It’s rare for coyotes to attack a human, let alone even get so close. But it can happen.
Take home point is it’s good to be carrying something that can contend with critters, especially if you’re out in the backcountry. I’m still in the market for a good such gun, probably a .44 Mag revolver at this point but still undecided (not much point in making a final decision until the budget permits). In the front-country (i.e. city), OC spray can be useful here.
During the Thanksgiving holiday, most of my family will be visiting me in my home. This will be the first time I’ll be around my parents and siblings since I received my concealed handgun license. While they all know I have a CHL, this will be their first experience with it, and my family members are at various places along the spectrum with regards to guns. While I might normally open carry within my home on a normal day, during their entire visit I will carry concealed. Nevertheless, I know one thing likely to cause them to notice:
Hugging, or otherwise touching, me (e.g. taking my arm as we walk).
With a gun on the right and a magazine-flashlight pouch on the left, given how tall I am and how short everyone else is, it’s inevitable someone is going to bump into things. It will be felt, it will be noticed, “What’s that?”, and discussion will ensue. Some family members will have brief discussions, others will likely dwell on it the entire visit and much explanation and justification will have to occur (you open carry advocates that don’t understand why I don’t want to deal with the hassle? you haven’t met my Mom). 😉
That’s what inspired me to write today.
I remember when I received my first Leatherman, a Micra. Those of you with small kids may have noticed when you go out to eat, the kid gets a small drink but the straws are all sized for larger drink cups. So now you have small child, with small arms, and a very tall straw that they struggle to get to their lips. Gosh if we just had a pair of scissors! One Father’s Day the Micra was a gift from Wife so I could trim the straws. 🙂 From then on I always carried it on me.
There was also a time, and I don’t recall if this was before or after the Micra but probably before, on Christmas Day. Much opening of presents, which means much battling with packaging. Child comes wanting me to help open something, but there were lots of zip ties. I needed a knife but didn’t have one. My brother-in-law reached into his pocket, pulled out a pocket knife, called Child over and opened things. I felt a little deficient as a father, and vowed that wouldn’t happen again. Currently this role is filled by my Leatherman Wave, which is always in its sheath on my belt.
I never carried any sort of illumination on me, not even a little cheap LED fob on my keychain. Usually I got around OK in the dark, but whenever I really needed light I would go in search of a flashlight. Of course, it was always amusing when the lights would suddenly go out in the house at night, then you make your way to where you think the flashlight should be but someone didn’t put it back in the proper place when they were done with it and now you’re cussing as you try to fumble in the dark looking for a source of light. In speaking with Karl some time ago he told me how he always carries some sort of light on him. I bought a SureFire E2L and have been carrying it ever since. Used to just keep it clipped to a pocket (usually back left), but now I have a dedicated place for it on my belt. You don’t think about how useful a flashlight can be to have on you until you have one on you and can use it when you need it.
That’s the crux of this: tools are useful if you have need for them, then have them handy when you need them.
Tools are devices that facilitate performing a task. I could drive a nail into a board with my hand, but it’d be rather difficult to accomplish. I could use a shoe or a rock or something else as a make-shift tool, and that would facilitate the task more than my bare hand, but nowhere near as well as a proper tool for the job like a hammer.
I am a software developer by trade. Consequently in my daily life I don’t need a hammer. Sometimes I need a hammer, to hang a picture or to repair something, and when I do need a hammer it’s not a big inconvenience to go to the garage and get the hammer out of my toolbox. Certainly going to the garage is more convenient than going to ask a neighbor or having to visit a store to buy or rent one. To always carry a hammer on my person would be very convenient but given how infrequently I need a hammer and how it’s rarely an emergency item, it doesn’t make much sense for me to always carry a hammer. Thus storing the hammer in the garage is handy enough for me. For a professional carpenter, always having to go to the garage would be problematic, thus a carpenter is likely to wear a specialized toolbelt so the hammer can be stored there and thus always at the carpenter’s fingertips while they work their day on the jobsite.
As we can see, tools are good things because they facilitate our performing a task. But for the tool to be useful we need to be performing a relevant task, thus having need for that particular tool. Then what increases the utility of the tool is for it to be handy and present when we need it.
I don’t know when I’m going to have to cut something open, but I do it enough times that my life is made easier by always carrying/wearing my Leatherman Wave. Package comes in the mail, I can instantly cut it open without having to go seek out a knife to cut the packaging tape. A few weeks ago when I was installing shelves in my garage I was up on the ladder working and needed a screwdriver; I could have gotten down off the ladder and went to the toolbox, but instead I just reached onto my belt for my Leatherman and kept right on working. If I need to go outside at night, it’s mostly illuminated but perhaps I have to walk through an area that’s a bit dark and I want to ensure I’m not stepping on a rattlesnake (they occasionally appear in the yard); it’s nice to have that flashlight on me right then and there, not having to go back inside, fetch the light, then resume my work. I’ve been through many experiences were having the Leatherman or the flashlight or some other thing on me at the time opportunity knocked proved to be best. Sure every situation is different, everyone has different needs and tolerance levels. This is what works for me.
