When to start carrying?

[Tnichols00]

Grew up shooting, maybe shot my first long gun at 6 IDK and my first handgun at 12, have been shooting ever since.

Started carrying at 23 when I moved from the country to the city. Been carrying ever since even though I am back in the country. I have only done my own training for personal protection but have had hunter edu coarse when I was younger.

 

[Lebowski]

Didn't grow up in a gun family, but had a BB gun when I was in the 3rd grade or something. I used to have a bunch of BB gun 'trophies' of mangled pop cans in my room and considered myself a pretty good shot with it. Didn't shoot a whole lot when I was a teen or anything, and then at 21 I was living out west and had some more hands on experience with 'real' guns. Would go out to the desert and spend hours shooting at a makeshift range. Got to shoot shotguns, rifles and a few pistols. All different calibers, and my old shooting skills came back. With a cheap .22 (Marlin, I think) a buddy who grew up on a farm and had been shooting basically since a kid and I had a shooting contest. We had to end it at a tie as the sun went down and neither of us could hit that damn cigerette box that we placed on a hillside with free sights.

Moved back to Indiana, got a pistol as a gift from a family member. Took it to the range a couple times. Just a couple months ago I bought my first gun, a S&W 4566TSW. Love it. Still don't have a carry permit, but carried it in a holster when shooting on my friend's private property.

I'm 25 now, and will be applying for my LTCH when my lease is up here and when I get my new place.

 

[Maximinus Thrax]

I started carrying regularly at 24 but have had my LTCH since I was 22.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I've been around guns all my life. Mostly hunting guns, 22s, shotguns, and muzzle-loaders. It wasn't until I was in my late twenties that I started shooting handguns and got my first LTCH. I've had a LTCH for many years, but I've never carried a handgun on my person in a public place in my life. I got the permit to go to the gun range, thinking I'd eventually start carrying, but I never have.

For one thing, I drive a company car and I'm prohibited from having a gun in it. And, when I'm not at work, I'm pretty much a home-body these days, so home protection and range shooting is the main purpose for my handguns. Now, when my wife and I go on a day trip or stay in a hotel, I always take a handgun, but it stays in the car or in the hotel room and I'm OK with that. Someday, maybe I'll carry, but right now I don't even have an easily concealable handgun.

 

[88GT]

I started shooting about 15 years ago (early 20s). I got my LTCH and carried within 6 months of starting to shoot. I took some basic pistol courses and a few "tactical" seminars in those 15 years. Evidence does not support the argument that lack of formal training is a liability. I'd go a step farther and say that the benefit of training over non-training is negligible to the point of being non-existent when compared to the benefit between carrying and not carrying.

For the purpose of this post, practicing/drilling is not considered to fall under the scope of formal training.

 

[beararms1776]

I carried a Daisy BB rifle 40 yrs. ago.

 

[CPT Nervous]

Started shooting at 10, started carrying at 19, started carrying openly at 20.

 

[red_zr24x4]

Started shooting at about 8, started carrying at 21. Been carrying for 24 yrs.

 

[Hohn]

I grew up in a shooting family. Joined the Air Force and served in pararescue, so we had tons of training on weapons of all kinds. But I did not start carrying until I was 50. After our home was broken into I decided that I will never go unarmed again. I still do a lot of shooting and feel that my military background has really helped.

Pararescue? You sir, have my utmost respect-- and deepest condolences for some pretty tough training! That's a heck of pipeline to endure.

Just watching all those guys at Lacklack shuffling everywhere was enough to make me in awe of them-- never mind the water works.

 

[9mmfan]

Grew up around guns, most of which were loaded and NOT locked up. Got my License when I was about 25, just BEFORE I bought my first handgun.
Carried infrequently back then (was quite the drinker when I was younger). Started carrying for a part time security job around age 30.
Full time carry (minus work) around 36 or so. No formal training prior.
Have taken a few small courses the last couple years.

 

[Hoosierman]

Shot my first gun when I was 10. Was goofing around at my grandparents house and found a .22 rifle in the closet. Talked Grandpa into letting me shoot it, and it was all over, lol. Bought my first handgun the day I turned 21, a cz52. Applied for my permit the same day, and was carrying it a month or so later. (Back when the wait times were that short, haha)

 

[danmdevries]

Got my ltch when I was 22. No training other than rangetime/plinking with a friend. Got my ltch but didn't actually start carrying for another 2 years once I felt knowledgeable enough about firearms and even then, intermittently. I started carrying routinely probably around 2007.

