Americans who conceal carry a gun everyday. For how long have you been carry and how many times it saved you?
Posted by anarinfurtado@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 72 comments
Just learned you guys can carry guns outside of your house, in my nation civilians can only have in their houses
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vuther_316@reddit
I've been concealed carrying for just over a year. Statistically, it's pretty unlikely that you'll ever need to use your firearm to defend yourself. Personally, I think that having a firearm on your person outside the home is more important than having it inside the home since you're much more likely to be the victim of a crime outside your home.
Also, it's worth noting that only about half of the states allow you to carry without a permit. The others require you to get a permit to legally carry outside your home and have varying levels of scrutiny, application requirements, and approval times. Many states used to effectively ban concealed carry by denying all applications that didn't demonstrate a "proper cause" for wanting to carry a firearm, where basically only judges, armored truck employees (they collect cash from local businesses), and witnesses in high risk criminal cases could demonstrate "proper cause". The Supreme Court ruled these policies unconstitutional in 2022, and since then, all states have to approve applications unless they can find a specific reason to deny it.
danhm@reddit
The vast majority of Americans have only fire guns for recreational purposes.
anarinfurtado@reddit (OP)
My dream is to fire a gun in a range just to know how it feels like
But I'm talking about those who carry
Littleboypurple@reddit
Unless you work with firearms, the vast majority of people only use them recreationally so Gun Range or Hunting. Only a small minority of people that conceal and carry have ever needed to use their firearm for defensive purposes
danhm@reddit
Right. People who carry a gun around almost never use it.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
So are they.
Jorost@reddit
It's loud. There's a kick. It is definitely fun to shoot targets, at least for a little while. It gets boring pretty quickly though. If you travel to Florida you can rent a gun at a range without a license, if you want to get a taste of it.
illegalsex@reddit
Even 99+% of the people who conceal carry still only shoot guns at a range. It's exceedingly rare have to use a gun in self-defense.
Lothar_Ecklord@reddit
I can’t speak for myself, but it’s a lot more common than you might expect. And per the FBI statistics, if you remove suicides from the equation (they account for roughly 2/3 gun deaths), there are 3 million lives saved with guns and about 16,000 lost PER YEAR. I’d say it’s worth it. Plus tyrannical leaders and all that.
OYSW@reddit
My understanding was that the FBI did not publish statistics on lives saved with guns, so thank you for informing me. Could you provide a link?
JudgeWhoOverrules@reddit
It was actually a CDC study
OYSW@reddit
Too funny. You may want to read up on the Dickey Amendment.
Figgler@reddit
The CDC has never been barred from studying gun violence, only from advocating for gun control.
Total-Ad5463@reddit
I guess the suicides don't count then lmfao were they not humans who had a gun and made a decision with it that cost a life?
Lothar_Ecklord@reddit
No, because that’s not someone whose life ended at the will of another.
Total-Ad5463@reddit
Lol read this as slowly as you need to.
Was
A
Life
Lost?
I hope breaking it up helps...but I doubt it.
Quicherbichen1@reddit
I'm a 66y/o grandmother. Been carrying for about 10 years. Never had to use it. Hope I never do. I started carrying after my house was broken into while I was asleep.
Designer_Head_3761@reddit
I’ve been carrying concealed for 21 years now. How many times has it saved me? 0, but fortunately I haven’t had to draw my pistol yet. I’ve been in a few circumstances where someone has gotten irate and I had to put my hand on it but fortunately I was able to talk the said person down.
I live in a very rural area and a avid outdoorsman so carrying a sidearm is mainly to protect myself from predators (bears, coyotes and wild cats) but also weird and dangerous people you run into like when I hike and camp.
Lord willing I’ll never have to use my pistol in a defense situation
Professional-Pungo@reddit
it's most likely never saved you.
the new paints the US as a place that you just see shootings every day, and maybe it's statistically more likely to happen in the US than other countries, but it's still fairly rare. having lived in the US for 31 years now I've never seen a shootout in person.
NCC1701-Enterprise@reddit
You mean there aren't daily shootouts on main st at noon in Texas?
TacosNGuns@reddit
No but there are near daily shootings in Texas as a whole. And the large metro areas like Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio are no strangers to shootings on the street and at schools.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Oh please.
Total-Ad5463@reddit
Lmao they think it will "save" them sooooo many times. And others too. But they are just paranoid. Anyone who says more than once is a liar, or needs to move 🤣🤣🤣
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Are you ok?
Landwarrior5150@reddit
How many times have you worn a seatbelt while driving a car, and how many times has it saved you? How many times have you been inside a building that has fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers & fire alarms installed and how many times have they saved you?
Total-Ad5463@reddit
So what you are saying is, you are packing for no reason and mad about it or something? 🤣
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
What are you on about.
thatsad_guy@reddit
Who is mad?
anarinfurtado@reddit (OP)
I understand your analogy, I was just curious about it since it's barely a thing in my country
Ritterbruder2@reddit
I have had a license since 2014. I used to carry but stopped. I never remotely felt like I was in danger.
