POLL: How often do you carry?

[billsnogo]

Thankfully at my work there is no policy against carrying, or they have never said anything. There are at least four that I know of in the machine shop that carry, me included, and it is not obvious that I carry, but there are times the imprint in my jeans have an outline of it now, and never a problem. Previous job banned guns even though they have gun safes with firearms in them and 50%+ of our work was making gun parts???

[george]

I don't shower with it but I do have one G26 with the underwater spring cups in it for Florida when I go. Almost every time
I'm there they have shark warnings out. Funny how I'm not the only one with a fanny pack on by water! ( Shallow water for me.)

[andrewP]

I can't really respond accurately to this poll, because my situation has changed and I'm sure will continue to change over time. My last 2 employers have both banned carry (one just for employees, the other was actually posted), so I didn't carry at work, but any time I was leaving the house otherwise and not intending to consume alcohol, I'd be armed, which would put me somewhere in the middle of the poll. Currently, I'd be in the "wallet, keys, gun" category, except that it's actually "wallet, keys, gun, knife, flashlight, phone." Everybody's life circumstances/perceived threat levels are different, and I'm not about to tell anyone else their personal decisions are incorrect, but it makes sense to me to carry as much as I can. I don't carry when biking though; hard not to print in spandex.

[FreeRanger]

I carry mostly for protection against animals, especially dogs walking off-leash in the Twin Cities, and especially when I am WITH MY GRANDKIDS. And on occasion, I carry for protection against two-legged varmints, as well.

To explain . . . When I served as a combat-Marine in Vietnam, we had German Shepard dogs that were highly-trained to kill people, including anyone on whom the dogs were sicced, and anyone (Marine or enemy) who would wander within their chain-up area. One of those dogs took two good chunks out my tent-mate's arm and just scraped his neck artery, all in a flash and while pretending to be friendly as that Marine reached to pet him at the very end of his chain. Those Marine dogs were strong enough to throw 30-pound, brick-hard sandbags right and left like marshmallows. Those dogs also would kill enemy when the opportunity presented itself while out on patrol with their master. Not pretty.

I also met a 5-year old girl recuperating at Children's hospital long ago, whose face had been ripped to shreds in seconds by her best friend - her always-friendly black lab dog - in her family's kitchen one day while her mother was frying chicken nearby at the stove. Yes, it can happen, even with friendly labs. More recently, many people think it's cool to keep Pitt-Bulls as pets, including one former neighbor of mine. That's a time-bomb waiting to happen!

Some years ago, on one of my hikes into Wyoming's Wind River Mountains (where the best Guidebook says that there "are no bears," my family and I, while camping miles into the wilderness, were harassed all night long by 5, yes 5, starving black bears who only wanted our food. They weren't mean, but they were absolutely determined to find our food packs. We took refuge on a high, house-sized boulder that sloped up from the ground, and kept a too-wimpy fire burning on the ground in front of it. I stood all night long and aggressively harassed every bear that wandered up to us that night. At midnight, our neighbor shot and killed the most pesky bear, and that helped. But the rest of them continued coming around, until well after dawn. I did Not even sit down that freezing night. We've also had a pack of wolves come into our nearby elk gut pile while hunting in and Idaho wilderness. They stayed on that pile for two days and didn't bother us directly, but whenever we howled for them, they took it as a challenge and kept coming closer and howling back at us until we would back down. There were 6 of them in that pack, but some locals have reported seeing wolf packs of up to 20-30 wolves! It's only a matter of time and hunger for them before they try killing people. They will find that very easy to do.

So, since about 1994, I now always carry a .44 mag. revolver while camping or hunting in the forest and/or wilderness. And when field dressing big game animals, I make sure to carry that revolver in a chest-holster for immediate access if needed. After returning from Vietnam, I carried a .38 revolver whenever driving to the Cities to date my girlfriend. Open-carry was legal back then, both in Minnesota and in most other states. Then, in the early 1970's, laws were passed making carrying illegal to carry a firearm without a permit, and so honest folks quit carrying in cities. Only criminals continued carrying firearms in public.

