Do You Carry a Gun When You Ride

[PrairieSpyder]

Please point me to the article, if it's not biased. Thanks

Not biased? Pot . . Kettle! How about your data supporting your statement?

Nonetheless, here are some examples:

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/0717hill0717.html?nclick_check=1
" . . . studying the history of the West for nearly 30 years. We found that wherever "people on the ground" got together, they generally found ways to cooperate rather than fight."

http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?a=803
" . . . the civil society of the American West in the nineteenth century was not very violent."
This article concludes, "The culture of violence in the American West of the late nineteenth century was created almost entirely by the U.S. government’s military interventions, which were primarily a veiled subsidy to the government-subsidized transcontinental railroad corporations."


http://www.buzzle.com/articles/the-wild-west-of-myth-and-reality.html
for most people, violent crime was not the daily norm that popular entertainment would have us believe. As unromantic as it may be, relatively few people in the Wild West were involved in the gunfights and stagecoach robberies immortalized in the movies.

http://www.cracked.com/article_18487_6-ridiculous-history-myths-you-probably-think-are-true.html
"That was the most murders any old-west town saw in any one year. Ever. Most towns averaged about 1.5 murders a year, and not all of those were shooting. You were way more likely to be murdered in Baltimore in 2008 than you were in Tombstone in 1881, the year of the famous gunfight at the OK Corral (body count: three) and the town's most violent year ever."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_frontier#Law_and_order
" . . .the violent image of the cattle towns in film and fiction is largely myth."

http://listverse.com/2013/02/18/9-crazy-truths-about-the-wild-west/
"The highest annual body count Tombstone ever experienced? Five. From 1870 to 1885, Dodge City and Wichita had murder rates of 0.6 per year. However you cut it, daily cowboy life was nowhere near as violent as we think."

 

[Buttsy]

But again; you help to re-enforce the importance of responsible gun ownership; not doing something foolish over emotions or hysterics.

Normally I don't get in the middle of a discussion on a US based forum about gun ownership and carrying etc.............:roflblack: there is no winning. You folks are real passionate about your constitutional rights. But this forum is a lot different as the mixture of folk tends to be older, more seasoned individuals, so here goes.

I really don't know what to think, to be able to "carry" or not but I think Bob has a very valid point. My question would be though can people that are not responsible freely carry, and this is where it starts to scare me a little. My thought is I could care less if I am at a BBQ with Bob Denman and he has a concealed weapon, he obviously advocates responsible gun ownership. Now give me someone else who perhaps is a little stressed from every day life and has a short fuse, maybe he misunderstands my chatting up his wife as me making a "move"...........hopefully you see my point?

I am always interested though in the police officers and ex police officers that are supportive of "carrying". I give you credit I am not sure I would want to pull over an average motorist knowing that they may be carrying? Dark night, rainy out on the interstate with little to no back-up: you folks need paid way more than you are.

I will say this though.............as long as you don't break any laws I don't see how anyone should be making up your mind for you.

 

[bruiser]

In 1990 I was working in a not so nice area of an unnamed city here in NC. I was with the operator of the equipment I was working on. We were in a warehouse and were the only ones there. I went out to my truck to get some tools. A "gentleman" walked up and asked me for a dollar. I told him I didn't have any money. He persisted to the point of pulling a knife on me. What I didn't know was the operator saw what was happening and went back in to call the police. As this man made a move toward me he was distracted by the wrench that I dropped on the ground. I grabbed his arm, and he dropped the knife when I snapped the bone in his arm. He ran off before the police showed up about 25 minutes later. The cops did find him shortly thereafter. This ocurred before CC permits. The company I worked for prohibited carrying weapons.

So here's my point, had this person had a gun, I would have given him my money. Had I had a gun he would have probably thought better and left. As the old saying goes,"don't show up to a gun fight without a gun". I don't live in fear and I don't always carry. I try to stay aware of my surroundings.

