Do you have a carry permit?

Knuth · Post by **Knuth** » Fri Jun 01, 2001 8:07 pm

While I'm to young to carry (17) in public, I did when I lived in the boonies of CT for snake and coon protection and I will when I turn 21(I'll be in the USMC by then too) because I am a big gun nut.

I was curious if you carried, why, and what you carry and if being a martial artists effects that in any way?

------------------
Ryan Knuth
Be like Water.

Panther · Post by **Panther** » Fri Jun 01, 2001 10:04 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Knuth:

because I am a big gun nut.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You may very well be... But I'm not! I don't care for the term and consider it to be tantamount to calling someone a "Redneck", the "N" word, or any other racial slur. Lawful And Responsible Gun Owners does not equate to the negative conotations associated with the phrase "gun nut". Regardless, Welcome to the "tough issues" forum. You will find plenty of those Lawful and Responsible Gun-owners here to discuss things with.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote

I was curious if you carried, why, and what you carry and if being a martial artists effects that in any way?

Well Ryan, it's not a big secret on the forums where I stand on guns, carrying them, using them, my reasons for my beliefs, etc... However, let me give you the response I gave to a prominent State Senator's aide on Beacon Hill during the annual gun hearings a few years ago... After listening to my testimony, the aide stopped to talk with me in the hallway. She asked, "So, are you carrying a gun now?" I replied, "You know... that is considered a very rude question. It's also a very personal question, which I feel exceeds the boundaries of propriety in this setting. So, basically, it's none of your damn business. Besides, if you really did listen to my testimony, you should know the answer already."

So.... If a person choses to carry as their personal defensive tool, why they chose to carry any personal defensive tool, and what they chose to carry as a personal defensive tool are personal.

Just an FYI to let you know that you may or may not get some answers to your questions... Good Luck.

Van Canna · Post by **Van Canna** » Sat Jun 02, 2001 12:10 am

I agree with panther, a very rude question, an invasive question, a condescending question, and an attempt to deal with people in a patronizingly superior manner. with the implication that if you are in fact carrying a gun, you are an inferior human being, offending other people’s sensibilities.

On occasion you find the same attitude on the part of some “gun sales clerk” __ i.e., what you need to buy this gun for!

It is basically an “interview” situation that needs to be shut down.

I take the same tack on this when someone asks “ what are you studying the martial arts for” ??

Best way to deal with it is to either ignore the question or retort “ why do you ask, why is it important for you to know? __ I have personal reasons. __ you use this language even with the best of friends.

You are never a “gun nut” you simply have an interest in firearms, same as the other person may have an interest in coins or butterflies.

Never let one of those misguided “anti-gun” nuts paint you into a corner with such a question.

It is already enough of an infringement on your liberty and personal space when you have to tell a licensing officer the “reason” why you want a pistol permit in this miserable State of Massachusetts.

------------------
Van Canna

Van Canna · Post by **Van Canna** » Sat Jun 02, 2001 2:49 am

Ryan,

Just so that this is clear. We are not picking on you, but talking in general, so please do not take offense at the words.

You will come up against this invasive questioning as time goes on, so it is best to understand the emotional response it might evoke in you.

------------------
Van Canna

Knuth · Post by **Knuth** » Sat Jun 02, 2001 3:59 am

Don't worry about me being offended(I'm a believer in the 1st also

)

Let me just say that I AM a gun-nut and redneck and have NEVER been offended in being called either. I also do not group those statements into the same category as the "n" word or the red mist society.

I have worked with a guy who wouldn't tell me what he carried but have talked to people who have brought the subject up and sounded mighty proud of their piece. They were all highly respectible people too.

BTW I guess since I have grown up around guns and my friends have grown up around them also, asking someone what they carried where I came from was as impersonal as a girl asking a guy "boxers or briefs." Yes, I guess both questions could be offensive with a person insecure with their choices.

------------------
Ryan Knuth
Be like Water.

Van Canna · Post by **Van Canna** » Sat Jun 02, 2001 4:42 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote

I have worked with a guy who wouldn't tell me what he carried but have talked to people who have brought the subject up and sounded mighty proud of their piece. They were all highly respectable people too.

In that context I can understand the exchange of information, because the questions are perceived on a friendly basis, mutual interest basis, and I would respond in a positive way myself.

But we are referencing to the insolent type with bad intentions who becomes invasive with certain condescending questions designed at harassing you. This happens quite often in a liberal State like Massachusetts.

Please understand that in no way am I saying that you are such a type.

If you come up against one of those, you will know and it will cause a slow burn.

------------------
Van Canna

RACastanet · Post by **RACastanet** » Sat Jun 02, 2001 3:04 pm

Hello Ryan. I'm one of the highly professional types who also appreciates firearms and fortunately lives in Virginia, which is a right to carry state. Like Van sensei, the term 'gun nut' does strike me as being somewhat unpleasent.

