Based on countless discussions it’s obvious that a large percentage of us here keep guns available with the intention that they could be used for self-defense in some possible situation. What isn’t always clear, though, is why people make the decision to arm themselves and achieve and maintain proficiency with their weapons. If someone mentions a “home defense” gun, the intent is clear, but we don’t necessarily know if there are other motivations and concerns as well that may even be greater. This poll is my attempt to get a clearer overall picture of the main motives.

Some definitions for this poll. Note that the examples listed are “or”; that means you’d still cite “robbery” if you were concerned about being robbed yourself, but wouldn’t interfere if someone else was being robbed.

“Directed attack” refers to a planned and deliberate deadly force assault on you, a companion, or others in the area, and the perpetrator’s motive is to kill. It includes an active killer event of the sort in which someone enters a restaurant or other business and starts shooting people at random, but it can also include your or someone else’s being attacked because of a domestic dispute or a grievance against the store manager. (Although a directed attack could occur at your residence, such an event would fall under the next category.)

“Home defense” refers to protection of one’s residence and occupants for any reason. The reason for the assault could be a directed attack against you or other resident, or a robbery or burglary attempt.

“Robbery” refers to a deadly attack or threat of deadly force in a robbery that is directed against you or someone in your presence away from your residence: For example, in a convenience store a man attempts to rob the cashier at gunpoint or at a gas station a man with a knife demands your money. It could also include concerns about being in a bank and the robber kills or threatens to kill employees or patrons to eliminate witnesses or hostages because negotiations with the police have broken down. But unlike directed attack, the initial motive of the perpetrator(s) was to steal money or valuables, not to commit murder.

“Confrontation” refers to being assaulted in a road rage incident or something like a dispute over a parking spot at the mall or a bar fight. It’s similar to a “direct attack” except that the assault wasn’t planned in advance by the assailant, and escalated from something like an argument that didn’t start out as an assault.

“Animals” refers to defense against animal attack, or to control animals; e.g., dispatching a dangerous animal such as a rattlesnake near livestock.

“Other.” The above concerns are the ones I thought of, but anything else you’d care to discuss would be welcome

And “Nothing else” is included for the second question if you have only one primary reason/concern for having a self-defense gun.

The poll consists of two questions to permit selecting the primary and the second most important concerns or reasons for why you carry or otherwise have a gun available for possible self-defense purposes. (Your answers should not be the same for both questions.) I realize that many of us have more than two reasons for owning self-defense weaponry, but limiting it to your two most important concerns was to keep things to a reasonable level.

If you have trouble deciding your answers, ask yourself one of these two questions: Which would be most likely to occur, or which would it be most important for you to deal with? (Yes, they could lead to different choices; that’s why you should pick one or the other.)

And finally, I know that “They’re all equally important” might be the reason, but try to decide. Thanks for all replies.

Question:
What is your primary concern or reason for having a gun available for possible self-defense purposes?
.

Choices:
Concerns about directed attack.
For possible home defense.
Concerns about a robbery.
Concerns about a confrontation.
For defense against or to control animals.
Other.

Question:
What is your secondary (number 2) concern or reason for having a gun available for possible self-defense purposes?
.

Choices:
Concerns about directed attack.
For possible home defense.
Concerns about a robbery.
Concerns about a confrontation.
For defense against or to control animals.
Other
Nothing else than listed for primary.

 

I think about it differently.

I’m not gonna lose at something when it’s most important; at least I want a fighting chance.

It’s not about a particular situation or scenario, but rather a set of values.

They include defense of individualism, liberty, self-determination, rule-of-law, and my (loved one’s) safety. Not necessarily prioritized in that order.

I carry a lot of other things besides a gun.
All for optimizing my successes.

I think if I had a specific threat, I deal with in a less generic manner.

I answered "confrontation" and "home defense," but all apply.

We all have access to the same news sources. The world can be a dangerous place and I don't trust the government, at any level, to protect my family or me.

Pretty much “self preservation” and “survival”, cover all the bases. If you don’t get past an initial encounter, to begin with, you’re already out of the game since you are not capable of further action. You can’t defend your self, family, or property.

I carry a gun somewhere between "sometimes" and "often".

Whenever I go out for dinner, I have to make a decision: "Do I want to have a gun, or do I want to have a drink?"

If I'm heading into a less nice neighborhood (statistically, basically anywhere but the top 10-20% of zip codes), I lean heavily towards "gun" rather than "drinks".

So, deep down, I'm probably more concerned about getting targeted for attack due to wealth disparity (i.e., robbed) rather than, say, being a loud mouth and getting into a confrontation.

I chose home defense, and robbery, but all apply.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
I answered "confrontation" and "home defense," but all apply.

Same here with the votes.
1st was confrontation as it's been 3x now the first being in 2011 at my business when someone was trying to steal my copper piping for refrigeration.
Home defense as the area I live outside of is a drug infested shithole.

I never really did any soul-searching or questioning the odds. I bought a gun the day I got out of the army and I started to carry it.

My wife (then fiance) was really freaked out by guns so before we got married I got rid of all of mine and for the first 10 years we were married the only gun that we had in our house was an NEF .22 revolver that we kept in a lock box in the garage. I don't think we even had any ammunition for it.

