Does your spouse think you are "weird/paranoid" for carrying?

[jimb1972]

I dont think my wife considers me paranoid because I carry, She probably thinks I am paranoid because of the number of guns I own and the thousands of rounds of ammo I keep on hand.

[Dave272727]

My wife called me paranoid and laughed at me a little. Then she watched the news... Now when I leave for work in the morning I get "don't forget your gun!"

[Cheryl]

I'm really new at this - I have only cc'ed onceand it was last week - a short trip to town, into a family video store, and then to see my husband at his office. When he found out later I had been carrying, he chewed my butt. He thinks I'm being paranoid! He can see me wanting to carry when we go to MN and stay at our trailer on Pelican Lake, but not any time other than that. I'm just going to have to cc without him ever knowing I guess.

[Walker56]

I have cc'd to family get-togethers -- it's not that I don't trust family, but that I have no control over who accesses the roads between my home and others'. When I get somewhere, it's better security for the gun if I keep it on than if I lock it in the glove box.

As far as the issue of displaying it or showing it off goes; if I'm carrying, the gun only comes out of the holster for two reasons, one of which is to secure it (e.g., storage, prohibited areas, LEO request). The other isn't.

[Ogre67]

I have carried at family get togethers as well, and oft times I will remove my weapon from it's holster. Why you ask? My family entire is into firearms, and ask me about my carry gun and I take it out to show it off AND to shoot it. Our family get togethers often end up being shooting sessions, whether plinking away at targets or shooting turtles down to the pond.

I am proud of my Taurus, I like to show it off. All this, Carry Always Never Tell stuff is (IMHO) for the birds, if you are ashamed of something you should not be doing it. But, then again, I live in an OC friendly (supposedly) state and most of my family lives in another. I have been known to pull up to my sisters and start unloading the long guns from the trunk, everyone comes over to see what I have this time.

I dont hide anything from my family, family is the one group I can fully be myself with, and that includes my love of firearms. We swap stories about various weapons discuss the merits and demerits of them and what better way to discuss one than with it in hand.

[Walker56]

I have carried at family get togethers as well, and oft times I will remove my weapon from it's holster. Why you ask? My family entire is into firearms, and ask me about my carry gun and I take it out to show it off AND to shoot it. Our family get togethers often end up being shooting sessions, whether plinking away at targets or shooting turtles down to the pond.

I am proud of my Taurus, I like to show it off. All this, Carry Always Never Tell stuff is (IMHO) for the birds, if you are ashamed of something you should not be doing it. But, then again, I live in an OC friendly (supposedly) state and most of my family lives in another. I have been known to pull up to my sisters and start unloading the long guns from the trunk, everyone comes over to see what I have this time.

I dont hide anything from my family, family is the one group I can fully be myself with, and that includes my love of firearms. We swap stories about various weapons discuss the merits and demerits of them and what better way to discuss one than with it in hand.

Absolutely with you on the familiarity with firearms, family involvement; don't quite know where the idea that not flashing a gun around, keeping it in the holster equated with being ashamed of it, but then maybe I misread your comment.

Most unintentional discharges I've seen have come from moving a loaded weapon around (duh), so if I don't have to, I don't. I shoot in some action shooting disciplines, so drawing and holstering a loaded weapon is not a unique experience. "Hey, want to look at my _____?" inevitably turns to, "Sure, you can hold it." I don't hand a weapon to anyone unless it's unloaded and the action is open, and I don't carry a gun that's not loaded -- throw in a few more opportunities for an unwanted bang as you unload, clear, then reload, rechamber, and holster.

I guess if I tried to explain it further, it would be more about the mindset I have toward safety and toward carrying, than toward whether I really cared much about what someone might think.

[Ogre67]

I guess it is in response to all the ultra secret "no one must ever know I carry" a weapon crowd. The Ultra Conceal Carry ONLY!!! bunch that make failure to totally conceal out to be a failure as a human being.
I have an aquainence that freaks out everytime he sees me, not because I carry but because I don't worry about being ultra conceal man, his edc is so concealed he has to practically undress to get to it. Me, I toss my Public Defender either in my desantis OWB or my carry vest and go bout my business, if my shirt rides up so be it. As it stands now I only have the one handgun, I tend to be able to put hands on several long guns but havent found any good deals on hand guns lately.

[TCP1031]

When I first started carrying, my wife questioned me about it. But it was a discussion rather than an argument.
I explained that I felt it was my duty as a non-crazy person to protect myself, my wife, and my children.
And then I presented her with this analogy:
Every time I get in the car I buckle my seatbelt. If I actually thought I would need it, I'd never leave the driveway.

I think that's easier for a non-gunner to grasp than the rifle analogy - although that one is a lot funnier.

I agree and let me add that you wear a seatbelt, not to be safe should you hit another car but you can also hit a deer, road debris etc.

Why have a gun at a family gathering? Because i dont know who or what is going on at the neighbor's house. Anything can happen, even a loose dog attacking my family as they go from the car to the house. Needing my gun at a family gathering for a loose dog equates to the car hitting a deer instead of another car.

Lastly, I am an LEO and I know that I have had extensive training on the use of firearms and even still I an extremely cautious and treat everything as loaded. I know that there are tons of non LEO that have great experience with firearms and are just as qualified to have them. I am not against, but I do worry about the average joe who takes a concealed license class, is getting familiar with guns and is eager to save the world. I am familiar with the ease of passing some of these classes. i pray that they are consistent with safety.

No, my wife doesnt think i am weird/paranoid

[moonie]

Interestingly enough when I first started open carrying my wife wasn't real happy about it, said she didn't care if I did it but not if she was with me. I got my concealed permit about a month ago. We were leaving for a 3 day vacation that day and I said something to her about carrying, she decided to ask our 3 daughters, 10, 12 and 13, convinced they wouldn't like the idea. They actually thought it would be a very good idea for me to be able to protect them so the wife relented. She is not only ok with me carrying now she is talking about getting her own 1911. She also has not balked when I've refused to spend money in establishments with gun buster signs. She now assumes I'm CC'ing.

[RScottie]

My wife has been normalized to guns and whatever carry method I choose. When walking out of the movie theater a while back it was dark and our car was all the way towards the back of the parking lot. A car with some less than savory looking individuals drove by that were definitely looking at us. She pulled me close and whispered, "You do have your gun on you right?".

She is talking about getting her CCDW Permit!