Why People Don’t Carry Guns
Rob PincusThere are a lot of reasons why people don’t carry guns, including legal, moral, and competence-related excuses. Rob Pincus addresses the three most common excuses he hears, all of which can easily be overcome.
Already Carrying? Don’t Tune Out!
If you do carry a gun, keep watching this video! Listen to these concepts so you can understand how to refute these excuses when you hear them. Also consider sharing this video with someone you care about who does not carry a gun but you think would be well-served by being trained and prepared to arm themselves for self-defense.
Lack of Confidence
Some people say they don’t carry a gun because they don’t think they have the ability to defend themselves with a gun in a public space. If you don’t have the skills, the answer is simple: get them. Find a qualified trainer and range, get some handgun training, and then practice. It’s possible to do this at very reasonable cost.
Fear of Responsibility
Some people are afraid of having a gun in a public space or even in their home. Keep in mind that your biggest responsibility is defending yourself and your loved ones. Being a responsible firearms owner who is well trained and takes that responsibility seriously is only going to make you safer in a worst-case scenario.
Convenience
Yes, concealed carry of a firearm can be inconvenient. People have changed their lifestyle in order to accommodate concealed carry, including how they dress and where they go. But that level of commitment is not necessary in order to carry a firearm. And the reality is, once you get used to carrying, it really isn’t inconvenient. Getting used to carrying a gun, making it comfortable and convenient, is part of the personal-defense lifestyle.
Share this video with someone you care about!
Why don't people carry guns? Well, obviously there's a lot of reasons why people don't carry guns. Some of them are illegal. Some of them are moral. Some of them really just have a lot to do with confidence and those are the three I want to talk about.
Three biggest excuses that I think we can easily overcome for people who aren't carrying guns. Now, if you carry a gun, don't tune out. What I want you to do is listen to these discussions, listen to these concepts and understand how we can refute them, how we can explain to people to overcome these excuses and maybe thinking about sharing this video with someone you care about, that you think would be well-served by being trained and prepared to be armed for their own defense. The first thing that I hear people talk about when they're explaining why they don't carry a gun or when they're saying they might, but they're not sure they're ready, is very simply a doubt in their ability to use a gun well enough to defend themselves or others in a public space. This doubt about their skill is probably very rational and very reasonable.
In fact, I think it's a healthy attitude towards carrying a gun for the first time or considering whether or not you should carry a gun you own in the public space. We all know that it's very easy to get a concealed carry permit in almost the entire United States. Most states have what we call, shall issue laws and some states even have rules in place where you can carry a gun without any formal training and in some states even go as far as to not require a permit. If you legally own the gun, you can legally carry it. So it makes sense that people may think that they're not ready, even though they legally can carry a gun or they very easily could.
They haven't trained. They haven't practiced. They haven't developed the skill. Well, obviously that's just about finding a good instructor, a good range to train at and putting in the time and effort. Now, that doesn't have to be thousands and thousands of rounds over the course of many years.
It also doesn't have to cost thousands and thousands of dollars. You can get reasonable training in almost every part of the United States for a reasonable amount of money. We're talking about a few hundred dollars, after you purchase your gun. You can pay for classes on a one day basis. Two, maybe three days.
You can train once a month. You can train once in the spring and then practice during the summer and go back for refresher advanced training in the fall. This can be something that's done over the course of months for a few hundred dollars investment in the tuition and a few hundred dollars investment in the ammunition for the classes. Now, of course, maintaining those skills and continuing to develop them over time is something you're going to have to do consistently. We always talk about front-loading your practice, which means you're going to have to practice more in the beginning of your skill development than you will for the rest of your life.
At some point, you'll establish a level of training that you're comfortable with, a level of skill ability that you're comfortable with and you'll only need to maintain that skill. So the first one. Doubting your own skill. Easily overcome with a minimal investment of time, some money and some effort. The next thing I hear people talk about, is the responsibility.
They don't want to take on the responsibility, either of their own defense. They don't want to take on the responsibility of having a gun in the public space or some people are concerned about having the gun in their home. Introducing the gun at all. Owning the gun. Maybe there's kids around.