As for joining the USMC, you will be surprised how little live fire time you will actually get even in that branch of the service. Both time and practice ammo are luxuries these days. My friends in the Corps visit me to get live fire time! The local reserve unit uses indoor pneumatic simulators in lieu of live fire. Sigh. And, don't ever refer to your rifle or pistol as a gun, they are your weapons. Follow your dreams though, as the Corps is great.

Regards, Rich in Richmond

Van Canna · Post by **Van Canna** » Sat Jun 02, 2001 3:53 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote

And, don't ever refer to your rifle or pistol as a gun, they are your weapons.

LOL..Rich__

I learned this lesson well when in basic and advanced infantry training. Our DI would make you sleep with the M-1 Garand in your bunk if he heard you refer to it as a gun.

Shocked to learn about the "live fire" problems in the Marine Corps? Oh my...what is this country coming to!!

------------------
Van Canna

Knuth · Post by **Knuth** » Sat Jun 02, 2001 6:45 pm

Sorry if I came off as intrusive. I just didn't think it was a big deal.

Rich, I'm not real worried about getting a whole lot of trigger time in the COrp. If I wanted to shoot guns I would go back to CT and shoot in my back yard. I am joining the Corp to serve my country not to shoot guns(although it is a plus

).

------------------
Ryan Knuth
Be like Water.

Van Canna · Post by **Van Canna** » Sat Jun 02, 2001 8:43 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote

Sorry if I came off as intrusive. I just didn't think it was a big deal.

Not at all, Ryan. I enjoyed your contribution because it served the purpose to polarize the issue for many of us.

This " gun business" is an extremely volatile subject matter, and it is all in the perceptions.

------------------
Van Canna

RACastanet · Post by **RACastanet** » Sun Jun 03, 2001 2:28 am

Hello again.

Van sensei: I actually feel bad when I use Corps' materiel because they are so lean and I might be taking away from an active Marine. They do have quite a bit of live fire activity at Quantico but it appears that those stationed away from a major training facility do not get much opportunity for casual practice. However, every Marine from the Commandant on down must requalify as a rifleman every year or find a new line of work.

I did read somewhere though, that the Army is so low on 9mm that there is little or no live handgun training, and that is where it is really needed to maintain skill levels. It makes me sad when I read about such things.

Ryan: Below is a picture of a 'gun'.

Rich

Allen M. · Post by **Allen M.** » Sun Jun 03, 2001 2:45 am

Do you have a license to carry that thing concealed Rich?
<hr>
Knuth

Boonies of CT? Wow!

You almost treat guns with an irresponsible irreverent attitude (that 's what I think of a "gun nut").

In the swamps, especially in the south (thinking South Carolina right now) carrying a sidearm is almost a necessity because of the abundance of deadly poisonous snakes.

However, if one "carries" in populated areas in the hopes he will someday defend himself with his weapon, he'd better think long and hard and soul-seach many times because a person who carries a sidearm has to be ready to take another's life and be willing to face the consequences for doing so.

------------------
Allen Moulton from Uechi-ryu Etcetera

Knuth · Post by **Knuth** » Sun Jun 03, 2001 3:13 am

OOH-RAH Rich!

Allen, Yeah I used to live in a small town called killingworth. I lived on a little over 11 acres with another 2-300 or so acres. The boonies are there in CT but you really have to look for them.

Also I do treat guns with an irrelevant nature, never EVER an irresposible one though but thats because in my house guns were as common as fishing rods. Let me again say that NEVER did we disrespect them.

------------------
Ryan Knuth
Be like Water.

Allen M. · Post by **Allen M.** » Sun Jun 03, 2001 11:48 am

Yeah, looking back, I guess there are boonies in CT. I forgot that the city in Southern Mass that I grew up in was built upon a high spot along a river and swampland long since dried up and that I used to wade, sometimes anlke and knee-deep through a snake-infested swamp across the bridge from where I lived to go blueberry picking and to paddle and sail my home-made rafts across when I was a child, and that I lived weekends on my grandparents farm on 100 acres of land in the next town over that was pure virgin forest inhabited by the wildest of wildlife, and often carried, as a young adolescent, my grandfather's loaded 410-gauge, double barrel, external hammer, shotgun for personal protection just to go to the chicken coop, the garden, or down the path that went to the lake.

Civilization is rapidly encroaching upon us and destroying the wilderness.

I rapidly fold on the no boonies in CT!

------------------
Allen Moulton from Uechi-ryu Etcetera

Norm Abrahamson · Post by **Norm Abrahamson** » Sun Jun 03, 2001 7:42 pm

Knuth,

Speaking as a lawyer, know the firearms statutes for your state as well as any state you plan on traveling into with a firearm. The laws among the states are all over the place, and the penalties can and do include jail time. Like the old saw goes, "An ounce of prevention . . .

Norm Abrahamson