Picture this…
Your wife is a social butterfly (you are not) who loves to have people over for dinner and who loves to go to other people’s houses for various social occasions. So one day at church your wife invites a couple over for dinner. They’re not too weird and the dinner is just fine and they invite you over to their house the following weekend.
You like to carry concealed everywhere you go and when you get to this couple’s home you don’t want to leave your gun in the car so what should you do? Well, you have a few options:
Option one, you could just carry concealed into the house and not tell your new friends that you have a gun on you. Or, you could go with option two: You can tell the couple about your firearm and see if they want you to bring a gun in the house.
In the state of Utah where I live, if I tell someone I have a firearm and they don’t want me to bring it into their home then I can’t do it because it’s a private residence and they can decide what they want in their home. I imagine this is the way it is in most states.
I also know that a lot of concealed carry holders find themselves in this position when they go over to someone’s home that they might not know very well yet. Personally, I believe it’s a good idea to ask someone if it’s okay to bring a firearm into their home… In other words, I think it’s important to respect another person’s place.
Just think of the other side of the coin and imagine if someone you didn’t know very well came into your home with a gun, did something stupid, and had an accidental discharge.
I would be angry to say the least, because I want to make sure that everyone who enters my home with a gun (relatives, friends, etc.) knows how to use it and understands proper safety, especially because I have a 16-month-old running around. I’ve never turned down anyone who wanted to enter my home with a gun, but then again, I’ve never had someone who didn’t understand how to properly use a firearm try and come over.
Of course, whether you notify people that you have a gun before entering their home is up to you. And if you’re safe and carrying concealed then they’ll never know you are carrying a firearm. But again, would you want someone to enter your home and not tell you they were armed?
Also, safety purposes aren’t the only reason that I would want someone to tell me they were carrying before they came into my home. If there were a home invasion while they were there I would want to know who had guns and whom I could rely on. I also would not want to accidentally shoot someone pulling out a gun that was actually on my side, but because I didn’t know they were carrying I confused them with a criminal.
