Words of wisdom here kids.
The best defense is a good offense.
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- Thread starter jaredoconnor
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The best defense is a good offense.
My hunch is you'll feel differently when the bear's canines are grating on your skull.
downriver79
Steelhead
Your right. I'd probably be messing my pants and squeeling like a little girl. I'm less worried about the bears than the cougars. And in the dark, it more than likely be on me before I could get a gun shouldered or pull a pistol.
downriver79
Steelhead
I've spent a lot of time hunting and carrying a firearm for sport. Shot my first deer at 8 and am 45 now. I've just never been one of those guys who walks around with a sidearm strapped to his belt just because I'm out somewhere where shooting a gun is acceptable. I've encountered rattlers, javelina, bears, and I've yet to find myself in a 'kill or be killed' situation in the woods.
What constitutes a 'bad bear'? I've heard of cougars killing just to kill once they get a taste for blood, but never a black bear. Is that a thing? Serious question.
Yep. I have two young children who have taken several gun and hunter safety courses but cannot be hurt by the guns I don’t have in the house. Nor can someone break in and steal them.
I carried a gun for “personal safety” through some very rough parts of the world for a while, once shot to kill (but only wounded) someone breaking into my apartment, so I’m not anti-gun nor guns-as-personal-defense, but unless I am hunting I have never felt the urge to wander about any part of the US armed. So, my guns have trigger locks, and live in a gun vault in a heated, monitored, and locked storage unit several miles from my house.
Responsible gun ownership and usage is all well and good, as is the ownership of anything else that can harm users and others, but for me the risk of negative consequences far outweighs the dubious benefit of me going about armed with a lethal ranged weapon. I studiously avoid the places where encounters many folks cite as the reason to go about armed are more likely, and if trouble comes a lookin for me…I’m gonna be mighty hard to find.
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The only time in my life I ever carried a firearm on a regular basis was long ago, when I was pretty involved with an NRA affiliated gun club near my home. I worked on fundraisers, and organizing shoots with some of the others, and was exposed to a lot of the kind of talk that makes one believe that there is danger around every corner, every tree.
Even those people could not get me to believe I needed to be afraid of wildlife. I spent a LOT of time in the woods, even encountering a sow with two cubs at one point, which got my heart beating (both of us I believe), and I'm glad I DIDN'T have a gun then. I was bowhunting, backed up slowly, situation was resolved without harming anything.
Carrying a handgun is a pain in the arse. You have to maintain a concealed carry permit. You have a responsibility to keep it from being stolen by the kind of person you believe to be the reason why you are carrying. This means you cannot leave it in your car. Which then means you cannot legally go have a beer, or enter any federal building to take care of business without first taking your trusty handgun home. If you are out in the woods, they are heavy, not necessarily comfortable things to have in a holster, and since we are talking to fishermen, you ought to try swimming with an equivalent hunk of steel strapped to you, it will make a difference, guaranteed.
I'll take my chances. I'm completely at peace in the woods, regarding the wildlife, if there are tweakers there, I probably would be choosing a different place to be anyway. At my age, shoot most of my life I figured the biggest risk out there by myself was a fall, and I still believe that's what I need to pay attention to. I should get a Spot, or an inreach, but I am kind of cheap.
I don't ever carry anymore. Well, almost never, I still like to shoot for fun. I stay away from those people who talk about the need to be vigilant, "cause you just never know", and I don't think that way any more. I am happy being a sheeple.
Even those people could not get me to believe I needed to be afraid of wildlife. I spent a LOT of time in the woods, even encountering a sow with two cubs at one point, which got my heart beating (both of us I believe), and I'm glad I DIDN'T have a gun then. I was bowhunting, backed up slowly, situation was resolved without harming anything.
Carrying a handgun is a pain in the arse. You have to maintain a concealed carry permit. You have a responsibility to keep it from being stolen by the kind of person you believe to be the reason why you are carrying. This means you cannot leave it in your car. Which then means you cannot legally go have a beer, or enter any federal building to take care of business without first taking your trusty handgun home. If you are out in the woods, they are heavy, not necessarily comfortable things to have in a holster, and since we are talking to fishermen, you ought to try swimming with an equivalent hunk of steel strapped to you, it will make a difference, guaranteed.
I'll take my chances. I'm completely at peace in the woods, regarding the wildlife, if there are tweakers there, I probably would be choosing a different place to be anyway. At my age, shoot most of my life I figured the biggest risk out there by myself was a fall, and I still believe that's what I need to pay attention to. I should get a Spot, or an inreach, but I am kind of cheap.
I don't ever carry anymore. Well, almost never, I still like to shoot for fun. I stay away from those people who talk about the need to be vigilant, "cause you just never know", and I don't think that way any more. I am happy being a sheeple.
Sorry you were forced to shoot someone.
Carring a gun doesn't mean you have to use it. In the woods or anywhere for that matter.
Remember we were talking about a 72 year old man in the outdoors.
That being that......
There's a reason bad people/cowards choose soft targets.
Good luck, stay safe, and make your own choice.
Carring a gun doesn't mean you have to use it. In the woods or anywhere for that matter.
Remember we were talking about a 72 year old man in the outdoors.
That being that......
There's a reason bad people/cowards choose soft targets.
Good luck, stay safe, and make your own choice.
Or caused additional ones.
I am having a hard time seeing it being a great thing to have 3am New Year partiers on a crowded French Quarter street start opening fire at a moving target. Or having a bunch of those people running around strapped. They are out there partying their asses off.
If they were carrying, how many of them would have the skills to make an impact? Or recognize what is going on in time? Jason Bourne does not exist. More likely the mix of alcohol and firearms would lead to more heartache. Anecdotally from my experience, half the gun owners don't even know how to handle them safely under no duress.
^^^^^^
Hesitation - the big unknown for those choosing a firearm for self-defense as far as a human threat. In a two legged life threatening situation where a firearm would be warranted, you hesitate you most likely die, not even mentioning legal consequences. Law enforcement goes thru extensive training in how to use lethal force, even so we're talking a split second response which is irreversible and mistakes can be made. In the military I had no problem dealing with hostile threats which were many, knowing it was part of the job and there would be no BS to deal with. Five decades plus years later I do not feel confident in making these kinds of split second short-fused decisions and not willing to spend time in a courtroom. My choice IN the house is still a firearm but on the outside pepper spray is my friend.
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Pretty offensive - The guy sped past police and around barriers, police with guns were not able to stop him. A heavy police presence beyond the barriers was not able to stop him.
Open/concealed carry is legal in New Orleans. No one while trying to dive out of the way, or push a loved one out of the way of this speeding vehicle was going to be able to pull a properly holstered weapon and stop him. Police were not able to kill the guy until after he crashed the vehicle.
Makes me think you really don't know what you're talking about, but just full of hot air and bullshit bravado.
Well, let's get unREAL. On TV one good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy in a truck. But only after racking the slide action and ejecting the round that was already chambered. I've seen it many times with my own two eyes.