Found out my neighbor is one of those!

[USA1]

i have always gotten along with my next door neighbor ,friendly guy. the other day we were talking in the front yard and i mentioned that my wife and i just got back from the shooting range. at first he seemed curious "what did you shoot?"he asked.i told him was practicing with a new .45 that i will be carrying when i get my chl. "whats a chl?" i explained its a license to legally carry a gun. he quickly voiced his disapproval,"thats all we need is to have a bunch of yahoos runnin around with guns on their hips ! i dont have any guns in my house" i was shocked with his attitude. i told him that its my right and duty to protect my family and myself. he told me at his last house, someone kicked in the door while he and his wife were at work and took his stuff and if he owned guns they would be in the bad guys hands.
i said "what if they kicked the door in while you or your wife were home?". he said "well , then they wouldnt have broke in if someone was home"....i dont think he gets it ! all i know is that when something happens, he will be the first one knocking on my door ! ill probably let him in because after all, i am one of the good guys!

p.s. i will still wave and be neighborly
he has his oppinions and i have mine.

[45 4 life]

Well you will find some of those around, but it is disturbing when you find them close to home. I have found it very difficult to convert the hard core anti's and judging from his reaction and comments this one is hard core.

Some advice though: I noticed your statement you are waiting for you CHL to arrive, so I am guessing you are somewhat new to the forum. You will read many post here that includes comments about who we let in on our CHL status. Most here state, need to know individuals only. I don't want to tell you what to do but you may consider keeping a low profile. Should gun violence occur in my area I would not want anyone pointing LEO's in my direction as the local gun nut.

Other than that you did anything any of us would do.

Hope the CHL arrives soon. Have fun, and be safe.

[Pete92FS]

i said "what if they kicked the door in while you or your wife were home?". he said "well , then they wouldnt have broke in if someone was home"....

Some people seem to live with their head in the sand - I guess he has never heard of the term "HOME INVASION".

I agree with .45 4life - be careful to who you tell you have a CHL.

[USA1]

Well you will find some of those around, but it is disturbing when you find them close to home. I have found it very difficult to convert the hard core anti's and judging from his reaction and comments this one is hard core.

Some advice though: I noticed your statement you are waiting for you CHL to arrive, so I am guessing you are somewhat new to the forum. You will read many post here that includes comments about who we let in on our CHL status. Most here state, need to know individuals only. I don't want to tell you what to do but you may consider keeping a low profile. Should gun violence occur in my area I would not want anyone pointing LEO's in my direction as the local gun nut.

Other than that you did anything any of us would do.

Hope the CHL arrives soon. Have fun, and be safe.

you have a very good point.after that encounter i realized this is not something to casually discuss, i do have a couple of other neighbors that share my outlook. we get along fine. thanks for the advise

[old farmer]

My two cents, my wife and I got our CHL before Ike. Post Ike, all the neihbors become friends, with most of the people having CHL's. Surprize The few were "one of those" but Midnight without A/C, lights converted the non believers to the darkside.

[LaUser]

It appears that the neighbor has not been around guns. He does not own a gun and does not see a need to own a gun. And he seems be feel safe in his home. There is nothing wrong with that and I have no problem with it.

When someone tries to force their opinions, beliefs, and way of doing things on me, then I have a problem. If the neighbor wants to force his "no guns" attitude on me, I would have a problem.

I never discuss religion, politics, or guns with anyone unless I know they have similar beliefs.

[Fangs]

Something like 1 out of 4 home invasions take place while people are home according to that one guy's blog where he just recorded the 4,000th use of a gun for defensive purposes. Or something like that. I'd post the link but I'm feeling lazy today.

Edit: Guess I wasn't that lazy, http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... 23&t=24315

"1009 of these incidents (out of 4000) were home invasions--where the criminals intentionally broke into a dwelling that they knew was occupied"

[couzin]

...You will read many post here that includes comments about who we let in on our CHL status. Most here state, need to know individuals only. I don't want to tell you what to do but you may consider keeping a low profile...

Ditto - I never discuss going to the range, how many guns are in the house, hunting, nothing - unless you mention your experiences regarding guns and/or hunting at least a couple times and I know you a lot better. I don't need my neighbors or casual acquaintances telling unknown individuals about what is in the house, nor do I want the neighbors/acquintances calling the HOA or local police to tell them about my 'arsenal'. Has happened, you know...

