Many relying less on police, more on personal protection from concealed weapons

[burf]

It's a sign and sound of the times. Chances are someone you know is packing heat. "Most people are scared of something, they hear a bump in the night, they read a crime report, the Lancaster incident."

snip

To meet that need, Ingram's store offers classes to obtain concealed carry permits. It's a class that is filling up everyday. Numbers obtained from the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office certainly point to that.

snip

Over the last 2 or 3 years, we saw a shift from what was traditionally for us a hunting crowd; 1/3 of your business being handguns to now, it's probably inverted to 2/3 or 3/4 are personal protection and conceal carry," Ingram said.

http://www.wbtv.com/story/16615225/many-relying-less-on-police-more-on-personal-protection-from-concealed-weapons

The trend continues.

[dimbear]

1. There's a nasty increase around here (rural area) of home invasions.

Really bold daylight home invasions, usually against the elderly.

Um.....like me.

That's why I have so many guns around the house.

[burf]

3. We are having similar problems.

One of our local upstanding citizens, who just got out of jail last year (meth cooker/dealer), he and his wife were both busted again this past week. She was wandering around in the snow on a county road with no jacket or shoes. Someone called the sheriff and when they picked her up she told them she had been kidnapped by the Aryan Brotherhood. They went to her residence and found meth.

Two days later, her husband was arrested for possession of meth and a handgun. He was convinced the Aryan Brothers were out to get him. He was screwed outta his gourd when the cops confronted him.

There are people out there who wonder why I am armed. Ever try and deal with someone high on meth? No thanks, never again.

[dimbear]

4. The nearest police station is 25 miles away.

I'm not counting on a timely response.

[Old Codger]

7. Mine is over 50

We have been told outright that we are basically on our own for almost anything that resembles an emergency. If a trooper or sheriff happens to be close by he will get here fairly soon but when minutes count, I count on myself.

[Simo 1939_1940]

10. "Ever try and deal with someone high on meth?"

No thanks is right.

I worked as a drug/alcohol counselor for a brief time before I burned out. This was at a long-term recovery center. We always knew when a hard-core meth addict arrived it would take a minimum of 4-6 months before we even knew what we were dealing with.

[SteveW]

9. This would take some research...

There is definitely a lower crime rate, and I believe this would be reflected in incidents where homicides occur (including home invasion). But it is possible that home invasion is now the means by which thugs break and enter; using as it were "overwhelming force" and greater ability to steal more in a short period of time. Perhaps this is because the criminal element which engages in this type of crime represents an increase in the hardened thug as a percentage of these crimes. In short, fewer crimes by fewer criminals, leaving behind a distilled cesspool that is particularly violent.

A strategy which may have a deterrent effect on these thugs may be to require those in jail to witness/hear the record of home invasions which have "gone bad" (from their point of view), and showing the long, heavy sentences resulting therefrom, in an effort to deter predatory behavior in the future.

[ileus]

2. The golden age of personal protection.,,no better time to be an American.

[TheWraith]

5. Logical, when a lot of states and municipalities are cutting cops.

And the violent crime rate continues to fall.

[S_B_Jackson]

6. Count my sister as one of them

She lives just north of Charlotte in Iradell County. She's always had an irrational fear of firearms (just turned 40), though she never knew anyone close to her who was killed with a gun and she grew up in our home and my Dad owned a Colt 1911, a rifle and a shotgun.

She knew that I had a small collection of pistols and that I enjoyed shooting, and she was OK with my taking her kids to learn to shoot - and that when she visited, a trip to the range by me and the kids was they enjoyed shooting. Other than a few quiet discussions about "why does she feel the way she does?", I've never hassled her about it....though when we go, I do ask if she would like to join us.

You could have knocked me over with a feather a couple of years ago when she called me before her drive into Houston for Thanksgiving weekend if I would be willing to take her to the range. It took a while to get her over her nerves...but after about 50 rounds, she had relaxed and had a big shit-eating grin on her face. (which she quickly lost when a guy in the next lane over from us cut loose (indoors remember) with a 12-guage...I assured her that it was OK, that I found them a little unsettling too...and we called it a day. Now adays when me and the family visit her, or she visits us; a trip to the range is must...she finds that she prefers my Sig P225.

This last Christmas, she asked me if I'd sell it to her and if I would for how much? The answer, of course, was yes. So as things now stand, she needs to talk to the County Sheriff's dept to fill out a permit to purchase a firearm....when she has it in hand, I'll ship the P225 to an FFL who lives nearby and who'll handle the NICS background check and the Form 4473 paperwork.

I've pressed her to please take a basic gun-safety course and she's found a women's only class that's taught by female NRA-certified instructor....she's also decided to get a Concealed Carry Permit (or whatever the hell NC calls them). For her, getting a gun was about overcoming a fear, not a surrender to fear....Welcome to the dark side, sis!

[BiggJawn]

8. More crime, less cops.

The Home Invasion stuff is getting popular around here, we've always had a meth problem, and living in a rural village, LEO response has never been up to the speed they get down in the gated communities in the "big city" to the south, but popular trends, thanks to GOP tax policies, has caused departments to become strapped for cash and unable to respond quickly. My county is 509 square miles w/a population density of 50 people per mile. At any given time there may be 6 Sheriff's Deputies and 2 state Troopers available, and they may be 15 miles away in another part of the county, usually working wrecks on the interstate caused by some dumbass texting. Our Town Marshal is a part-time position.

I do not choose to become a victim.