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Subject: What do you carry?
RockyMTNClimber    1/4/2008 6:03:10 PM
Many of the Strategy Page posters are LEO and carry weapons both on and off duty. I am long retired from that game but I have retained my CCW ever since. Normally I carry a loaded weapon, either a snub nose hamerless revolver in a Kramer pocket holster OR (rarely) an G19 in a IWB holster, a heavy folding knife on a pocket clip on the weak side, a cell phone, and that is it. My fashion sense just does not allow me to pack a Bat-Belt rig to go about my daily routines in the field or office. My work takes me all over the state of Colorado and frequently into the beast, downtown Denver. I keep a Surefire in my coat pocket at night and a very complete survival pack that two people can live off for a week in my vehicles. I do not carry spare mags or speedloaders but I have recently spoken to some COP-er friends (both active and retired) who are carrying two guns off duty and multiple magazines. Some are preaching 3 mags in possesion at all times. For those of you who carry, EITHER civilian or off duty LEO, What do you carry and why. For the rest what would you carry out and amongst them if you could. Check Six Rocky
 
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flamingknives       1/8/2008 1:15:44 PM
Whoops. I meant to add: in Washington DC.

Incidently, I'm not so provincial that I don't know that Washington is the US capital. I didn't know the firearms law was so tight though. Is it just handguns, or are all firearms banned?
 
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Horsesoldier       1/8/2008 2:50:36 PM

Whoops. I meant to add: in Washington DC.

Incidently, I'm not so provincial that I don't know that Washington is the US capital. I didn't know the firearms law was so tight though. Is it just handguns, or are all firearms banned?

Washington DC probably has some of the most repressive gun laws in the United States.  Handguns are essentially banned entirely (except those grandfathered in prior to 1975 or 76 when their current gun control act went into effect), and while rifles and shotguns and such are legal to own (registration required, though, if I remember right), it is illegal for them to be assembled into an operable state in the home, which would tend to generally reduce their self-defense value to nil for most home invasions and break ins, but would still provide them to thieves who have time to loot the place (and know what they're doing when it comes to guns). 
 
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Horsesoldier       1/8/2008 2:53:31 PM

Rocky, 

Are LEOs permitted to carry off duty? Civilian LEOs, at all?

It depends on the state and, in some cases, municipality.  Law enforcement is usually allowed to carry while off duty even in places where ordinary citizens are denied concealed carry permits (this includes Washington DC, if I'm not mistaken), but I have heard about some cities in the Northeast (possibly just limited to Massachussets) where either state/local law or at least departmental policy is that off duty officers are not allowed to carry.
 
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earlm    What to Carry   1/11/2008 12:00:40 AM
I'll be traveling all over the American West this summer and I'm going to be sleeping in the car, at campgrounds and off the side of the road sometimes.  In the day I'll be fishing.  What weaponry would be the best for self-defense.  I fear no animal that exists in CONUS.  I know them well enough to deal with them unarmed but I do fear the nutjob reject genetically warped specimens of homo sapiens that are out there.  Advice would be appreciated.
 
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larryjcr       1/11/2008 1:09:55 PM

I'll be traveling all over the American West this summer and I'm going to be sleeping in the car, at campgrounds and off the side of the road sometimes.  In the day I'll be fishing.  What weaponry would be the best for self-defense.  I fear no animal that exists in CONUS.  I know them well enough to deal with them unarmed but I do fear the nutjob reject genetically warped specimens of homo sapiens that are out there.  Advice would be appreciated.


As to animals, remember that with the serious hunting limitations of recent years on cougars and black bear, they have become much more aggressive towards humans over the last couple of decades.  They no longer see humans as dangerous to them.
Best general advice I've found is: rifles give you reach and elegance.  A pistol you can always have with you.  If you're serious about killing something, use a shotgun.
 
