Concealed carry or not, your shit is all fucked up if you find yourself in a situation where you wish you were armed. But if you are armed, you might not also die.
Stat is old, from 2018. Pre-pandemic. Pre-George Floyd.
"“In the 2018 multigenerational study, respondents were asked to finish this open-ended statement: “People legally carrying concealed guns makes me feel …” Overall, 57 percent of non-gun owners said “less safe,” while another 27 percent said “no impact.” Meanwhile, 28 percent of gun owners specifically said they felt “less safe,” on top another 27 percent who said they felt “no impact.” That meant, the researchers noted, that despite the prominence of concealed carry, a majority of gun owners “still don’t feel safer.””
I can say, as a concealed carry permit holder, yeah, I feel safer. But then, my city has been under seige and the cops not only do nothing, they actively work with the people beseiging the city:
https://theintercept.com/2021/08/23/portland-police-proud-boys-protest/
As for the new legislation being discussed, the “forced reciprocity”, not necessarily an awful idea.
For example:
Oregon and Washington share a border, but a concealed carry permit in one is not valid in the other. There is no reciprocity between Oregon and Washington.
So it’s on me, as a responsible gun owner, to plan ahead. “Am I going to Vancouver, WA today?” If I happen to be carrying, I need to be mindful that I do not cross the river into Vancouver.
I COULD contact the Clark County sheriff and get a WA permit, but to be honest, I don’t go to Vancouver often enough to merit that.
Where it gets squishy is states like Idaho which have no restrictions. “Are you 18? Can you legally own a gun?” that’s pretty much it for concealed carry.
So under the new federal legislation, if it’s legal for you in your home state, it’s legal for you in ALL states. But home states that don’t require registration are going to cause problems in states that do.
I have no idea how your concealed carry is supposed to actually make you safer.
If it’s concealed, a potential assailant isn’t going to be stopped because they don’t know you’re carrying.
And if they find out you have a gun they might just kill you the moment they’re aware of it.
Concealed carry makes you safer because you have a weapon for when the situation is out of hand and you have no other options. A concealed gun is not a threat or deterrent.
You deescalate, you disengage, you do everything you can to avoid the conflict. If those fail and you remain in danger, you shoot them.
If the attacker knows you have the gun, that will escalate things. Which is why you want to make sure they only learn about your gun after you already shot them, justifiably in self defense.
You deescalate, you disengage, you do everything you can to avoid the conflict. If those fail and you remain in danger, you try to grab your gun. The gun isn’t already in your hands, it’s concealed somewhere that isn’t visible and that means you have to make a move for your gun.
That move might be what gets you killed.
Concealed firearms are carried in a way that is quick to access. The can be drawn in seconds. If an attacker could kill you in the very short time it would take you to access your firearm, it would probably be a bad idea to draw it in that moment.
If you chose not to draw a concealed firearm, the you look like you’re unarmed. The alternative is being actually unarmed, which would leave you in the exact same danger, but with less options. Use the weapon when it is to your advantage, keep it concealed when it isn’t.
