I have a ccw, however I don't carry on my physical person except in what I consider very dangerous situations, which I go out of my way to avoid. I think it's a pain in the ass. That said, I do occasionally have to load or unload my music equipment in bad neighborhoods, and often at night in various cities. I, like another poster, have a bottle of pepper spray next to a .380 in the back of my suv, but only when I'm in bad parts of town, which, as indicated, my work sometimes requires. Otherwise, I don't have them in the back of my truck. If approached (this has happened twice, once in daylight, once at night) while loading gear, I would chose the pepper spray over the gun, unless a gun has been demonstrated or is being drawn. In both cases, neither weapon was needed. I'm in pretty good shape, which can actually be a deterrent...Don't EVER show fear, and always maintain situational awareness. I do keep a small semi in my glove box most times, in case I break down in a bad place. Here is my point. I understand those who wish to be armed full time, especially in this day and age, and even more so in bigger cities where crime is rampant. I only hope those that feel that way and carry full time are TRAINED. That's a huge issue with me. If you want to carry, you better be able to hit your target, and not the innocent people nearby. And be responsible at home if you have kids. Ultimately, and if you want my advice, I essentially avoid areas where I would need to carry on my person, especially at night because I just don't get a rush from being armed. I experienced many incidents of violence in my teens and early 20's (and a few credible death threats in my late 20's) that made me very pro gun, but I view weapons as nothing more than tools. And to be honest with you, if a person pulls a gun on me and he's in front of my car, what do you think I'd do? Pull my piece from the glove box, or stomp the gas pedal?
Ask Mexico how their gun control programs are working. No one is challenging bad guys here. Given the chance I will always first try to avoid the threat instead of engaging. My number one priority is to provide for and protect my family. My last resort is to pull my gun and I hope I never have to use it but knowing I can allows me to sleep better at night. You carry all the time because you never know when shit might go down. If you've ever encountered a person strung out on drugs, you never know how they may react towards you. I'm not a fan of open carry, if a thug sees you carrying there is a good chance you might get shot from behind. Also I think it could lead to issues of being disarmed and having your own gun used against you since the element of surprise is no longer in the equation.
Enough Americans are understanding the "problem" now? Would you like to discuss recent polling data that basically describes how clueless you are? You should better spend your time and energy on snooping out which ET member is posting supposed racial commentary so you can do your best to get them banned. You're not really good for much else.
I know you guys who aren't familiar or trained with firearms have this image of "showdown at the O.K. corral" when gun fights happen - ie, I pull out my pistol, walk ten paces and wait for the whistle while my opponent does the same, then we come out guns blazin'. It just doesn't happen that way, Surf. 95% of all gun fights occur within 10-15 feet, and are over in 4 seconds. There's no "I pull out my gun and then the bad guys decide to pull out theirs." There certainly is no "bad guys might not bother you if you didn't pull out your gun" shit. No sane CCW holder goes around flashing a piece and yelling "yeah, bad guy! You wanna piece of me??" Are you folks for real?
I'm not smarting from anything, he-of-many-names-and-none. But it's worthwhile to point out a useless poster when one sees one, and NE is a useless poster. Fear not, though, you're not far away to the point when it might be time for a fifth account here at ET to mask over the previous four failures. Or would that be five? Christ, I've lost count how many times you've tried to re-brand yourself.
The deterrent factor is the big thing. Where I live guns are very much encouraged and people are very much polite. Some of the cops can be incredible assholes for some reason, not sure what's going on with them.