"Lena B Katz" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> On Thu, 10 Mar 2005, Doug Kanter wrote:
>
>> "Lena B Katz" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>>>> preventitive medicine, with none of the bad consequences of carrying a
>>>>> concealed weapon.
>>>>>
>>>>> lena
>>>>
>>>> What bad consequences? If you have 50 acquaintances, I'll bet 20 carry
>>>> concealed, legally, and you have no awareness of it.
>>>
>>> You're assuming an awful lot. You're assuming that the proportion of
>>> people you know have guns is similar to the proportion of people I know
>>> that have guns.
>>
>> Neither of us has any idea who's carrying a gun. My number was based
>> purely
>> on pistol permit stats for NY, not counting NY City & Long Island, whose
>> rules are totally different than upstate.
>
> Are you assuming an equal distributions of guns? i.e. one gun per
> household? Or was that actually from the stats you got? (where, btw, did
> you get the stats?)
>

Each permit represents one person, not one gun. The number of permits does
not tell you how many guns exist. The stat came from an interview with our
county sherrif a couple of years ago. I'm sure you could find the numbers
online if you wanted. I believe the NY State Police have the info at their
web site, although I could be wrong. It's public info, though.



>>> There are bad consequences associated with carrying a loaded gun... not
>>> the least of which is the safety factor.
>>
>> Gee....ya think? Maybe this is why there are pistol safety classes, and
>> gun
>> shop staff who (based on my experience) are fanatical about helping
>> people
>> choose holsters which contribute to safety. (I don't suppose you are
>> aware
>> of any specifics in that regard).
>
> Well, I could say "you'll shoot your eye out"... ;-)
>

Zzzzzzzzzz.........



>>> Another factor is having the gun be used against you (whether you had
>>> it
>>> on your person at the time or not).
>>
>> Wow. Maybe this is why many states require that the gun be concealed, and
>> why cops will get all over your case if you don't conceal effectively.
>
> Do you have a concealed weapon permit? If so, do you have it on you at
> all times, when it is out of the house? (aka no taking it off for
> work/gym/swimming/etc.).

All NY permits require concealed carry, and that's what I have. I got it
originally because I do a lot of fishing, alone in remote areas, and ferile
dogs are a real problem in places like the Adirondacks. I carry if I'm
running erands at night, and a few other selective times, the details of
which I will not go into. At home, it's locked up very securely, but I can
have it out in under 10 seconds, even if I can't find my glasses in the
dark. Its best friend is a small tactical flashlight designed to blind an
intruder so he has a moment to consider whether he wants to continue with
his plans, or high tail it out the door. Why give him this choice? The cops
do not clean up the mess for you, and I have better things to do.


>>> If I don't know that they're carrying a gun, they're probably not doing
>>> it
>>> right. People who carry guns should be trained on how to react to
>>> gunshots (or fireworks, or cars backfiring, which sound similar to the
>>> amygdala). I know people who hit the floor, and reach for a gun,
>>> whenever
>>> they hear gunshots.
>>
>> Let me get this straight: If they "doing it right", according to your
>> definition, they should be drawing the gun any time they hear a loud
>> noise
>> which resembles a gunshot??? To me, that sounds totally irresponsible.
>
> If you're in a potential combat situation, you should respond accordingly.
> If you heard something that you identified as a threat, I'd assume that
> you would react the same way.
>
> Not reacting to a gunshot as a threat means that you don't have enough
> awareness of the situation around you (or possibly that you're asleep
> enough on your feet to not treat a possibly life-threatening hazard
> seriously).

Right. What this means is that if you're not sure it's a gunshot or a car
backfiring, you should unbutton your jacket and be ready. If you're sure
it's a gunshot, it could have come from a cop. Do you really want to be
waving a gun at someone who trains more than you do?