{"id":100611,"date":"2018-11-21T10:19:23","date_gmt":"2018-11-21T15:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=100611"},"modified":"2018-11-21T10:19:23","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T17:51:38","slug":"why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Aren\u2019t You Carrying? Here Are the Four Most Common Excuses"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Why<\/a>\n

Editor\u2019s Note:<\/strong>\u00a0The following is a syndicated article by author Michael Martin that first appeared in USCCA\u2019s Concealed Carry Magazine Volume 12, Issue 7, October 2015 under the title, \u201cWhy Aren\u2019t You Carrying?\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

When I became a member of my local fire department a few years back, I have to admit that I didn\u2019t openly advertise the fact that I was a concealed carry instructor until I had a chance to gauge the attitudes of the men and women with whom I\u2019d be working. Imagine my pleasant surprise when firefighter after firefighter approached me over time, indicating that they\u2019d heard I was an instructor (or they\u2019d read my book), and they were hoping that I could fit them into a class, teach a renewal class for them or teach their spouses\/friends\/families, etc. Five years later, it would be fair to say that at least 80 percent of my department (and their spouses) have their concealed carry permits.<\/p>\n

But, not too long ago I noticed something odd. When I\u2019d run into a fellow firefighter off duty at the local Target or Home Depot, I began asking, \u201cAre you carrying today?\u201d More often than not, I\u2019d get an embarrassed look and an answer of, \u201cUmm, not today,\u201d usually followed by an excuse of something like, \u201cIt was too hot today,\u201d \u201cI was just running out for some quick errands\u201d or \u201cI haven\u2019t found a carry gun I really like.\u201d While I can\u2019t necessarily translate my unscientific study to the nation as a whole, I\u2019d have to estimate that at least 80 to 90 percent of the permit holders that I know personally don\u2019t carry regularly or even carry at all. The question is, \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n

I recently had a chance to sit down with a dozen of my fellow firefighters, where I asked the question, \u201cWhy aren\u2019t you carrying?\u201d There was no universal answer, but after some back-and-forth dialogue, I\u2019d categorize the reasons for not carrying into four general excuses.<\/p>\n

Excuse No. 1: Carrying can be a pain.<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s face it: There is nothing inherently comfortable about sticking a piece of steel on our side or in our pocket. If carrying a firearm was as comfortable as slipping a credit card into a wallet, we\u2019d see the percentage of permit holders actually carrying their firearms skyrocket. (Editor’s note:<\/strong> Funny, but maybe that’s why Trailblazer Firearms have sold more than 6,000 “Credit Card” Pistols.<\/a><\/em>)<\/p>\n

A close second to the \u201ccomfort\u201d issue is the problem that can occur when the permit holder\u2019s routine for the day might require them to enter a location that bans firearms by state statute or federal law, when a business has chosen to \u201cpost\u201d their location as banning firearms or when the permit holder\u2019s own employer bans firearms while at work.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not carrying because of the \u201ccomfort\u201d problem, I\u2019d suggest that you\u2019re probably suffering from excuse No. 4, and you haven\u2019t found a carry gun that works for you.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re neglecting to carry because your daily routine includes entering places that ban firearms, then you need to invest in a trustworthy lockbox that is securely mounted in your vehicle, rather than leave your gun at home. A vehicle-mounted lockbox can be as simple as a steel box mounted by a cable to the base of your driver or passenger seat, or it can be as innovative as a Console Vault,<\/a> whose creators custom design vaults by vehicle make and model to fit snugly into the vehicle\u2019s center console. Pop open your center console and instead of seeing cough drops covered in lint and last week\u2019s French fries, you\u2019ll see the top of a vault perfectly fitted for the space in 12-gauge cold-rolled steel secured by a keyed or a three- or four-tumbler lock. While the vault can still store your cough drops, it can also secure your firearm while you run into a \u201cbanned\u201d location or head into work.<\/p>\n

The simple advice I offer to my new students who have never carried a gun before is that their initial investment must include three things \u2014 a carry gun that works for them, a good holster that also works for them and a good vehicle safe.<\/p>\n

Excuse No. 2: The novelty has worn off, and I\u2019m just not thinking about it when I leave the house.<\/h2>\n