[dewayneward]

I wish someone had told me early on about the "dont tell people about guns/CHL status". I kinda regret telling certain people. I am passionate about my 2A rights and I think that "everyone" should be armed. Unfortunately, I let my enthusiasm get the better of me and told a lot of family and friends about my carry status. THANKFULLY, I have only had a handful of folks that got the willies as a result.

This brings up an interesting situation though. HOW do you go about convincing people that it is 1) a great idea and 2) that they should do it themselves.

I have had to "out" myself when the discussion is brought up because it invariably gets to that point. I have had a number of encounters with family/friends where we get talking about this or that and then the latest crime comes up....this leads into me talking about security and being able to protect yourself...which leads to owning a gun.

One story in particular involved my niece on a family outing. We were in another state and went to a museum/playground (it was fun even for the big kids). Anywho, we are driving back and she was talking about campus life and being nervous sometimes. I brought up the need for protecting yourself, door bars, martial arts, recent discussions about conceal carry on campus's, etc. She said "oh, I could never have a gun, it may just go off". I told her that gun dont just "go off". You can do all kinds of things with a gun on you and never have a problem. She said "oh, guns scare me because they might go off and people could just lose it and start shooting people". I again ask her what would make her think that a gun could just go off and what kind of person does she think might snap and start killing people???!?!". She just repeated that it could just go off at anytime. I then tell her that mine hasnt gone off all day.

She just repeats that a gun could just go off if she bumped something. I told her that I was bumping into things, climbing, etc. all day and nothing happened. She sat there for a few minutes and asked what I was talking about. I told her that I had my gun on me all day with a round chambered all day, was around her and everyone all day, had the kids jumping on me, etc. and nothing happened.

she jumped back a little in the seat (she was sitting next to me in the minivan) and asked if I had gun with me. I patted my "baby" and said "yea, you've been around a loaded gun ALL day....and actually every time you have seen me recently and nothing has happened". I also said that her aunt (my wife), her mom, and my 2 young kids were around a loaded fiream ALL day with no lead poisoning. There was stunned silence, which was broken by my oldest saying "Guns are safe except for who daddy points it at". After some more silence, she said that she would have to think about it.

I guess that the only way to change peoples' minds about this is to show them that we are not nutjobs...we're not nameless, faceless weirdos at some compound, but real people that have real reasons for having this right.

I have gotten totally (kinda) of ft rack. I would be interested in hearing how you can be an advocate for CHL/guns without outing yourself.

[USA1]

well said dewayneward,
my mother in her 60 s ( while not being anti gun)could not figure out the need for one a few years back. now living alone,she asked me to go gun shopping with her ! i was more than happy to go. she realizes that times have gotten worse.
im proud to say she is going to get professional safety ,handling ,and shooting instruction. she wants to have full confidence if the need ever arises. she even wants to learn how to take it apart and clean it.
p.s. i did take her to shoot it and she understands that guns are a very serious and powerful weapon.

[Wildscar]

[KFP]

Something like 1 out of 4 home invasions take place while people are home according to that one guy's blog where he just recorded the 4,000th use of a gun for defensive purposes. Or something like that. I'd post the link but I'm feeling lazy today.

Edit: Guess I wasn't that lazy, http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... 23&t=24315

"1009 of these incidents (out of 4000) were home invasions--where the criminals intentionally broke into a dwelling that they knew was occupied"

Just to clarify, I believe that the statistic is that 1 out of every 4 instances in which a gun was used for self defense was during a home invasion, not necessarily that 1 out of every 4 houses broken into is occupied.

My theory on this number being so high is two-fold. First, people spend most of their time at home, so invariably you're most likely to encounter the situation where you spend the majority of your time. Secondly, any gun owner has guns in their home, so a gun is more accessible for self defense if necessary.

usa1 - I do recommend being cautious of who you tell, but don't be surprised if your neighbor shows interest in shooting and getting a CHL after thinking things through.

Love the picture Wildscar!

[LaserTex]

Doug

[bryang]

That is a great sign!!

-geo

[Oldgringo]

I never discuss religion, politics, or guns with anyone unless I know they have similar beliefs.

That's what my momma (R.I.P.) taught me a looong time ago.