Consider things that aren’t necessarily tools but that you might carry with you every day. You carry your wallet, which holds credit cards, drivers license, money. You may not always need those things, but you’re happy to have them there when you do. Doesn’t it suck when you go to pay for something then realize you left your wallet in the car or at home? Maybe you carry a comb or a brush. You want to ensure you look your best, but it’s a bummer when the wind blows your hair and now all you can use is use your fingers in hopes of fixing your do. Maybe you carry breath mints, because making that first impression on the cutie that just appeared across the way goes over better if your breath doesn’t smell like the garlic and onion bagel you just ate. We carry certain things on us because we expect we may need them at some time; we may not know exactly when, but we expect we will and life is facilitated when we have them on hand at the time of need.
Because it can be a useful tool. No, I’m not talking useful in a Homer Simpson way. This is one of those situations where there isn’t a daily need. In fact, it’s one of those instances where I actually hope I never have a need for it. But it’s also one of those instances where if I ever do have a need for it, I’m going to need it right now and be rather thankful I have it so handy. As the saying goes, you don’t want it until you need it, but when you need it you need it really really bad. Look at Caleb’s recent experience. He didn’t know he needed it until he needed it, and when he needed it he was thankful it was handy.
I don’t know when I will need to physically defend myself, but I expect some day I might. I may train in empty-hand martial arts, I may train with stick and knives, but I know a gun is a superior tool for the task. I carry these useful tools with me because if I expect I may someday need them, I do know if I ever need it it will only be useful to me if it’s handy when I need it. Being at my side keeps it handy. I cannot predict when that need may come, thus I have to fall back on the old Boy Scout training to Be Prepared.
Breda is often quoted because she’s right: carry your gun — it’s a lighter burden than regret.
So the “T” key on my MacBook Pro’s keyboard died. I just got it back and I wanted to recount the positive experience I had.
First, the MacBook is still covered by AppleCare, so all of this is covered under warranty.
I did my own troubleshooting, I called AppleCare, they suggested a few things that I already tried and so an appointment was scheduled for the Genius Bar at the local Apple Store.
I must admit. I don’t like the Genius Bar. I’ve had some irritating experiences in the past, mostly with young kids working there that think they know more than me. Look, I write software for a living, I know a little something about computers. If you’re talking down to me like this, then you talk down like that to all your customers. That’s not right nor good. But I must admit that experience was in the early days of the store. They seem to have really improved, and this experience is witness to that.
When I first took it in they did an examination and agreed the T was dead and keyboard replacement was necessary. They didn’t have one in stock and it would have to be ordered. Fair enough, as I could plug in an external keyboard and get by. I really can’t be without this machine — there’s money to be made and I can’t make it without the machine. They said so long as I was willing to work with them on scheduling the repair, they’d do what they could. Fair enough. I got the call over the weekend the keyboard came in. I called to schedule and they said the best they could do would be to bring it in as early as possible to maximize chances of a same-day turnaround.
So early today I went in and dropped it off. And I waited. While using my iPhone got me by on a lot of things today I must say that it eventually drove me nuts. Too small a screen, too small a keyboard, and without question the lack of tactile feedback does make typing difficult. Sure you get used to it and you can still type pretty well, but tactile feedback is so important. Anyway….
I later called them because the phone number I left them wasn’t going to work so I wanted to update the callback number. Whomever answered the phone was courteous, took my info down, and said he’d hand it to the right people and have them call me with status. I expected that if I got a call it would have been sometime later, but instead within a couple minutes my phone rang and it was the actual repair tech with an update. They gave me the skinny, answered my questions, and were very kind and understanding about the urgency of it all. Sure enough withing an hour after that callback I received THE call that the MacBook was ready for pickup. Pickup was a breeze.
All in all, I was very happy with how everything went. Sure it’s a bummer the key broke, but these things happen. The whole process went pretty smoothly all things considered. Everyone was cheerful, polite, and desired to help as much as possible. You know they get all sorts of stories and of course to everyone their situation is urgent. They did a great job at making the turnaround as fast as possible. I’m very pleased with the customer service that I received.
To boot, they cleaned the machine too. It was all shiny and slick. A little touch, certainly wasn’t necessary to do, but it was done and was a little cherry on top.
Sebastian has been one of the gun bloggers discussing open carry a great deal in recent days.
Earlier today I wrote a bit more about my own thoughts on open carry and how I’m just not into it for myself because I don’t carry to make a political statement. Now Sebastian writes on a critical question that comes up in this discussion:
Ride Fast has a question:
What I would like to hear from Mr. Cramer and others who support not openly carrying, is just how do we acclimate people to open carry without actually open carrying? Or is Mr. Cramer advocating we give up on open carry altogether? I can’t support that and never will.
I would ask why acclimating people to open carry is an important goal for the gun rights movement? Because doing that really only benefits the small number of people who want to openly carry. To me that’s a step 36 thing, when we’re on step 12.
Now you have to back up and look at Ride Fast’s post. But frankly he answers his own question and Sebastian furthers it.