With over 11 million permit holders in the U.S. and even after three decades of history behind the concealed carry movement, as a culture, we still don\u2019t view carrying firearms for personal protection the same way we view buckling our seatbelts or maintaining smoke alarms in our homes. Seat belts and smoke alarms have been with us for so long that they no longer seem like \u201cactive\u201d methods of protecting us from risk, and they\u2019ve now moved into the background of our thinking and are just always there and always ready. When is the last time you got into your car and thought, \u201cI am going to buckle my seatbelt today, because today there is a risk that I might get into a car crash\u201d? For me, when I slide into the driver\u2019s seat, it\u2019s an automated process to reach over my left shoulder, grab the seatbelt and click it just before I start the car. I no longer think about it. It just happens. Is wearing a seatbelt comfortable? If I had to be honest, I\u2019d probably say \u201cno,\u201d but I\u2019ve done it for so long that I no longer notice.<\/p>\n

The same thing is true with my gun. Putting it on my side in the morning is as automated as putting my wallet and cell phone in my pockets and putting my seatbelt on before I hit the road. So how did I get to that point? Like any other task that you want to make automated, repetition matters. That \u201cautomated\u201d feeling won\u2019t occur after a week, but it will occur after a month or two, and carrying your firearm won\u2019t just become the new \u201cnormal,\u201d it will feel abnormal if you\u2019re forced to leave it behind. As a comparison, how uncomfortable would you feel if you were forced to take a cross-country (or even cross-town) trip without wearing your seatbelt? For me, I\u2019d have a feeling of discomfort until the moment I pulled safely back into my garage.<\/p>\n

Excuse No. 3: I\u2019m just not comfortable carrying a gun in public.<\/h2>\n

This is an excuse I can relate to, because the very first time I carried a concealed firearm in public, I swore that everyone knew I was carrying. I really couldn\u2019t think of anything else other than, \u201cOh my God, I\u2019m carrying a gun!\u201d At one point at a local mall, I bent down to tie my son\u2019s shoe, and I realized that my jacket had hitched up and had (shock!) exposed the bottom of my holster. I turned three shades of red and was sure that a mall security guard would tackle me at any moment (OK, I\u2019m exaggerating a little bit). Today, if I find that my covering garment has hitched up and exposed my firearm, I simply readjust my shirt or jacket and carry on.<\/p>\n

If your discomfort at carrying is based upon your belief that having a concealed carry permit still puts you on the fringe of society, you can put your mind at ease. There are [at the time this article was written] an estimated 12 million permit holders in the United States (Editor’s note:<\/strong>\u00a0There are as many as 17.25 million now<\/a>, in 2018<\/em>). That means that approximately six percent of the eligible population in the U.S. are card-carrying permit holders, just like you. While that might not sound like a lot, think about this: Let\u2019s say you work at a large manufacturing plant with 10,000 employees. That means that on average, 600 of your fellow employees will have a concealed carry permit. If you work at Walmart and have a concealed carry permit, you\u2019re in good company. With 1.3 million U.S. employees, that means that about 78,000 other Walmart employees also have their permits.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen the evolution myself. When I first got my permit, someone mentioned that fact at a social event I was attending. It was instantly apparent that even among the generally conservative crowd, my permit was considered an \u201coddity,\u201d and I had no fewer than 10 people ask to see my permit or ask me if they could see my gun. More than a dozen years later, having a permit is considered mainstream among my social circles, including other parents at my sons\u2019 school, our friends at church, the leaders and parents within my sons\u2019 Boy Scout troop and among my pals at the fire department.<\/p>\n

Excuse No. 4: I haven\u2019t found a good carry gun.<\/h2>\n

The gun industry is going through a great evolution, and it isn\u2019t to make larger guns in higher calibers. Instead, it\u2019s to make guns smaller and in more moderate calibers. In other words, they are now building more guns that are more likely to be carried. While there are plenty of local and national instructors who will turn their noses up at the thought of carrying anything smaller than a 9mm, I\u2019m not one of them. While I am a huge fan of the 9mm, I\u2019m a bigger fan of actually carrying. If that larger caliber\/larger frame firearm is keeping you from carrying, its threat-stopping ability is zero.<\/p>\n

