i have it and carry it for the same reasons that i wear a seatbelt... i hope i never need it, but its nice knowing that if a situation arose where i did, its already there....
as always... carrying a gun is not for everyone... its not a decision to make lightly... it carries a lot of responsibility with it.... its a decision i made for myself
E, you are correct sir.
Carrying a firearm brings with it certain decisions that need to be made. If you plan on going to a bar, or a party - plan on putting your gun in a strongbox (in a car for example), or just leaving it at home. But 95% when I go out with friends to a mall, or a movie, or out to eat, I'm packing. But no one knows. The only person I openly communicate with about the weapon actually carries himself and is also a police officer.
But you never know where something might happen. It doesn't always have to be in a "bad" area. These days, you don't know where some random gunman might open up. I often feel nervous inside banks, or around law enforcement - but I guess it's just me being new to carrying.
But it is my right, and I think if more people carried concealed that a lot of crimes would be prevented. There is nothing reckless, dangerous- or even malicious about carrying a weapon legally with proper training.
The people who screw it up and give it a bad name are the douchebags who carry everywhere and constantly remind everyone that they are carrying a weapon. That is quite possibly the WORST thing you can do, and it endangers people around you and it endangers yourself. If everyone always knows that this guy is packing, then all he needs to do is get jumped from behind, and bam - someone else has his gun.
What a lot of people have forgot over time is respect for the gun. It is not a toy, it's not even something to joke around about carrying.
Sometime in the spring we should have a HS NE shoot-n-bbq.