 

[mk2ja]

Didn't grow up around guns. Although dad had a shotgun from his childhood, I never found it and he didn't have any ammo, anyway. My dad's brother introduced me to firearms and weapons safety when I was 11, and a couple of my brother's friends took me to the range when I was 15. It wasn't until I was 21 that I got interested in carrying. Dad and I went through this process together: we got the LTCH first, then each got our first handguns, but didn't start carrying it until after we'd taken an NRA pistol class together.

I fully support the fact there is no training requirement to carry in Indiana, but I also strongly encourage those who haven't grown up with guns to take a class before they start carrying.

 

[worddoer]

Up until my 30's I only shot .22's and shotguns. But in 2007 there were 2 incidents within a couple months that brought me to handguns and carrying.

Incident #1... I was northbound on I-69 near Fort Wayne. I was in the left lane and was not apparently going fast enough for the person behind me even though I was passing several cars at a good clip. This person cut off a car in the right lane, drove as far as he could get and then cut me off almost running me off the road. When he was cutting me off, I honked my horn at him. Apparently that set him off. He spent the next 10 miles pulling in front of me and slamming his brakes, getting beside me and succeeding in pushing me off the road (my little pickup was able to handle the grass in the median), and generally trying to kill me. I tried to take exits, but since his SUV was much quicker, he kept blocking me. The culmination was when he slammed on his brakes and came to a stop in the middle of 69. He was about 50 yards in front of me and he got out of his SUV with a baseball bat and started to walk toward my truck. I floored my truck and drove through the median to get past him. I then tried to get off...again him blocking the exit. I then pulled back onto the right lane, when he then started to chase I hit my brakes and drove off 69, through the grass area between the highway and the exit ramp taking the exit ramp to get away. Due to traffic he could not follow. Unfortunately, at that time in my life I did not have a cell phone. So that was not even an option. I will tell you I thought I was going to die that day. It took me the rest of the day to calm down and it is forever etched in my memory.

Incident #2...At our church there was a lady who was being abused by her boyfriend. Although she admitted he abused her, there was suspicions he also abused her 2 children. Apparently after counseling with our pastor and his wife, she filed a restraining order against him and he was not allowed near her nor the children. Well...he came to a church service demanding that our children's workers give the children to him. Which of course we denied. We called police, but he left before they got there. But on his way out he threatened to kill anyone who stood in his way the next time he came for the children. Thankfully the police caught and jailed him before that "next time" came.

After those incidents, I started researching carrying. I was already a 2nd Amendment supporter, but never really considered the need to carry. After research, not only is it a right, but I believe it is the responsibility of those who are law abiding citizens to carry to protect ourselves as well as others we care about. Law enforcement is exactly what their name is...to enforce the laws after the fact. Law enforcement is not "personal security service" intended to prevent crime from happening.

For anyone who has been on this forum for more than a few months, you have heard the saying "when seconds count, law enforcement is only minutes away". That is what rang in my ears after these 2 incidents. Law enforcement could not have been their fast enough in either situation. And knowing that is what brought me to where I am today. I have decided that while there is still breath in my body, I will not allow someone to physically harm my wife, son, family, or others I care about.

 

[mwg]

I started to carry when I was 19 , and was trained by family.

 

[VN Vet]

With the Feds wanting into the Zimmerman Fight, I'd highly recommend you start carrying now (if you have your license) or get your license application paid for and in the mail and pray you are not killed within the next four to six months or until your license to carry arrives.

The devil made me type this, it really did.

 

[Sigmachirev]

I started Carrying about a year ago. I bought my first Handgun (Ruger P95) About a week after my carry permit came in the mail. not much experience before that but I have put about 5,000 rounds down range since then and took the Overwatch Course P110 - Everyday Pistol.

 

[LtScott14]

Had a shotgun at my parents farm when younger. After getting married, Wifey had a close call of "bump and rob(rape)", coming home from work in 1983. We went to Blythes, bought two handguns. 38 S&W Snub, and a Beretta 25 ACP. Also signed up for a Gun Safety Course. We both attended, shot our guns, learned to clean them, and applied for LTCHs. After receiving LTCHs, we carried those for a few years. I eventually traded the 25 ACP in to a Beretta 92F, for my carry and the Wifey carried the Snubbie 38 spec.
Have traded quite a few since then, but currently trust a G19 for carry, and a G21 for HD. We have a S&W 442 for Wifey in her nightstand.