The gun industry markets based on fear: fear of being a victim of a crime, fear of being sued if you use your gun to defend your self - they sell insurance policies where you have access to a lawyer if you use your gun.
farmerben02@reddit
Curious where you are seeing guns advertised. I can't recall seeing a TV ad for guns in my lifetime. I see them in magazines like garden and gun or sporting magazines, and those are marketed to hunters.
Ritterbruder2@reddit
Social media is full of it.
revengeappendage@reddit
The thing is…I literally hope and pray that I never have to use it.
But better to not need it and have it than need it and not have it.
Jorost@reddit
The honest answer to the second question is almost always going to be "never." The instances of someone actually having to defend themselves with a firearm are vanishingly rare. A Rutgers study just this year showed that less than 1% of gun owners use their weapon defensively in a given year.
misterlakatos@reddit
I agree.
And with that said - I am not surprised by most of the responses here (based on the states).
Beneficial_War_1365@reddit
I was born on my parents dairy farms. We own 2 complete farms and pretty darn close to Canada too. Zero hanguns here but we had rifles and plenty too. We got wolves in the winter and really big varments wanting to mate with our cows in spring too. :) Every barn had fully loaded rifles at each ends of the barns and in the center too. Every tractor had rifles too and fully loaded. Trucks too. My 5th grade teacher was our wolf and bear hunter. His class had about 5-6 wolf pelts on the walls and what lovely warm pelts they were. Great teacher he was too. :)
But none of that stopped my dad getting murdered by someone who was out looking for him. So you can be armed to the teeth but are you really ready for a show down?
peace. Dad.
cbrooks97@reddit
Most will never use it. But when you need it, you need it. When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.
Also, I've seen lots of videos of people using conceal-carried handguns for self defense in Brazil. You may be surprised how many are around you.
skadi_shev@reddit
I’m reminded of that story from 2022 where an armed civilian stopped a mass shooting at a mall by shooting and killing the perp. The shooting only lasted 15 seconds before the perp was killed. 3 innocent people had already been killed in that 15 second timeframe.
cbrooks97@reddit
Similar story happened in a Texas church a couple of years ago. I forget exact numbers, but two or three people were killed before someone headshotted the shooter. Took all of a minute.
skadi_shev@reddit
I think I remember hearing that. I used to go to a fairly large, well known church, and on any given Sunday there were several concealed firearms in the pews. I think that may become more common in my area now because of the Annunciation church shooting.
anarinfurtado@reddit (OP)
I've also seen, but they were retired federal cops
DarkSeas1012@reddit
I don't conceal carry (yet) but have open carried in the back country.
Wearing a handgun openly has deescalated a situation though.
We were at a camp site, and two other parties were camping there. This was Tanto National Forest. One group was loud, the other wanted quiet, the two groups were getting bellicose with each other, shouting and screaming, threats, etc.
Both groups tried to involve our group. We did not want to be involved and wanted everyone to chill the heck out.
Three of us strapped up, and for some reason, both other parties calmed down immediately, and the argument was over, we didn't need to take a side.
G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit
I don't carry every day. When I'm out on my property in Texas I always do, or when alone in the mountains.
TheStatusPoe@reddit
I don't carry as much anymore, but I've been carrying for about 7-8 years and I've had one incident where I started to draw. I used to live in a more walkable, but less pleasant part of town. I was walking back to my apartment after picking up prescription when I noticed a car with 3 people inside following me across a parking lot at a crawling pace, and all 3 people in the car were staring at me. I kept walking trying to see if they were going to just drive off. After about another minute I looked back and the car was still following me and the people in the car were still staring and I felt like they were about to get out to jump me. I started reaching for my gun and the draw was enough that they sped off. I don't know for sure if I was "truly" in danger, but the way they were looking at me gave me some really bad vibes.
FondleGanoosh438@reddit
I have my CC but I don’t really use it often. Even though Washington is deep blue it’s not hard to get here. I have it if I am going to be somewhere I feel like I need it. I will open carry when I am out in nature. A bear doesn’t give a shit if you have a pistol on your hip.
paxcolt@reddit
Been carrying a little over 30 years. Had 1 incident where simply putting my hand on my pistol while still holstered was enough to change their minds, another where I had the gun in my hand but my wife’s quick thinking and driving skills removed us from the situation without me having to use it. Thankful that both situations turned out that way.
wormbreath@reddit
I’ve never used it, i did show it one time and that was enough. It saved my life.
SabresBills69@reddit
Most Americans do not have a conceil carry permit. Some cities have not allowed it.
Some just have a gun at home for protection
Some have hunting rifles they use for hunting seasons in their area ( various birds, deer) some areas have population control lotteries for other animals that might not have a designated season.
Most areas have some sort of firing ranges ( indoor and outdoor)
DankItchins@reddit
The vast majority of people who conceal carry will never be in a situation where they need to draw it.
