Why I Carry a Gun Every Day(John Lisbeth) I carry a gun every day, and here’s why:
First, life is unpredictable. Second, all decisions that affect my life and the lives of the people I care about aren’t made by me.
No one wakes up in the morning and thinks, “I’m going to be attacked or mugged or carjacked today”. We don’t have the ability to predict things like that. We don’t get to make those decisions. If I’m ever attacked, it’ll be because someone else has made a series of decisions that led to that attack and I can’t control any of those decisions. I can make myself less of a target by avoiding dangerous areas and maintaining situational awareness, but in the end, it’s the attacker who decides what he or she is going to do. And when the attack comes, it’s going to be up to me to either allow me and my loved ones to become victims and possibly be seriously injured or killed, or to defend us.
Violent criminals don’t care about you or me or anyone except themselves. They want what you have. If they hurt you while they’re getting what you have, they don’t care. Personally, I consider this attitude to be unacceptable. I refuse to go along with it. If I’m attacked – or worse, if someone I love is attacked – I’m going to resist. As a 142 lb., 75-year-old man, I’m already at a disadvantage. My defensive options are limited and I see no reason to “fight fair” when subject to an unprovoked attack. I don’t feel that I owe my attacker any consideration at all. The attack is going to be his fault and if he’s hurt, that’s on him.

I carry a gun for the same reason I wear a seatbelt when driving. Life is unpredictable. I’ve never been seriously injured in an auto accident, but I might soon encounter another driver who’s drunk or high or psychotic or furious or texting or just noticed that there’s a bee in the car. If that happens, I want to be in a car that’s equipped with airbags and be wearing a seatbelt. If I’m attacked, I want to be armed.

Some say that only the police should be armed, because they’re well trained and civilians don’t have that training. That’s a lie. I’ve been a competitive shooter for over 60 years and, of the many hundreds of excellent shooters I’ve known, only a handful have been cops. I’ve won dozens of local, state, regional, national and international trophies and titles and I’ve never been in law enforcement. I’ve taught lots of people to shoot and shoot well. Not one of them was a cop. Virtually anyone in good health can learn to shoot well enough to put up an effective defense. Virtually anyone, regardless of their health, can learn strategies to de-escalate a tense situation, but (did I mention this?) we don’t get to decide what a violent criminal will do.

Some say that a civilian will panic and shoot wildly, harming the innocent. That’s also a lie. It just doesn’t happen. Studies show that civilians in the USA use guns to stop attacks at least a million times a year. Most of the time, no shots are fired and when they are, innocent people aren’t mowed down; just the bad guys are hit or, most of the time, scared off.

Life is already too short. I believe it would be a waste to allow myself or some innocent person to be maimed or killed because I wasn’t willing to take the time and put out the effort to be ready to stop a violent attacker. Think how much a person misses when their life is cut short by violence. Think how much they miss when they’re crippled or disabled. That’s not going to happen if I can prevent it.

Self defense is a right that all people have, but that right is meaningless if they don’t have the necessary tools. A gun in the safe at home is worthless. I choose to carry my gun with me, every day.

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