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RockyMTNClimber    Earl reply   1/11/2008 1:17:40 PM

I'll be traveling all over the American West this summer and I'm going to be sleeping in the car, at campgrounds and off the side of the road sometimes.  In the day I'll be fishing.  What weaponry would be the best for self-defense.  I fear no animal that exists in CONUS.  I know them well enough to deal with them unarmed but I do fear the nutjob reject genetically warped specimens of homo sapiens that are out there.  Advice would be appreciated.


Most western states are fairly gun owner freindly. That said, it would be best to check the laws for the specific states and Federal Parks you will be visiting. The rules are all over the map when it comes to gun possesion. If you live in a "shall issue CCW" state get one, chances are good that reciprical agreements will cover you in the new jurisdictions. This part of my reply covers the obligitory: know the laws part of the conversation.
Without knowing your experience with firearms and what you own and what kind of terrain you are going to it is hard to answer what is the best weapon to bring with you. I spend allot of time in very remote places and I have allot of experience with handguns so I am comfortable carrying a .357 magnum pistol to handle the two and four legged creatures that might want to do me harm. In my travels I have been stalked by mountain lions (more than once) and had a mad bear charge me (dropped my fly rod and climbed a tree that time and YES I know bears climb trees too!) & one black bear rolled a tree trunk down the hill at me and my 14 year old daughter. For which he recieved a 158gr SWC that blew dirty up his nose (a warning shot). So don't take the creatures of the night lightly. I've killed several Rattlesnakes that were too close to the livestock, house, camp, scared the cr*p out of me, et..
 
For a general rule, I lean away from the semi-auto pistols in the outdoors because I feel a need to anchor a bear in a pinch and I just don't think anything smaller than a full house .357mag will do for that. In the desert a lighter pistol 9mm, .38spc., .40 S&W with snake shot is just perfect protection from snakes that crawl or walk.
 
Let us know more about your specific situation & maybe the peanut gallery can advise you further.
 
Check Six
 
Rocky
 
 
 

 
 
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RockyMTNClimber    Earl reply   1/11/2008 1:26:11 PM
In the desert a lighter pistol 9mm, .38spc., .40 S&W with snake shot is just perfect protection from snakes that crawl or walk.
 
What I meant by this is carry a snake load in the chamber with the rest of the magazine loaded with an appropriate JHP+P load for anti-social work. CCI's loads are supposed to work pretty well in those circumstances although I have never tried them. Has anyone else?
 
Check Six
 
Rocky
 
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RockyMTNClimber    What to carry: In the Wild   1/11/2008 1:42:05 PM
 
You are many times more vulnerable to death to exposure than animal/man attack in the wild. The first things to carry is water & shelter, and that is followed by med-kit & signal gear. After you have that equipment in your pack, you can acess your fishing gear & everything else. We loose at least 10 people per year in Colorado because they walked down a trail, then the weather changed and they died within minutes from hypothermia. Don't give the coyotes a free feast.
 
ht***tp://www.equipped.org/
 
Check Six
 
Rocky
 
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displacedjim       1/11/2008 3:28:38 PM
Regarding what to take with you in your car on your travels in order to protect yourself from bandits, I advise you only take what the law allows.  Assuming you are going to be able to legally keep your loaded firearm with you in your car and/or while you're on foot while you travel, just be sure to take something, because even a .22cal revolver is much better than no firearm at all.  (I've read that more people have been killed by bullets from .22s than almost any other caliber.  Certainly this is because of the millions of .22s out there, but my point is you can easily incapacitate or kill someone using a .22cal weapon.)  Since you sound like you'll be driving and you'll be out and about walking/hiking/whatever, then take a handgun.  Since the odds are infinitesimal you'll actually need to defend yourself from someone, and the odds you'll need more than about two or three shots in such a situation are almost unmeasureable, then do not fear taking something as "limited" or "marginal" as a five- or six-shot revolver in some "wimpy" caliber.  I refer you to my earlier assertion:  even a .22cal revolver is much better than no firearm at all.
 
 
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YelliChink       1/11/2008 3:52:03 PM
http://www.redstoneprojects.com/trebuchetstore/sling_shot__trans.gif" width=287 border=0>
The only allowed carry-weapon in Chicago.
 
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