johnson0317 wrote:Thanks for all of the replies...but you guys are kind of giving the first half of the truth. Is there anyone out there with a page two, so to speak? I think all of your replies thus far have been very valid, so don't get me wrong. Can anyone dig really deep and get at the inner man/woman? I guess it is asking for a lot. I can't see anyone saying they do it cause it makes them feel like an international spy...even I would think you need your head checked...but does anyone else just get a kick out of the fact that the State of Texas thinks highly enough of us to say we can carry a deadly weapon on our persons, and they trust us to be good souls about it? Doesn't it make you feel special in a warm and fuzzy way?
I guess it is a little hard to get at the intent and exact content of the question...but, please, do not hesitate to answer!
RJ
I'll be honest and truthful. None of that type of thinking crossed my mind.
Even after I applied for my CHL, I didn't plan on carrying it much. I got it because we use our RV a fair amount and I became concerned about just having that shotgun that we've always had with us. Then I found this forum and it was an eye opening experience.
1. Reading the stories has given me a new appreciation for how often and how quickly things can go wrong
2. Reading the threads has given me a new appreciation for carrying in light of the 2nd Amendment. I've always been a believer in the Constitution as something other than flexible starting point for government to do whatever it wants. I now see exercising my rights under the Bill of Rights as important, too.
3. I have a preventive mentality. I'm the maintenance nut who changes tires and belts on vehicles every 5 years whether I need them or not. I installed a burglar alarm before ever being robbed. I just spent money and a Saturday to take a first aid class that focused on trama situations - yet I've never run into one of those in the past. I carry tools in my trunk for the times when I'll need them. I'm now carrying a tool on my hip in case I need that. I have some what many would deem esoteric tools (and IR thermometer among them). I don't use them a lot but when I need them, they are the only thing that will work for that situation. My CC is no different.
I believe that government, at all levels, is more of an intrusion in my life that it should be. I do not seek validation from government. While I'm glad that the State of Texas agreed to issue me a CHL, they issue many things like my vehicle inspections under some very questionable circumstances (that I'm not going into here.) I believe that many of the programs that governments run have lost all sense of the reason that those programs exist. The recent campus carry fiasco underscores why I feel that way. The CHL program requirements are a checklist. If I get to the end of it with no Xs, I get my plastic.
To me, my CHL has no bearing on whether the State thinks I a good guy or not. I frankly don't care. If I am a good guy, it is because I try to live by a moral compass that is explained to me by my faith. I had to do some long, hard soul searching and praying before I could proceed with requesting a CHL. It was, for me, much more of an intense moral exercise than my original decision to carry the shotgun in our RV was, though it shouldn't have been.
Since getting my CHL, I've come to think yet a different way. I'm very aware of many of the pitfalls of things like failing to de-escalate a situation. I practice with my gun and think through scenarios about what I might do if bad things happen as I go through my daily activities. The gravity of the possibility of having to use my gun and all of the laws and restrictions that I have to be aware of to keep from going to jail even if I don't use it pushes out any thought that I might have about getting a kick out of carrying. I will freely admit that I'm going to have an enormous smile on my face the next time I have to listen to an anti gun rant while I'm carrying. But that has nothing to do with a warm, fuzzy feeling about Texas not restricting me from exercising my Constitutional right to have a firearm to protect myself.
I think we all probably have part one's and part two's on our life, but they differ from person to person. I do believe there are some people out there that see the right to carry a gun as simply a means to an end. It is a tool, much like the knife they may carry. They don't read anything into it, and they do not romanticize it. Some people, like me, romanticize a bit, but not to an extent where it makes me wonder about maturity levels, or IQ. Some people may have a more colorful part two than they would like to admit, but that is between them and themself.
RJ