As a matter of respect?

[Firefighterchen]

That "Friend" word gets used a little too loosely by most folks for my tastes. Anyone I call friend not only knows I'm packing but could tell you the make, model, caliber, what ammo I use and how many spare mags I pack.

Couldn't agree more.

[dgreen]

i dont ask and i dont tell. a gun locked in a trunk is useless to me and a target for theft. i see it as no disrespect to a homeowner if i carry into their home, what they dont know could save a life.

[The_Outlaw]

i dont ask and i dont tell. a gun locked in a trunk is useless to me and a target for theft. i see it as no disrespect to a homeowner if i carry into their home, what they dont know could save a life.

I couldn't agree with you more! Right on! :)

[CharonPDX]

I have few friends/family members that I know would be uncomfortable with me carrying. I don't visit them often (usually have them over to my house,) but when I do visit, I lock it in the car.

I have other friends that I have never advised one way or the other, but they are friends that I am at least 75% certain would have no problem.

Ironically, the only time I have been "called out" on carrying in a house I was uncertain of, was a case of "Hey, so what do you carry?" from someone I thought was mildly anti-gun, and was pleasantly surprised to find out wasn't. This was a case where the OWNER of the house is the person I wasn't sure about, but I knew that the tenant was okay. I hadn't been expecting the owner to be there. (It's a case of one friend renting his house out to another friend. I know the renter a lot better than the owner.) The tenant is gun-friendly, but doesn't have any in the house (he just finished college after a while in the service - his guns are still at his parents house in another state,) so I couldn't be positive on the owner.

[the dark]

No. I carry wear ever I can legally and no one ever knows.

[Deserteagle]

Im always talking guns with people and frequently discussing laws and trying to persuade those who like guns to think about getting a permit to carry one. These fellow gun-friendly friends of mine know I have a permit to carry, but unless we are going shooting together, they will never know when I am carrying. Open carrying is still something I want to try though, so in that case, everyone knows, not that its a big deal though.

I dont think respect is involved in this at all. Being respectful to acquaintances and friends does not always mean full disclosure.

[Tucker's Mom]

It depends...Everyone knows I am carrying but there are "friends" who doesn't want me to carry when I go shopping with her and her disabled child. I carry anyway. They do not ask. I do not tell. If they do and I have to go to my car to lock it up, I'll drive off and never come back that way again.

[BluesStringer]

For me, the question is fairly moot, because my wife and I are home-bodies and don't go visiting much at all anyway.

That said, I've been carrying for well over 30 years, always concealed. The only places I disarm are court houses and airports, or wherever a metal detector is going to out me, and I'm here to tell ya that I resent the Hell out of those infringements on my rights.

I have only been "made" once at Seattle Center, and that was in the first year that I started carrying (like '78 or '79 I guess). Whoever made me pointed me out to the cops and it ruined the whole beautiful day that my first wife and I had planned. I was legally "papered" (had my permit), but the harassment was relentless, so we ended up leaving feeling like we had been violated by the very enforcers of the laws that we went to the trouble of abiding by. Never been made since, and I sure as Hell don't advertise to anyone that I carry.

In the 30+ years that I have carried, I have never, not once, pulled or brandished my weapon. I've also never been in a physical altercation during that time, nor been victimized by thugs, nor arrested. About 15 years ago I got a speeding ticket. Didn't mouth off to the cop, but also didn't inform him that I was armed. Paid the fine, went to traffic school to have the points taken off my record, and just went on with life. Point being, I don't go into neighborhoods where I'm most likely going to find trouble, I drive to avoid encounters with law enforcement, I pay my taxes and don't draw unwelcome attention to myself.

My decision to carry was a personal one, for which I knew ahead of time many of my friends and family members would not understand or agree with. The "respect" I show them is in not forcing them to deal with a subject which, when kept to myself, means that our interactions are devoid of stress/angst/fear/distrust etc. etc. etc. My self-respect dictates that I am armed 24/7/365 though, with the only exceptions being the aforementioned situations, and I never compromise my own self-respect.

There is no reason for anyone to know you're carrying. If you're getting "made" by your friends, you're doing it wrong. If you're locking up your weapon out of an over-concern for someone else's ignorant sensibilities, you're doing it wrong. If you can't efficiently and effectively articulate your rationale for carrying to the surprised friends and family members who might still be alive only because you outed yourself at an appropriate time, then you're doing it wrong.

I honestly don't get how or why it is disrespectful to anyone to keep it to myself that I am carrying, whether they are 2nd Amendment proponents or not. I find it much more disrespectful of a person to assert that my rights cease to exist at the threshold of their front door than me silently exercising my rights to everyone's benefit if the need for using a weapon should arise, which I continue to sincerely hope it never does. But if it does, I'll sleep well at night even if a so-called friend is alienated because I deigned to pull their unarmed bacon out of the fire when the shootin' started.

Blues

[The_Outlaw]

For me, the question is fairly moot, because my wife and I are home-bodies and don't go visiting much at all anyway.
That said, I've been carrying for well over 30 years, always concealed. The only places I disarm are court houses and airports, or wherever a metal detector is going to out me, and I'm here to tell ya that I resent the Hell out of those infringements on my rights.
I have only been "made" once at Seattle Center, and that was in the first year that I started carrying (like '78 or '79 I guess). Whoever made me pointed me out to the cops and it ruined the whole beautiful day that my first wife and I had planned. I was legally "papered" (had my permit), but the harassment was relentless, so we ended up leaving feeling like we had been violated by the very enforcers of the laws that we went to the trouble of abiding by. Never been made since, and I sure as Hell don't advertise to anyone that I carry.
In the 30+ years that I have carried, I have never, not once, pulled or brandished my weapon. I've also never been in a physical altercation during that time, nor been victimized by thugs, nor arrested. About 15 years ago I got a speeding ticket. Didn't mouth off to the cop, but also didn't inform him that I was armed. Paid the fine, went to traffic school to have the points taken off my record, and just went on with life. Point being, I don't go into neighborhoods where I'm most likely going to find trouble, I drive to avoid encounters with law enforcement, I pay my taxes and don't draw unwelcome attention to myself.
My decision to carry was a personal one, for which I knew ahead of time many of my friends and family members would not understand or agree with. The "respect" I show them is in not forcing them to deal with a subject which, when kept to myself, means that our interactions are devoid of stress/angst/fear/distrust etc. etc. etc. My self-respect dictates that I am armed 24/7/365 though, with the only exceptions being the aforementioned situations, and I never compromise my own self-respect.
There is no reason for anyone to know you're carrying. If you're getting "made" by your friends, you're doing it wrong. If you're locking up your weapon out of an over-concern for someone else's ignorant sensibilities, you're doing it wrong. If you can't efficiently and effectively articulate your rationale for carrying to the surprised friends and family members who might still be alive only because you outed yourself at an appropriate time, then you're doing it wrong.
I honestly don't get how or why it is disrespectful to anyone to keep it to myself that I am carrying, whether they are 2nd Amendment proponents or not. I find it much more disrespectful of a person to assert that my rights cease to exist at the threshold of their front door than me silently exercising my rights to everyone's benefit if the need for using a weapon should arise, which I continue to sincerely hope it never does. But if it does, I'll sleep well at night even if a so-called friend is alienated because I deigned to pull their unarmed bacon out of the fire when the shootin' started.

Blues

Excellent post! I agree with you 100%!

[dcselby1]

Or you could simplify things. Since my wife told her mother, I'm pretty sure that everyone in our city knows I carry. So much for concealed.