Maybe they share the house with someone else. Maybe they're just worried about someone breaking in and taking the gun and doing something violent with it. Well, remember, your biggest responsibility is to protect yourself. Your next responsibility that you feel is, really important, is probably protecting those you care about. Your family, your friends.
Maybe your co-workers. Maybe your kids. Maybe your spouse. Your partner. Think about that responsibility and how important that is.
You're talking about a variable of multiple levels of failure, multiple levels of bad luck, multiple levels of negligence that would have to occur for your gun that you are owning responsibly, that you train with and that you take seriously as a firearms owner. Getting into the wrong hands or having something horrible and tragic happened with it. The responsibility you have to yourself, I feel, is much more important. Having the firearm in your home doesn't put you in more danger. Having a firearm and being careless, maybe.
Having a firearm and being reckless, almost surely will put you in more danger. But being a responsible firearms owner that's well-trained and that takes that responsibility seriously, is only going to put you in a position to be safer in a worst case scenario. Think about that, before you worry about what could happen with a gun. Think about what could happen without the gun. The last thing we're going to talk about is convenience.
Now, those of us who carry guns regularly, those of us who are in the firearms community might scoff at this excuse. This idea that someone's going to not carry a gun, because it's not convenient. Well, let me assure you. I definitely understand that, as a real and plausible excuse for people that haven't acclimated themselves to the idea of having a gun on them. Now, the reality is, it can be very inconvenient.
I know people inside of the firearms community who changed their lifestyle dramatically. Who changed the way they dress, who changed they're habits they have, the places they go, in order to carry a firearm as often as possible or to carry a specific type of firearm. But that kind of commitment isn't necessary to have the training, to have the ability and to have the choice to carry a firearm. Now think about it. One of the things I always tell people is, if you find yourself in a situation, because of a domestic violence issue, because of a crime in your community issue, because of a workplace violence issue.
Where you decide, tomorrow you want the option of carrying a gun. You want to go get the training. You want to buy the firearm. You want to get the holster. You want to be able to carry that gun in the public space.
Well, tomorrow is too late to start that process. If tomorrow is when you realize you need that convenience of being able to carry the gun. So do that stuff today, take the opportunity to go out and get the training, get the concealed carry permit, get all the tools that you're going to need. So that the day that you decide that you are going to carry the gun, that you're going to go through those steps. That you're not going to go to the bank that day, that you're not going to drink alcohol that day, that you might change the way you dress a little bit.
You're prepared. But the reality is, once you get used to carrying a gun, there really isn't much of an issue of convenience at all. In fact, even with this relatively tight fitting, kind of athletic fit T-shirt and a pair of jeans, I'm carrying my everyday firearm right here, right now. I'm very comfortable carrying this firearm. It's relatively convenient.
And if I need to take the firearm off, this holster makes it relatively easy. I simply undo this clip. I take the entire holster off. I'm going to put this in a lock box. I'm going to put this somewhere secure, maybe I'm going to unload it and put it away in storage.
It's very convenient for me to do whatever I needed to do, without the gun on Or go wherever I needed to go, where I can't legally carry a gun or I simply choose not to. Thinking about how you're going to carry the gun and thinking about when and where you're going to carry the gun, is part of responsible firearms ownership. Obviously it's very easy to get this clip back in place. I'm going to go ahead and snap that back down, behind the belt, tuck my shirt back over it. And you can see that once again, it's very convenient for me to carry this gun and go about my business.
Getting used to carrying a gun, making it comfortable, making it convenient, is part of the personal defense lifestyle when it comes to armed personal defense. Again, if you're someone who already carries a gun, think about these explanations. Think about these arguments. Don't dismiss these excuses as ones that don't apply or ones that are silly. They're not silly to the people that hold them.
They're not silly to the people that may genuinely be interested in being able to protect themselves, but don't exactly know how or think that there are significant obstacles in their way. Share this video with somebody you care about and if you're the person that's been sitting on the fence, I hope that these concepts, these ideas around these very common and very plausible excuses for not carrying a gun, help you understand why it's something you should definitely, seriously consider and not let simple obstacles stand in your way.
