger, you try to grab your gun. The gun isn't already in your hands, it's concealed somewhere that isn't visible and that means you have to make a move for your gun.
That move might be what gets you killed.
Concealed firearms are carried in a way that is quick to access. The can be drawn in seconds. If an attacker could kill you in the very short time it would take you to access your firearm, it would probably be a bad idea to draw it in that moment.
If you chose not to draw a concealed firearm, the you look like you're unarmed. The alternative is being actually unarmed, which would leave you in the exact same danger, but with less options. Use the weapon when it is to your advantage, keep it concealed when it isn't.
Carrying concealed doesn't make you safer, it makes you FEEL safer. Your safety is now up to you, not a 1 hour hold time on 911.
https://katu.com/news/local/portland-man-waits-on-hold-with-911-for-nearly-45-minutes
Okay, but your safety is also in potential jeopardy because if they find out you have a gun before you can draw they WILL kill you.
Open carry makes sense because that will actually prevent confrontations. CC doesn't.
The whole point of carrying concealed is nobody knows. My concealed carry gun is invisible when I carry, which is exactly how it should be.
How accessible is the weapon when it is concealed? Am I right in assuming you could draw it in seconds if needed?
Correct. There are a variety of ways of carrying, it depends on personal comfort.
Not mine, but I really like this one:
Yes, and the fact that cc is meant to be invisible means it can not prevent danger. Maybe you'll be able to draw fast enough if danger presents itself but it can't actually prevent you from being put in danger in the first place! This creates even more danger, in fact, because you might just get murdered the moment they realize you have a gun and they already have their own weapon drawn.
Open carry, by contrast, actively prevents danger by preventing conflict because people don't start shit with someone openly carrying a gun. Your cc fantasy is you trying to have it both ways - you want the security blanket of a gun, but you don't want everyone treating you like a freak because you have a gun. You want to pretend you're normal, and in so doing are less safe.
It's not intended to prevent danger, the intent is to make the carrier feel secure, which it does.
So a security blanket.
Essentially, yes.
Good point. Open carry!
It's at least logically consistent!
Gun nuts HATE being reminded of this, but historically carrying a concealed weapon was considered cowardly and something only a criminal would do. Because of that it was common for the practice to be illegal.
That was in Ye Olden Days though. Nowadays if you walk into a Walmart with iron on your hip it's going to freak people out and the panic will be more dangerous than the gun.
Depends on where. Go to a Walmart in rural Indiana and people won't think twice.
You'd think, right? How about this story from rural Texas of all places?
Bonus: "Gun Barrel City". No, I am not kidding. LOL.
That racist POS that shot up the Walmart in El Paso moved the needle at Walmart at any rate.
😲
no shit
this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2025
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