In 2006 two incidents happened. First somebody put a Drano bomb on our neighbor's front porch. When it went off it rattled windows in our house across the street. The second was (I suspect) an attempted home invasion on our house.

My wife and I sat down and had a discussion and we bought a gun a RIA 1911.

Several months later my wife was involved in a road-rage incident that absolutely terrified her. She came home and when she got out of the car she was shaking and she told me that in the middle of it she realized that if that person had got out of the car because of her disabilities there was nothing she could have done to defend herself. She said to me "I want a gun and I want to get my permit." We took the class together we got our permits at the same time and we both started carrying.

Shortly after that Colorado voted to legalize weed and the City of Colorado Springs began to change for the worse.

Colorado Springs is overrun with homeless people. Between the two of us my wife and I knew four people who were murdered either by homeless people or in the middle of drug deals that went bad. When I say knew I mean people who were actually part of our lives, not random people we knew by name. We also knew 2 people who committed murder and did time for it. We also have an ex-SIL who is a suspect in several murders. The reason I mention this is because murder is not an abstract concept to me. It's something that has impacted my life multiple times and because of that it's something that informs my world view. I know too many people that it's happened to. I know too many people that have done it. I have no problem believing that it could happen to me.

There is cartel activity in Colorado Springs because they're growing weed here and exporting it out of the state which I guess is easier than importing it across the border into America.

Carjackings are becoming a nightly occurrence. Multiple convenience store robberies are becoming a nightly occurrence. A week ago Saturday some Maniac walked down Wasatch street in downtown Colorado Springs randomly shooting at people. I think he killed 3.

I think a month ago another random maniac walked down a hiking trail from Cimarron Street to America the Beautiful Park and stabbed eight people apparently at randoml. I think he killed one of them. The have been three other active shooter events in Colorado Springs since 2007.

I've been the victim of an attempted robbery right outside my home that I was able to stop because I had a gun.

As far as we know it's never happened to us but we have a neighbor down at the end of the hall who says that she's been sitting in her living room late at night and watched somebody try to to turn her front door knob.

I've been working nights since roughly 2003 and I see what kind of people wander around this town at night. Even before I started doing security I worked in a machine shop and I would come home at 3 in the morning and my neighborhood looked like a scene out of The Walking Dead. I'd see homeless people just wandering through the neighborhood every night.

I do not leave my home without a gun under any circumstances. Not even to take out the trash or check the mail

Dang! You don’t need a gun. You need to move.

I cited “other” in both.

First, I was threatened when I was a police officer. I believe two of those. One I’m pretty sure would find me when he gets out, but I’m not sure he’d travel all the way to Texas. The other guy was certifiably nuts.

Secondly, my grandmother was horribly beaten to death by a crackhead in her side yard while attempting to go inside. She had a gun my dad gave her, but she chose not to carry it for whatever reasons. I was a cop at the time and I know how savage humans can be. But I never expected it to hit my family.

Third, I do not expect to be a victim of a crime as I am constantly aware of my surroundings, and I know that to predators, I don’t appear to be prey-but shit happens. I’ve been approached while out eating with my family, and I knew what the deal was, once I put my hand on my gun the guy backtracked.

Fourthly, I’ve been attacked by dogs on more than one occasion. Twice when I was a cop, but once as a teen and several times since retiring (just out walking)or not while on duty.

Lastly, of course I worry about home defense. My neighbor has more than once commented about “all your guns” and that gives me pause. I’ve never told him I have more than one gun when it came up, so he’s obviously been watching me leave. As a retired cop I know that sometimes just talking about people can lead to robberies(I was a robbery detective for a year until I went back to the street). Plus I live in a neighborhood where the homes sold for $250k and up…I know I’m a target.

So pretty much all the reasons you presented, is why I carry. If I have pants on, I have a gun on or next to me. If that makes me paranoid-meh I’ll get over it.

I voted direct and confrontation but all apply really.

quote:

Why do you carry or have a self-defense gun available?

Because if you need to call the Cops then it's too late.
Really, mainly as a last resort to survival.

I own rural property on a road that is a known exchange point for drugs (mostly weed). I am there several times a day, it is one of my pastures. I always have a pistol on me and usually have some sort of rifle in my truck, mostly for predator control.

20+ years of police work. I am now retired but the experiences on the street convinced me to never be unarmed. The chance of using my gun have decreased drastically but given our societal situation, I will still carry every day.

I would have chosen "all of the above"

There isn't an order of importance to me, they are all important and plausible. I've already used a daily carry to defend against an animal on my property, to intervene in an abduction at my workplace, to defend against a robbery at my workplace, and have had half a dozen near misses where I was glad I was ready to defend against other attempted crimes (but was able to safely get away before being forced to introduce my weapon).

I don't understand how anyone in today's society doesn't carry around the clock.

Other. I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.

But seriously -- All of the above, in no particular order. It's insurance.

I chose directed attack and home defense. Robbery involving deadly force overlaps directed attack in my mind.

'All of the above'...I don't know what may come, but I want to be prepared, just in case.

All of the above.

All the above, but I chose confrontation and direct attack.