Read up on it. The Sullivan act (New York State, one of the first gun laws) was a way to limit immigrants from getting guns. It was not intended to prevent good, law abiding, White People, from getting guns. It was to prevent "criminals" from getting guns.

Yep. It worked (and still is working) great :rolleyes:

i wouldnt say im a cowboy despite being able to ride english and western saddles, and knowing which end to place a bit.

right now i am armed. 4 steps and my hand is on a .45 w/a clear pipe. if i go in my bank to make deposit or legal w/drawl, i will be armed. no ifs ands or buts. w/two robberies now in less than a year, it appears that word has gotten around its easy pickings here. this isnt about playing gung-ho rambo. its about protecting oneself or your family if they are w/you in public.

the bad guy in utah, as well as others in recent and past history, were random. no one knew their intentions until too late. with an armed populace it has been proven that ccw permits lend themselves to lower crime rates. florida is a prime example. arizona on the other hand has illegal problems, massive influx of people moving here, and throw drugs on top of things. its not disneyland utopia as it was when i was a kid.

you cant swing a dead cat here w/out hearing about a body or bodies found, shootings etc. being the 5th largest city(phx.) hasnt exactly become better. to be quite honest, it never will be the sleepy one horse town ever again. but with any populace 1800's or 2007 you have people that have mental problems. to stop them from having firearms is a difficult feat if not impossible. twists and turns of life as well as drugs and booze often times send people over the edge. availibility of firearms on black market is at an unheard rate. good guy has gun stolen in burglary, now its the bad guys to use however.

as mentioned in another ccw post, the only ccw involved shooting that i have heard of so far since the laws inception here, was the guy who took out the threat at a blockbuster video store, when WOMAN brandished gun at cashiers head. the rocket scientist of a woman is needless to say no longer here w/us! average joe/average day/average blockbuster. what can i say ? it happens all over.

be prepared!

carrying a gun is no big deal until you need it. and it all comes down to split second circumstances in your favor or against your favor. none of us know when that moment is. hopefully NEVER! but wouldnt you rather have a spare fuel filter for your p-car in the middle of death valley on a nice hot summer july day............then NOT HAVE ONE! when your old one quits??? same with a firearm.

our training here in az. goes over different circumstances. what if your in bank? what if your in mall? what if your in parking lot? its not like their letting loose a bunch of wanna-be cops or vigilantes. on the other side of background checks and military training who would have thought a NASA astronaut would go off the deep end????

all i can say is ............if i hear a gunshot.........i'm finding COVER, NUMERO UNO! next pulling weapon and identifying threat(if there is one), making SURE OF THREAT, CONFIRMING THREAT and BACKGROUND, then placing sights on threat. then EMPTYING CLIP ON THREAT UNTIL THREAT GONE! exactly as we are TRAINED TO DO!

everyones reactions are different, circumstances different, proximity to bad guy etc. we are trained to get out of the situation WITHOUT FIRING IF POSSIBLE, but if NOT POSSIBLE, to expediently eliminate threat!

oh yeah todays news...........@ la quinta inn hotel 24th ave and mcdowell, 4 hispanic males observed with body armour on. carrying duffle bags. unarmed hotel security calls 911. cops evacuate surrounding rooms. SWAT TEAM arrests bad guys. bad guys LOS ILLEGALS. bad guys have dope. HOWD YOU LIKE TO BE SALESMAN ON ROAD AND THAT HAPPEN?????? or with your family going to cardinals/suns/fiesta bowl games?????

better safe than sorry!

I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

man one thing you DO LEARN IN CCW CLASS. is HOW TO AVOID BAD AREAS! but bad becomes anywhere no matter the zip code sometimes!

No offense on the"cowboy" statement. Like I said, it's a good thing!

Your above words are about the only thing you've said that I disagree with, and once I explain, you'll understand.

As I said, I grew up with guns. I carried guns. I've been shot at, attacked, and threatened, all while carrying, but I have never unholstered my gun. I've always relied on my wits or reaction time to get me out of a bad situation. So far it has served me well. Lately, I haven't carried because I steer way clear of danger. Avoidance and preplanning will keep you alive a lot longer than any gun will. But, I was still too comfortable with guns. So comfortable in fact that I accidentally tried getting a loaded pistol through the TSA screens on my way to Canada of all places. I say accidentally because I had it stored in a bag I never use in a closet. Well, I used the bag and forgot the pistol was in a hidden compartment. Needless to say, I didn't get very far. I will say that the TSA and the sheriffs were very professional. Even my rectum has returned to it's original size due to their gentle touch.;) Actually, we all got along very well after they saw I had a clean record, etc. and heard my story. They even tried to make me feel better by telling me that they get a few a month. We live in a gun culture and it happens. One woman even had a grenade in her carry on! Everything was thrown out, but the lesson remains. Also, I had to mail TSA a check for $1500. No arguement that I deserved that fine and more.

My point-Carrying a gun IS a big deal. I grew complacent and I f*cked up huge. It could have been waaaay worse. I realized then and there that despite my familiarity and proficiency with firearms, I was no longer qualified to have them. I now have only a shotgun and a rifle. Neither of which will likely go forgotten.

hey no offense taken. dont feel bad about TSA. my boss got nailed at sky harbor. forgot about walther in brief case. plain forgot about it. thats all, just like you. mistakes do happen.

if your not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about. i choose to live my life, within the law. learned my lesson at 18 on dirtbikes.........not fun! and that was just traffic.

i have to admit it is a huge PITA to carry. but growing up here, i have seen things change for the worse. i do my damnest to avoid crap. but on other side of coin, we here in arizona are dealing w/a very violent/wealthy/illegal drug/illegal guns/illegal people problem that is not on the same scale as other states. being close to the border, and having the drug trade change from pot-to coke -to now the big 2 meth and heroin due to size limitations on the first 2, has brought some very bad people here. and the courts as well as the cops are overwhelmed.

funny how washington says the border is sealed and everyday you hear of some ungodly amount of coke meth heroin picked off by ICE, stashed somewhere in a vehicle. amounts that are staggering to the mind. big bucks = lots of guns. and the violence comes with it.

Given the way people handle their cars, the thought of the general public carrying concealed weapons is a frightening one.

Yes, but it's far more difficult to get a CCW than a driver's license. And unlike driving dangerously, misusing a gun is pretty well prosecuted.

If CCW were to become more widespread, I'm sure there would be a push (NRA?) to lower standards and speed up the process.

The NRA has zero interest in unqualified people carrying guns. Mishaps give people like me a bad rap. Furthermore, every CCW course is taught by an NRA-certified instructor. So the NRA has plenty of reasons to want folks to be qualified.