Hmmmm, on the beach?

[Beiruty]

if you think that you need a pistol or rifle at the public beach, maybe a dip in your backyard pool is a better idea. Or, hit your city public pool.

[Jumping Frog]

if you think that you need a pistol or rifle at the public beach,

If I thought I was going someplace that was dangerous enough to need a gun, I wouldn't go there.

I carry a handgun for all the places that I expect to be safe, but I am still prepared for unpleasant contingencies.

[longtooth]

I worked on the beach in galveston for 25 years...umbrellas, chairs, sufrboards and lessons, body boards, jet ski's, banana ride, concession stands...to hear some of you speak you would think you are entering Beirut. Most other people on the beach are there to have a good time just like you. In my 25 consecutive summers I never saw one instance where you would need your gun on the beach (with the exception of Kappa weekend which is not defunct). Strapped up at the beach??? If I were to fall wrong on my surfboard..and the gun discharge...would I be liable?

its not so much the beach but galveston in general is unsafe. that place is full of undersirable freeloaders.kappa weekend?even the locals hide in their houses or leave.

Maybe your oppinion but probably not an accurate discription of the city as a whole & especially as many galvestonians as we have on this board.
LT

[74novaman]

if you think that you need a pistol or rifle at the public beach,

If I thought I was going someplace that was dangerous enough to need a gun, I wouldn't go there.

I carry a handgun for all the places that I expect to be safe, but I am still prepared for unpleasant contingencies.

Exactly.

I didn't know we had so many psychics on the board, who knew when they would and wouldn't need a gun! Congrats on your talent.

For the rest of us, we're safer just choosing to carry 24/7, because we don't know when we might need it.

[Oldgringo]

...If I thought I was going someplace that was dangerous enough to need a gun, I wouldn't go there...

BINGO! Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!

[Beiruty]

For whatever reason, Having your EDC or rifle in trunk of your car, parked just across the beach should be good enough. Otherwise, carry as usual and do not swim. You would the sentry for your swimming party.

No Psychic is needed, but how many beach goers do carry? Isn't supposed to have EMT and lifeguards and local LEO patrol the beach?
If an area feels not safe, bail out and find a safer area.

Enjoy your life!

[Skydivesnake]

I carry an M&P9c in a smartcarry on the beach, under regular swimming shorts (the longish, baggy kind - $14 or so from wallyworld). Very secure and a full range of movement in terms of jumping/running/playing with the kids and being buried in the sand and all that. You can be shirtless, shoeless and be wading in the water and never be 'made'. There is an additional pocket where you can stash your DL, CHL and car key. I have swum with it, because it got wet from a wave anyway, so I thought what the heck. It was a pain to clean the gun afterwards, and took some work with the evapo-rust and eezox to stop the slide and mag from rusting.

I am a smartcarry convert since buying one specifically for this purpose. I still carry IWB 99% of the time but my BUG is in the smartcarry rather than ankle these days. If I really had to carry with absolutely no chance of being made, I'd choose the smartcarry every time.

I like North Padre Island but I do see a lot of dogs off the leash, some aggressive.

[kjolly]

On a kayak fishing board I have been reading about cars being broken into while people are out fishing. seems to becomming a problem to the point people are leaving someone at the cars for guard duty. Prederators can stake out anywhere. Where once you might have been justified in feeling safe recent times things have become more desparate.

[surferdaddy]

Just got back from surfside beach last week. I actually double bagged my stainless .380 and put it in the pocket of some board shorts. I even practiced shoving my finger through the ziplocks so I could rapidly fire the weapon. I know it is likely that the weapon wouldn't cycle, but one round on target is better than none, I figured I would finish the unrap and dispense the rest. Never know what you'll encounter out there. Come shark or thug, I was ready, and no, I'm not kidding.
SD

[surferdaddy]

I sure was glad I decided to not get rid of my 380. For all its diminutive size, my LC9 was NOT going to fit into board shorts.

[NEB]

The "statistically safe" argument doesn't stack up. All of us are statistically safe from a shooting. All of us are statistically safe from a shark bite or lightening strike. Heck, all of us are statistically safe from winning the lottery. However, all of these things happen to people regularly who were just as statistically safe as we are.

I wonder how many millions of people visited Luby's restaurants without incident before 23 people lost their lives to one psycho one afternoon in 1991?

That being said, there are just some times that you have to make a choice about carry. That choice is an individual choice, and each person approaches it differently. If I've had a hard week and want to go out to a restaurant with my wife and have a drink, I have a choice. I can choose to forgo the drink and carry, or I can leave my pistol at home. Same goes for the beach or anywhere else where carrying would be a hindrance to an activity. You either don't do the activity, you find a way to do the activity while carrying, or you don't carry.

[seamusTX]

A person who won't go anywhere he can't legally carry a handgun is going to have a cramped existence. He can't vote, go to any school, professional or interscholastic sports game, or other place off limits under Texas law. He can't go to any post office or federal facility. He can't go to about 1/3 of the states, Washington DC, or any foreign country. He can't go on a cruise.

Ultimately people who think this way find themselves in a rusty trailer in Idaho surrounded by rolls of barbed wire and "no trespassing" signs.

Life is all about choices.

- Jim

[surferdaddy]

Not really understanding why so many say carry 24/7 but when the beach is brought up, why it would be silly to carry in such a place. I moved to Texas from southern cali, and to be honest, the beach there is not exactly a safe place. People are mugged, mauled by dogs, stabbed and shot. Is the beach safer than Compton or Englewood, yup, but take a stroll down Venice beach bout dusk and some of you would be a bit tense. I moved to Texas and now enjoy the freedom to choose to carry everywhere I can. Going to the beach should be a fun and relatively care free experience and being with out a responsibly carried weapon makes me NOT feel carefree. Take your risks as you see fit, I'll prepare for the worst and pray for the best.

[seamusTX]

Not really understanding why so many say carry 24/7 but when the beach is brought up, why it would be silly to carry in such a place.

Who said "silly"?

I have been trying to discuss what is reasonable and practical.

- Jim

[NEB]

It may be a cramped existence (relatively speaking), but many people manage it without living in the stereotyped rusty trailer. I'm not one of those people as I can't carry at work, and I prefer not to leave my firearm locked in my vehicle while at work. However, I carry just about everywhere else I can (which, where I live, is pretty much everywhere). Sure, I have to disarm before going into the post office (which I do maybe once every 3 months). Sure, I had to leave my firearm in my vehicle one time when I attended a reception at a winery (51% posted). I carry with the full realization that I will almost surely never draw the firearm in public, but I don't want to experience the regret of not being prepared if that statistically unlikely event happens to occur where myself or my family is present.

I'm not trying to argue here. Sure, it's not practical to carry some places. However, there's no point in putting those who choose to do so in a trite little box.