Dramatic change is not going to work. People just don’t like change, or perhaps better is to say that most people don’t like big changes really quickly — especially a change that could invoke negative feelings (like seeing a gun on someone’s hip). Recent years have been very big on anti-gun, but it is slowly changing. Heck, in the past year a lot has changed in that regard and many more people are warming up to guns and gun owners. But taking giant leaps into open carry just may not work for the masses. Again, it’s well likely to scare the sheep.
Case in point, as soon as I posted my earlier bit, a buddy of mine posted an experience he had at a local bank. And he wasn’t open carrying at all. Heck, it sounds like it was possible they went purely on the knowledge that he had a concealed handgun license. And folks, this is in Texas.
I just don’t think the sheep, on the whole, are ready for us to jump into open carry.
But now we have Bushmaster putting ads in Maxim magazine. Savage Arms advertising in Boys’ Life magazine.
So this is how you do it. Like Ride Fast said, it was a slow haul through advertising and other avenues. Honda started an ad campaign. Kinda like Bushmaster with Maxim, eh? It’s a slow process of allowing the mainstream to see us and think nothing of it all.
Sebastian continues along the lines I also feel, that if you’re open carrying to make a political point, it’s a passive show and the message received by the viewer may not be the message you wish to convey. I know Ron’s a good guy, but the man at the bank did not and assumed the worst. It’s better to be able to engage people actively, so you can explain, so they can ask questions and you can answer and ensure they are receiving the message you’re trying to send.
So should we not open carry at all in the meantime? No. To some degree you still have to have it out in the open. Just realize that that avenue is going to be a rough road and cannot be the only road. I’m happy to discuss things with people. When I go to the gun range, I have to walk outside with my guns and range bag to load them into my car and I’m sure neighbors have seen me. You shouldn’t hide what or who you are, but on the same token, like anything else, we have to be mindful about flaunting it in front of others. You don’t win people to your way of thinking by rubbing their noses in something they have a problem with.
Updated: OK. Yeah… Linoge gets the win here. 🙂 I’ve been swayed, at least enough to go back and think about it more, as it pertains to open carry as a political statement and then how I personally wish to conduct myself with regards to carrying openly.
A serial rapist.
Let me repeat that again.
A serial rapist.
Raping elderly women.
Law enforcement officials suspect a home invasion in Leon County is connected to a serial rapist who has been terrorizing elderly women in rural areas of Texas for months.
On Saturday, police say a man broke into the home of an 81-year-old woman.
The woman had a handgun and managed to fire several shots, scaring the man away.
A more detailed account of the string of sexual assaults here.
But of course, we should ban guns. They can only do bad and horrible things. Old widows? They don’t need equalizers. There is no such thing as self-defense for all.
And I guess the only reason that 81-year-old woman had a gun was to compensate for the size of her penis.
</sarcasm>
Due to various things I’ve been very behind on my RSS feeds and have been catching up this morning.
Seems there’s still a lot of talk about open carry going on, whether it’s good to do or not.
I admit, since my last post about open carry, I’ve been doing it a bit more… in public. I should say that I more or less open carry around the house. I’m in the privacy of my own home, I’m wanting to be comfortable, Wife and Kids don’t consider it anything special or more different from wearing a pair of socks or seeing me with my hair in a pony tail. But any time I would have to go outside, even to take the trash out, I’d always throw something on or I’d untuck my shirt or something to cover up. Since that last post I opted to try it a bit, so when I’d take the trash out or do some small task in the yard I’d go outside without covering up.
Nothing happened. I figure because most every time I had the fortune of there being no one else outside. Or it was dark. Or a few times there was someone walking by but somehow I was covered, either with a garment or maybe I was carrying something that happened to obscure my holstered gun.
But every time I went outside, every time I did see someone on the street or some car drove by… it nagged at me.
I’ve come to realize.
To open carry at this stage? It veers upon making a political statement. I don’t carry to make a political statement. I carry because I know there’s bad people in this world and there are better tools than coffee.
I don’t need nor want to frighten the sheep. Why bear my teeth? I have the teeth if I need it, but I don’t need to be flashing those pearly white (grips) all the time. I’m here to protect the sheep, not frighten them. Some sheep may not flinch, but some will. It’s a fine line to walk and balance on. I have enough stuff to deal with in a day and I just don’t need the potential hassle.
If I want to get political, there are other avenues and venues for that, and I’m certainly active in those ways. Does that mean I’m against open carry? Heck no. I do believe the legal restrictions should be lifted. I just realize that, at least for now, open carry is not for me.
Tony Blauer discusses psychological aspects of preparedness:
For elaboration on these points, go read the article.
The local Apple Store has obtained a replacement keyboard. I take my MacBook Pro in this morning to get it repaired. When will I get it back? I don’t know, but the hope is by bringing it in this morning I’ll get it back later today.
I shall be living off my iPhone today. That should be… interesting.
There are a couple businesses here in Austin with slogans that are… confusing.
A bedding/mattress place: “if you’re not sleeping with us, you’re sleeping alone.”
Um… my wife would beg to differ.
A tire place: “If it’s in stock, we’ve got it.”
Um… duh?
What am I missing here? 🙂
The difficulty is that we do not see, we do not listen, we do not perceive things directly and simply as they are.
-Krishnamurti
Stuff From Hsoi 