If the carry gun that works for you is a Walther P22<\/a> chambered in the diminutive .22 Long Rifle, then I applaud your choice. That\u2019s the choice my mother happened to make. She\u2019s in her 70s, and the P22 allows her to easily rack the slide and manage the recoil, which leads to much more time on the range. The ammunition is also cheap enough that she fires more rounds during a single practice session than plenty of high-speed, low-drag operators whose carry gun caliber starts with a \u201c4.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard time and time again about how lower calibers have no stopping power, but I have yet to hear a single story of a responsibly armed American who was killed because his or her attacker fought his way through a hail of .22- or .380-caliber slugs. Remember that violent predators by their very nature are cowards, and the sign of any gun in the hands of their potential victims will make them change their plans in the blink of an eye. I feel sorry for any potential attacker targeting my mother because she will not miss.<\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t browsed your local gun shop lately,<\/a> take the time to check out the latest compact guns from SIG, Smith & Wesson, Glock<\/a> or Springfield<\/a>, to name a few.<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t afford one? My suggestion is that if you\u2019re not carrying your full-sized gun because it\u2019s \u201ctoo big,\u201d then it\u2019s worthless to you. Trade it in for something you\u2019ll actually carry.<\/p>\n

Why should we care?<\/h2>\n

So, I mentioned that about six percent of all eligible Americans have their concealed carry licenses, but based upon my own informal surveys, less than 10 percent of those permit holders regularly carry (Editor’s note:<\/strong> A 2017 study in the American Journal of Public Health<\/a> found that 3 million Americans carry a firearm every single day, so the percent that carries regularly is likely higher than the author’s 10 percent estimate but the fact remains that too few permit holders carry every day<\/em>). Why is that important? Well, that six percent might be all that stands between us and the next rapid mass murderer.<\/p>\n

On July 22, 2012, when James Holmes opened fire at the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, there were 421 men, women and children packed into the midnight screening of The Dark Night Rises. If you figure half of those were adults over the age of 21, we should have had 12 to 13 responsibly armed Americans in that theater, ready to drop Holmes in his tracks. Instead, Holmes got nine long minutes to methodically shoot up Theater 9 prior to being apprehended by the police. The result was 12 dead and 70 injured.<\/p>\n

OK, I\u2019m ignoring the fact that the theater was posted with a \u201cNo Guns Allowed\u201d sign, but that\u2019s another battle to be fought. Get comfortable with carrying, get a gun and holster option that works for you, and quit worrying that everyone knows you\u2019re carrying a gun.<\/p>\n

Discover how you can join nearly 300,000 responsibly armed Americans who already rely on the USCCA to protect their families, futures and freedoms: USCCA.com\/gunsamerica<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

***Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a>***<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While I can\u2019t necessarily translate my unscientific study to the nation as a whole, I\u2019d have to estimate that at least 80 to 90 percent of the permit holders that I know personally don\u2019t carry regularly or even carry at all. The question is, \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":100612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,234,340,240],"tags":[132,586,127,626,640],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-100611","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gunsamerica-authors","8":"category-columns","9":"category-columns-ccw-edc","10":"category-this-week","11":"tag-buzz","12":"tag-column","13":"tag-concealed-carry","14":"tag-opinion","15":"tag-self-defense"},"yoast_head":"\nWhy Aren\u2019t You Carrying? Here Are the Four Most Common Excuses<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"So you went ahead and bought your gun and holster, got your permit, took a training class or two but when it comes time to carry you don't. Why?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Aren\u2019t You Carrying? Here Are the Four Most Common Excuses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While I can\u2019t necessarily translate my unscientific study to the nation as a whole, I\u2019d have to estimate that at least 80 to 90 percent of the permit holders that I know personally don\u2019t carry regularly or even carry at all. The question is, \u201cWhy?\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gun Reviews and News | GunsAmerica.com\/Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gunsamerica\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-21T15:19:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-06T17:51:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FromThePages_5b.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"813\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"News Wire\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gunsamerica\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gunsamerica\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News Wire\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News Wire\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/87634856a7e290d26d603f784a635a65\"},\"headline\":\"Why Aren\u2019t You Carrying? Here Are the Four Most Common Excuses\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-21T15:19:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-06T17:51:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2165,\"commentCount\":29,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/FromThePages_5b.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Buzz\",\"Column\",\"Concealed Carry\",\"Opinion\",\"Self-Defense\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Authors\",\"Columns\",\"Concealed Carry\\\/EDC\",\"This Week\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\\\/\",\"name\":\"Why Aren\u2019t You Carrying? Here Are the Four Most Common Excuses\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/FromThePages_5b.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-21T15:19:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-06T17:51:38+00:00\",\"description\":\"So you went ahead and bought your gun and holster, got your permit, took a training class or two but when it comes time to carry you don't. Why?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/FromThePages_5b.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/FromThePages_5b.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":813,\"caption\":\"Why Aren\u2019t You Carrying? Here Are the Four Most Common Excuses\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Aren\u2019t You Carrying? Here Are the Four Most Common Excuses\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/\",\"name\":\"Gun Reviews and News | GunsAmerica.com\\\/Digest\",\"description\":\"Gun Reviews, Industry News, and Product Reviews for Rifles, Pistols, Revolvers, Shotguns, Optics, and Ammunition. Looking to purchase a firearm online? Look no further than GunsAmerica.com, America's premier destination for buying and selling firearms.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"GunsAmerica\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/image-3.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/image-3.png\",\"width\":286,\"height\":156,\"caption\":\"GunsAmerica\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/gunsamerica\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/gunsamerica\",\"https:\\\/\\\/instagram.com\\\/gunsamerica_official\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/GunsAmerica\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/87634856a7e290d26d603f784a635a65\",\"name\":\"News Wire\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dd7b287fa3dce54480381e439d5f0091176aa6d7e4dbb79c7eb8a0e723a0053f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dd7b287fa3dce54480381e439d5f0091176aa6d7e4dbb79c7eb8a0e723a0053f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dd7b287fa3dce54480381e439d5f0091176aa6d7e4dbb79c7eb8a0e723a0053f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"News Wire\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/author\\\/news-wire\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Aren\u2019t You Carrying? Here Are the Four Most Common Excuses","description":"So you went ahead and bought your gun and holster, got your permit, took a training class or two but when it comes time to carry you don't. Why?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Aren\u2019t You Carrying? Here Are the Four Most Common Excuses","og_description":"While I can\u2019t necessarily translate my unscientific study to the nation as a whole, I\u2019d have to estimate that at least 80 to 90 percent of the permit holders that I know personally don\u2019t carry regularly or even carry at all. The question is, \u201cWhy?\u201d","og_url":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/","og_site_name":"Gun Reviews and News | GunsAmerica.com\/Digest","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gunsamerica","article_published_time":"2018-11-21T15:19:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-06T17:51:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":813,"url":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FromThePages_5b.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"News Wire","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@gunsamerica","twitter_site":"@gunsamerica","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News Wire","Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/"},"author":{"name":"News Wire","@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/#\/schema\/person\/87634856a7e290d26d603f784a635a65"},"headline":"Why Aren\u2019t You Carrying? Here Are the Four Most Common Excuses","datePublished":"2018-11-21T15:19:23+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-06T17:51:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/"},"wordCount":2165,"commentCount":29,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FromThePages_5b.jpg","keywords":["Buzz","Column","Concealed Carry","Opinion","Self-Defense"],"articleSection":["Authors","Columns","Concealed Carry\/EDC","This Week"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/","url":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/","name":"Why Aren\u2019t You Carrying? Here Are the Four Most Common Excuses","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FromThePages_5b.jpg","datePublished":"2018-11-21T15:19:23+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-06T17:51:38+00:00","description":"So you went ahead and bought your gun and holster, got your permit, took a training class or two but when it comes time to carry you don't. Why?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FromThePages_5b.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FromThePages_5b.jpg","width":1200,"height":813,"caption":"Why Aren\u2019t You Carrying? Here Are the Four Most Common Excuses"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/why-arent-you-carrying-here-are-the-four-most-common-excuses\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Aren\u2019t You Carrying? Here Are the Four Most Common Excuses"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/","name":"Gun Reviews and News | GunsAmerica.com\/Digest","description":"Gun Reviews, Industry News, and Product Reviews for Rifles, Pistols, Revolvers, Shotguns, Optics, and Ammunition. Looking to purchase a firearm online? Look no further than GunsAmerica.com, America's premier destination for buying and selling firearms.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/#organization","name":"GunsAmerica","url":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-3.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-3.png","width":286,"height":156,"caption":"GunsAmerica"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gunsamerica","https:\/\/x.com\/gunsamerica","https:\/\/instagram.com\/gunsamerica_official\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/GunsAmerica"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/#\/schema\/person\/87634856a7e290d26d603f784a635a65","name":"News Wire","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd7b287fa3dce54480381e439d5f0091176aa6d7e4dbb79c7eb8a0e723a0053f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd7b287fa3dce54480381e439d5f0091176aa6d7e4dbb79c7eb8a0e723a0053f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd7b287fa3dce54480381e439d5f0091176aa6d7e4dbb79c7eb8a0e723a0053f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"News Wire"},"url":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/author\/news-wire\/"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FromThePages_5b-150x102.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/115"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100611"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184615,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100611\/revisions\/184615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100611"},{"taxonomy":"featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured?post=100611"},{"taxonomy":"hunt365","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hunt365?post=100611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}