Your presentation and points are correct. Hopefully you have succeeded in getting people to think whether their reasons for not carrying are legitimate or not. I live in one of the 41 states that have either open carry or shall issue, and I carry to protect myself or family. I cannot legally carry a firearm at my employment, so I carry a knife, which is allowed by my employer and my state. I would not live in a state where one had to keep a gun locked up or only be able to get a concealed carry if one is politically connected or carries money. The head in the sand, cross your fingers and hope no one pulls a lethal weapon on me is not my approach. While I certainly hope some one does not try and kill me or my family, there were over 15,000 homicides in 2016. So I carry.
This excellent video starts and ends with Rob telling us "Share this video with someone you care about!" which would be a wonderful idea -- except that PDN goes out of their way to make it difficult to do that. Yes we could share a link to this website, which would work for a while -- perhaps a week, maybe a little longer, but probably not much longer. What we cannot do is download the video to watch later or to show to a family member or friend later. I understand why PDN feels a need to protect the 'premium' videos so that people have to pay to see those videos, but the "free" videos are already basically advertisements for PDN, so why prevent people from sharing them. Perhaps PDN could add a few more seconds at the beginning and end of the 'free' videos to highlight the website to make them better advertisements and let us download them so we really can share these 'free' videos.
The option to conceal carry for guys is much easier than it is for women. I did for some time conceal carry in a purse but that's not always the most accessible place to carry it or the safest. Plus it necessitated keeping a watchful eye on the purse every minute. Not being a skinny person, many of the on-body conceal carry alternatives available for women are not an option either. So, while I would like to every-day carry, it most often is not practical.
Though it may sound callous to some, I really don't care about others reasons for or against concealed carry. I view it as none of my business, and I view my business as none of theirs.
A majority of Californians have no legal path to carry either concealed or open, and with SCOTUS passing on Peruta that won't change anytime soon.
I live in New England, and am surrounded by states that have no reciprocity. I travel accross state lines often. Also, MA has such vague “gun free zones” that its often difficult to tell for sure. I have taken a course on the laws here for gun owners. It cleared up many questions but I am still confused, as are many law abiding gun owners in this state. To make it even more difficult, my employer, and facilities I work in, prohibit carry. I do train, and carry when possible on personal time, but feel that law abiding, well meaning people are the ones getting screwed by these stupid policies.
We all know it's very easy to get a concealed carry permit in ALMOST the entire United States." Why don't I carry a gun? Well, I do sometimes. Most of the time though, I'm in my home state of NJ. Yeah, theoretically we have a carry permit process. There have only been about 1,600 ever issued. 'nuff said.
Actually, if you could address these post-defense-use legal issues in one of your next videos, it would be very helpful and educational!... Thanks.
My main worry about defensive use is what happens after: all those law suits (even if cleared in the criminal court, you can still get sued through the roof in the civil court and, possibly, continue paying the perp's family). Life will never be the same... Most likely worse. However, if I were married, with kids, it would probably change my thinking because defending them would certainly take precedence.
So, why do I not carry a gun on a daily basis? 1. I'm not allowed to bring a gun to my office or the entire premises of my employer, this includes the parking area. Sure I can leave the gun in the car and tell nobody but this only works as long as nobody checks my car. According to my work contract my employer can do check my car in special cases. Risking employment in today's world? Not really. 2. Going home after work to get the gun to go grocery shopping while I can do this on my way home? I do it on my way home. 3. Carrying a gun when going out at night? In my state guns are not allowed in areas where alcohol is served whether you have one or not. So no gun there either, not to mention movie theaters like AMC. I realized that edc works only for people who are self employed and live in a state where you can carry almost everywhere, for the majority of the employees it doesn't, unfortunately. While I lived in CO I kept my gun in my car's lock box in a IWB holster. I was able to leave the gun in the car while in the office and had the gun available as soon as I left work. This was indeed very convenient.