 

[shelbydave]

I really don't know what to think, to be able to "carry" or not but I think Bob has a very valid point. My question would be though can people that are not responsible freely carry, and this is where it starts to scare me a little. My thought is I could care less if I am at a BBQ with Bob Denman and he has a concealed weapon, he obviously advocates responsible gun ownership. Now give me someone else who perhaps is a little stressed from every day life and has a short fuse, maybe he misunderstands my chatting up his wife as me making a "move"...........hopefully you see my point?

This is probably the place where I would be considered a "liberal" or "Progressive", because I do feel there should be some sort of process to keep guns out of the hands of those who are a risk. I know that many gun rights folks are very strict in their reading of the 2nd amendment - "shall not be infringed", however there is a responsibility involved with gun ownership, and carrying. I find it funny that we have stricter laws, and requirements for someone to drive a motor vehicle, than we do for someone to buy, and own a gun.
I would have no problems with gun owners being required to undergo annual mental screenings. This may also include any family members who may have access to the gun.
I would not be OK with this being on a national level, or some sort of national database. The reason for that is that if the wrong person (or party) is in power, they could, under the healthcare reform act, "strong arm" doctors into declaring certain people "unfit".

 

[bruiser]

I'm a strong supporter of gun ownership. I also support full background checks for conceal carry permits and gun ownership to include mental health checks. Part of my CC process was a mental health check. Gun ownership, in my view, includes long guns as well.

 

[wyliec]

Not biased? Pot . . Kettle! How about your data supporting your statement?

Did you read too far into what I asked? I asked for articles, which you have provided. I'll give those articles a read.

 

[PrairieSpyder]

Did you read too far into what I asked? I asked for articles, which you have provided. I'll give those articles a read.

Please do educate yourself. But I'm not going to discuss it further.

 

[shelbydave]

I'm a strong supporter of gun ownership. I also support full background checks for conceal carry permits and gun ownership to include mental health checks. Part of my CC process was a mental health check. Gun ownership, in my view, includes long guns as well.

I think we probably pretty much agree here then. I also think that part of gun ownership is the responsibility to keep them safe from the wrong people. Proper gun safes, biometrics, etc.

Many of the recent shootings have been done by people who either were not qualified to own, or didn't own in the first place. Denying those people access should be a very high priority.

 

[Bob Denman]

Buttsy, You give me too much credit! :shocked: I just don't want to go through all of the interviewing that would occur if something ugly happened! :roflblack:

 

[mxz600]

In my opinion, the same group of people who want to take guns away, are the same ones who have caused these problems with their idea of what "rights" are... 10 year old kids watching zombies getting shot in the head, music that talks about killing, rape, beating... Many of the same people will say.."It's just a movie" It's just a song", but when someone goes out and kills, "we need to get the guns off the streets!"

We've gone way off the path, and need to fix the root of the problem, not just cover up the symptoms.

I hope you're not blaming shows like "The Walking Dead" (my favorite show) and music (many of the groups messages are about saving yourself, not pushing you over the edge) as the culprit for excessive violence. That clearly is not the problem.

What I think is responsible for todays violence is religion, cell phones, the internet and facebook. :joke: sort of....

What I really think is, it all goes back to one simple thing that is sorely missing in modern society, responsible parenting. Parents have become very lazy at raising their children.

 

[Pennyrick]

Bytemi:

See what you started?

These threads almost always turn out this way.

Lamont... is it time to close this one down for now?

 

[shelbydave]

What I really think is, it all goes back to one simple thing that is sorely missing in modern society, responsible parenting. Parents have become very lazy at raising their children.

I won't argue that... but there is a lot to say for how society justifies peoples actions.. "He had a bad childhood." "He just went through a traumatic experience." So what??? There is such a thing as personal responsibility. If we got back to that fact on ALL levels (how we act, how we parent, etc...) many of these issues would dissolve through time.

...And you wouldn't have to restrict a single gun.