The spoken truth. And for this reason I hate more than ever having to travel away from my wife and the homestead. I am sitting at the bar at the Salt Lake City airport right now pondering these things. I am naked when I travel because I must travel in areas that do not allow me to defend myself. I absolutely hate it. And I do fret. This time I am flying to New Jersey. I must go however for my sister who is graduating from the police academy on Tuesday. The only comfort I can take is at least my sister will now be armed. I'll remind her I think to pack a few extra mags.

Truer words have not been spoken.

I upped my carry gun just yesterday from 45acp to 10 mirrimeter. I think I'm going to carry an extra mag now, too. Nothing says "leave me be" quite like 35 rounds of 10 mirrimeter.

I recently upped both my 226 house guns to twenty-plus-one rounds. One with the light/laser is on the nightstand, the other in the 'puter room until bedtime. My carry gun (XD9) is holstered in my TV watching chair. I carry two extra 16rd mags for it, & another two in the truck.

I wondered (for about a minute) if it was a bit much. When I considered the thought of someone kicking in my door, I surmised I'd have to be right on top of a gun to make a difference. Hmmm, maybe I need to stash that Airweight by the toilet...

I was thinking somewhat along the same lines this morning, my IPhone 6 died and I had to visit the Apple store for a replacement. The store is in a large mall and a prime target for almost anything which gave me an extra level of caution.

We are woefully unprepared for events such as happened in France. Zippy is even less prepared than most of the citizens, however, almost to a man, every member of SF are more than just 'prepared'.

If or when something does happen, you can bet it will be in a state like New York, Maryland or a restricted area like a military base. These cowards like nothing more than shooting at people that can't shoot back.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
If or when something does happen, you can bet it will be in a state like New York, Maryland or a restricted area like a military base. These cowards like nothing more than shooting at people that can't shoot back.

While I tend to agree with you I think that those of us who live in free states still need to be vigilant. I have family members who live in Northern VA near DC and I have told them to be prepared and it TSHTF to bug out to SW VA where we can better take care of ourselves...

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
Nothing says "leave me be" quite like 35 rounds of 10 mirrimeter.

That's a lot of BOOM.

quote:

Originally posted by vinnybass:
I recently upped both my 226 house guns to twenty-plus-one rounds. One with the light/laser is on the nightstand, the other in the 'puter room until bedtime. My carry gun (XD9) is holstered in my TV watching chair. I carry two extra 16rd mags for it, & another two in the truck.

I wondered (for about a minute) if it was a bit much. When I considered the thought of someone kicking in my door, I surmised I'd have to be right on top of a gun to make a difference. Hmmm, maybe I need to stash that Airweight by the toilet...

Maybe just carry a gun on you all of the time? Makes it easy, it's everywhere you go...

quote:

Maybe just carry a gun on you all of the time?

This.

...and I shot my 6720 yesterday, and will clean it today.

My Maxpedetion shoulder bag contains a G17 with 10 mags. And 2 happy sticks.
That is in addition to my primary and bug on each hip.

Same reason we all buy insurance. I don't want to be caught without it if I unfortunately need it. I think gun ownership,and readiness is the responsible thing a free citizen should do.

I could not agree with the OP and the comments any more than I do. Like Rhino, ten years ago I was a shooter but the idea of carrying just hadn't vested itself in me. Then Katrina, then the well known list of atrocities across the country, one at a time and then in numbers and now I handle myself somewhat differently. I've had a gun in my pocket and now one on my hip since '05.

About six months ago I put a rifle in my car and except for the first of the month freshening up at the range, there it stays. I thought long and hard about doing it and how to do it, and like all else, I compromised.
It's an older Winchester '94 in .30-30 so I avoid a large loss if something happens to it and I avoid traveling with an 'assault rife' if something happens to me.

As far as any residual feeling of doubt about the adjustments that an armed lifestyle requires, my son and daughter are full time carriers, their spouses are frequently armed, my wife carries routinely and each of them and I have trained. One kid is a cop, the other was a cop until a year ago and both took the shootin' part seriously so I have no parental angst about that. My wife's marksmanship and gunhandling are good and her mind set and awareness are superb. Not that we're done, but we take it seriously.

Like the immortal bard said, "You don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows."

Unfortunate, ugly, truths.

Im considering changing my carry gun from my trusty Kimber to a 9mm for capacity reasons. Ive always carried extra mags, less for round count and more for replacement in case of malfunction.

Now when Im on the road I carry a rifle and quite a bit of spare ammo.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
Nothing says "leave me be" quite like 35 rounds of 10 mirrimeter.

That's a lot of BOOM.

That's the point. I figure even if I miss, the boom will make them run away. The cops can just follow the trail of piss to the suspect.

Amen to all you said, Para.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Primary, reload, BUG, reload, flashlight, knife.

10 years ago I didn't carry. 5 years ago I'd have thought a BUG a bit extreme.

Today I ponder strapping on an ankle gun for better access to one while driving, but a man with 3 guns on him would probably be labeled a gun nut in the press. But I guess better to be alive and a gun nut than dead and not.

Rhinowso, just in case you do the ankle-thing here's an experience. One of our officers said he used an ankle-holster. We asked him how he was going to draw it from down there. He yelled as he dropped down and rolled onto his back with his knees drawn up to his chest. Between his feet was his hands holding a .380 auto pointed at us from beside the inside edges of his shoes. I imagine it took some practice for him to do that so fast, but it was effective. "Our turn to buy lunch", was all we could say. It was quite effective. I didn't care for being on the ground, but he could have had both of us if we were the aggressors. I'm not recommending this because it took a bit of physical flexibility and speed. Just remembered it when you mentioned ankle-gun. :-)

I used to think, I'm only going to Lowe's I don't need to carry. On top of that rarely an extra magazine. Not anymore, I'm trying to get in the habit of making it as routine as putting on pants.

quote:

Originally posted by jlemmy:
I used to think, I'm only going to Lowe's I don't need to carry. On top of that rarely an extra magazine. Not anymore, I'm trying to get in the habit of making it as routine as putting on pants.

I never think that way anymore. I carry everywhere I go, even the gym (everywhere I'm legally able to anyway). I even carry if I'm just going down to garage to grab something out of the car that I might've forgotten. I carry my gun to the freakin' toilet for Christ's sake in my own damn house. Paranoia? Maybe. I don't care. I do it anyway.

BWTAC - Thanks for the insight - I don't think I'd ever do ONLY an ankle gun, as the LCP disappears in front or rear pockets - its really just for driving, as I'm acutely aware that the pocket BUG and 3:30 IWB are not fast draws, especially when buckled in.

wishfull thinker - Funny you mention a rifle - I've been meaning to make a rack in the trunk for my M38 Nagant, for all the reasons you picked a 30-30 lever gun. Those 7.62x54R Silver Tip boomers will ruin anyones day, 2 or 4 legged. I imagine even if someone had body armor it wouldn't be pleasant to take one. Also useful as a club.