Now I occasionally carry when driving away from home, or when needing to pass by the dangerous parts of the Twin Cities. And I nearly ALWAYS carry a pocket pistol WHEN OUT WALKING OUR GRANDKIDS TO THE PARK OR ELSEWHERE - - BECAUSE CITY PEOPLE INSIST ON HAVING BIG DOGS, WHICH THEY ALL TOO-OFTER LEAVE OFF-LEASH ! ! !

JC, BLAINE MN

[Holland&Holland]

I carry mostly for protection against animals, especially dogs walking off-leash in the Twin Cities, and especially when I am WITH MY GRANDKIDS. And on occasion, I carry for protection against two-legged varmints, as well.

To explain . . . When I served as a combat-Marine in Vietnam, we had German Shepard dogs that were highly-trained to kill people, including anyone on whom the dogs were sicced, and anyone (Marine or enemy) who would wander within their chain-up area. One of those dogs took two good chunks out my tent-mate's arm and just scraped his neck artery, all in a flash and while pretending to be friendly as that Marine reached to pet him at the very end of his chain. Those Marine dogs were strong enough to throw 30-pound, brick-hard sandbags right and left like marshmallows. Those dogs also would kill enemy when the opportunity presented itself while out on patrol with their master. Not pretty.

I also met a 5-year old girl recuperating at Children's hospital long ago, whose face had been ripped to shreds in seconds by her best friend - her always-friendly black lab dog - in her family's kitchen one day while her mother was frying chicken nearby at the stove. Yes, it can happen, even with friendly labs. More recently, many people think it's cool to keep Pitt-Bulls as pets, including one former neighbor of mine. That's a time-bomb waiting to happen!

Some years ago, on one of my hikes into Wyoming's Wind River Mountains (where the best Guidebook says that there "are no bears," my family and I, while camping miles into the wilderness, were harassed all night long by 5, yes 5, starving black bears who only wanted our food. They weren't mean, but they were absolutely determined to find our food packs. We took refuge on a high, house-sized boulder that sloped up from the ground, and kept a too-wimpy fire burning on the ground in front of it. I stood all night long and aggressively harassed every bear that wandered up to us that night. At midnight, our neighbor shot and killed the most pesky bear, and that helped. But the rest of them continued coming around, until well after dawn. I did Not even sit down that freezing night. We've also had a pack of wolves come into our nearby elk gut pile while hunting in and Idaho wilderness. They stayed on that pile for two days and didn't bother us directly, but whenever we howled for them, they took it as a challenge and kept coming closer and howling back at us until we would back down. There were 6 of them in that pack, but some locals have reported seeing wolf packs of up to 20-30 wolves! It's only a matter of time and hunger for them before they try killing people. They will find that very easy to do.

So, since about 1994, I now always carry a .44 mag. revolver while camping or hunting in the forest and/or wilderness. And when field dressing big game animals, I make sure to carry that revolver in a chest-holster for immediate access if needed. After returning from Vietnam, I carried a .38 revolver whenever driving to the Cities to date my girlfriend. Open-carry was legal back then, both in Minnesota and in most other states. Then, in the early 1970's, laws were passed making carrying illegal to carry a firearm without a permit, and so honest folks quit carrying in cities. Only criminals continued carrying firearms in public.

Now I occasionally carry when driving away from home, or when needing to pass by the dangerous parts of the Twin Cities. And I nearly ALWAYS carry a pocket pistol WHEN OUT WALKING OUR GRANDKIDS TO THE PARK OR ELSEWHERE - - BECAUSE CITY PEOPLE INSIST ON HAVING BIG DOGS, WHICH THEY ALL TOO-OFTER LEAVE OFF-LEASH ! ! !

JC, BLAINE MN

You better upgrade to a .500 Smith for edc. I have a killer beagle that I let run free. .44 is only good enough for maybe a hamster.