Even most cops will go their entire career in law enforcement without having to fire their weapon.
blackhawk905@reddit
Most people have not and will never use their concealed carry, or any firearm for that matter, to defend themselves thankfully. In studies done in the past the numbers can be in the few hundred thousand of guns used to defend yourself to the multi millions so even at the high end it's an incredibly low number of times it's done per year and the studies aren't guns being fired it can be something like saying you have a gun, drawing it, etc and aren't narrowed to concealed carrying it can be open carry, in your home, on your property, in your car, etc.
There is a subreddit called /r/dgu or /r/defensivegunuse can't remember which it is but they post defensive gun use news,that may be a good place to check out.
TacosNGuns@reddit
Six years, never needed to use it. Before my state had CHL licenses, my wife was car-jacked by three teens with a handgun. She survived, but anyone saying you’ll never need a gun has never had a loved one held at gunpoint for their purse and car……
Snagtooth@reddit
I've carried for years now. I've never had to actually draw or fire thankfully.
OldDogWithOldTricks@reddit
I have carried for 25 years. I've pulled it 3 times. One was a road rage guy who ran at me with a bat. One was a guy who tried to rob me coming out of a store. And one was a guy who was beating a woman, I told him to stop and he came after me.
Joliet-Jake@reddit
I’ve been carrying for 21 years. I’ve only had to draw it once, and never had to fire it.
5usDomesticus@reddit
I carry every day and have never had to use it.
anarinfurtado@reddit (OP)
Hopefully you'll never need🙏
5usDomesticus@reddit
I mean, I've shot a guy before but not with my concealed carry.
NCC1701-Enterprise@reddit
I don't always carry, but I do carry when hiking, have had to use it several times to scare off unfriendly wildlife.
I routinely visit the range and enjoy target shooting, I am happy to know if the unfournate situation of self defense occured I would be able to do so, but I am thankful that situation has not happened to me.
Soundwave-1976@reddit
21 years now, and we have thankfully not had a situation where I have had to use it yet, I haven't needed to even draw it yet.
Thereelgerg@reddit
I've been carrying regularly for over 15 years, only had to use it once.
Major-Assumption539@reddit
Since I was 18. For whatever reason I’m cursed with being what I like to call a crazy-magnet. I try to stay out of trouble but it seems to hunt me down. I’ve had to draw twice but luckily I only shot once (rabid fox was coming after my dog when we were hiking). The other time I technically wasn’t carrying but I was asleep at home and a junkie came to my window next to my bed and was screaming at me to let him in and was holding some kind of garden tool. I grabbed the gun off my nightstand and told him I’d ventilate his face if he didn’t leave, and thankfully he did.
PrivetKalashnikov@reddit
I've been carrying almost 20 years now. I've had to draw twice, once when someone pulled a knife on me in a parking lot and once when three men tried to carjack me. Fortunately both times just drawing was enough to cause the aggressors to run.
wasframed@reddit
Carrying for about 10 years. Wife has carried for 8 years.
Both my wife and I have had to warn someone that we were armed because of their actions. My wife twice. Myself once. Neither of us actually had to draw and fire, the mere threat of being armed was enough to stop the individuals from doing what they were doing.
I'm very thankful my wife was armed.
z0mbiebaby@reddit
10 years and it hasn’t saved me yet but if it only saves me or someone else just once then it’s worth it. It seems like the majority of CC owners do not want to ever use the weapon other than target practice.
BoysenberryUnhappy29@reddit
I can't carry currently (military), but I did for years beforehand. I haven't had to draw on a person, but I nearly had to deal with a dog that was attacking another person's dog at my apartment complex. That said, I went (and go) very far out of my way to not enter into dangerous situations to begin with.
As for the country as a whole, around 1.6 million times per year. Most defensive gun uses don't result in having to shoot, so you'll see other studies that omit "brandishing" the firearm to count as a DGU, which is kind of... dishonest, IMO, when the ideal outcome is to not have to shoot someone.
misawa_EE@reddit
I would not beat I’m a daily carrier because some of my workplaces haven’t allowed it even to be locked in a vehicle. But I’ve had a carry permit for 28 years and never used it. Came close twice, both times were vagrants of the 4 legged variety.
CoffeeExtraCream@reddit
Been carrying for 12 years now. 3 incidents where I almost drew but fortunately didnt have to. The one time I would have drawn i didnt have it. It was a car jacking attempt and I drove through the person who was standing and trying to block my car in.
OldRaj@reddit
Fifteen years. A firearm has never saved anyone. People save themselves or save other people. The firearm is merely a tool.
guardianone-24@reddit
The best defense is one you never have to use.
However, the number of times one would hear of “the .1% chance that you do need it” makes you sure to have it.
It’s like that saying. Better to have it and not need it, Than need it and not have it.
About 8 years I’ve carried btw.
LiveMarionberry3694@reddit
I’ve been carrying for 6 years now. Never had to use it and never hope I do
PappaDeej@reddit
I feel like this is the most common answer and the one people don’t want to hear. I carry everyday and hope I never have to use it. I’m explain that same concept to my 7yo every time I put it on.