TexasCHLforum.com

deleted.

non-CCW-culture-conformists, get lost! seems we're not welcome here either.

I, like you, am very new to this "culture". I am now coming up on my tenth month of learning about guns and my eighth month of owning one. In that time, I have taken probably a dozen gun-related classes. I have had my CHL for since last Christmas. I have been welcomed without any apparent judgement at several different ranges and on this and other forums. Everyone I have talked to has been as helpful as they could be. Not one of them has made fun of the fact that I don't own any gun specific clothing. At the advanced tactical classes that I have attended the attendees range in age from about 22 to 65. There are crewcuts, high-n-tights, business looks, and ponytails. The clothing ranges from business suits to tactical. I only own my XD9 and a couple of .22 rifles that I inherited. I have no current plans to buy any more guns (well, maybe a HD shotgun). I don't have a gun safe but I do plan to get one. I have a small lockbox in the car, but that is just so I can lock my gun up if I end up somewhere that I can't carry it. I guess what I am saying is that I just don't see what it is that you are talking about.

You mention the cycling culture as a parallel, yet you somehow feel that the CCW culture is more offensive and troublesome. I have lived in that culture and found it to be very much the same as the one I describe above. Acceptance and assistance seem to be the watchwords of the day in both cultures. For someone who allegedly has thick skin you seem to be more bothered by this than anyone I have met so far in either world. Admittedly, my foray into the cycling community was a long time ago. There was no Cat 5 class back then but Fred was a term already long in use. :)

mr.72 wrote:...........the forum to know that maybe they are not the only one out there who doesn't fit in. I imagine there are many of us.

Longest whine I've ever read.

shaggydog wrote:

mr.72 wrote:...........the forum to know that maybe they are not the only one out there who doesn't fit in. I imagine there are many of us.

Longest whine I've ever read.

thanks for illustrating my point

WOW! I don't know what kind of Rambo type gun people you have been hanging with, but please don't paint us all with the same brush.

I have been a CHL holder since 1997, and instructor since 2001. And I STILL don't consider myself a gun nut. Maybe a junkie, but certainly not a nut... I don't look anything like what you have described, and yet, I own more guns than I do shoes.

I am a Christian, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a musician, a computer nerd, AND a gun owner. I suspect there are many, many of us out there who don't know the secret handshake, don't dress the part, or have the attitude.

I have more gun carrying friends than I can count on all my fingers and toes... twice. Only a very few of them even remotely match your description, and even those don't have any apparent disdain for me. I wonder why it is that you do?

mr.72 wrote:deleted.

non-CCW-culture-conformists, get lost! seems we're not welcome here either.

I didn't get to read your post; you deleted it before I had the opportunity. I wish you had left it up.

Chas.

Crossfire wrote:WOW! I don't know what kind of Rambo type gun people you have been hanging with, but please don't paint us all with the same brush.

I wasn't painting everyone with the same brush. If you don't fit the mold, you don't fit the mold.

I am a Christian, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a musician, a computer nerd, AND a gun owner. I suspect there are many, many of us out there who don't know the secret handshake, don't dress the part, or have the attitude.

Likewise I suspect the same. However those who fit this description don't seem to the vocal ones on the gun forums.

I have more gun carrying friends than I can count on all my fingers and toes... twice. Only a very few of them even remotely match your description, and even those don't have any apparent disdain for me. I wonder why it is that you do?

Why it is that I do what?

It was a very lengthy but well written treatise on his experience in dealing with what he considers to be an elitist mindset among gun owners. I wish his skin had been a bit thicker so that he wouldn't have had deleted his post and run off at the first hint of dissent.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:

mr.72 wrote:deleted.

non-CCW-culture-conformists, get lost! seems we're not welcome here either.

I didn't get to read your post; you deleted it before I had the opportunity. I wish you had left it up.

Chas.

Well, Charles as soon as someone stooped to accuse me of whining, I deleted it. It's not about having "thin skin" it's just that it's not worth it to argue about it.

I think Mr 72 was the one that had that loooonng thread about dressing to carry. I read a few pages. I did not post. I will not comment so as not to hijack.

I wish he had left his OP up for us to read.

It's not like we have never had any controversial posts or rants on here before.

Maybe a little Stevie therapy would work......

Anygunanywhere

3dfxMM wrote: You mention the cycling culture as a parallel, yet you somehow feel that the CCW culture is more offensive and troublesome.

No I didn't suggest that at all. Certainly if you go to a road cycling forum you will get treated to elitism just as much as you do on gun forums. The reason I brought up that point is to demonstrate that it is quite reasonable to not want to conform to some cultural norms associated with some groups. Pressure to conform and mistreatment of outsiders is not beneficial to any group that wants to increase their influence or audience.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:

mr.72 wrote:deleted.

non-CCW-culture-conformists, get lost! seems we're not welcome here either.

I didn't get to read your post; you deleted it before I had the opportunity. I wish you had left it up.

Chas.

If nothing else, a good, well reasoned, give and take debate can be a fine learning experience.

mr.72 wrote:

Charles L. Cotton wrote:

mr.72 wrote:deleted.

non-CCW-culture-conformists, get lost! seems we're not welcome here either.

I didn't get to read your post; you deleted it before I had the opportunity. I wish you had left it up.

Chas.

Well, Charles as soon as someone stooped to accuse me of whining, I deleted it. It's not about having "thin skin" it's just that it's not worth it to argue about it.

Yeah, I saw that too.

Someone who was preparing a response to your post sent me a copy of it. It was an excellent post that gives a good bit of insight into how some people who are "among us" but not "one of us" views gun ownership. I would encourage you to post it again, if you still have it. If you don't, I will send it to you by PM, if you would consider re-posting.

I'm sure it will generate a good deal of discussion, but that's a good thing.

Chas.

Well, I was preparing a response when you deleted your post…but I’ll go ahead anyway.

I was going to applaud you for laying your feelings/experience out there, but its a little late for that I suppose. Doing that takes guts. Just like carrying a gun to protect your family when your friends/family ridicule you for it also takes guts.

I know the feeling of being an outsider...but what I don't understand is how you can clump everyone here into a "ccw culture." Like Crossfire, I don’t fit into the “ccw culture� myself as you described it in your original post.

I come here to learn, and that I do everyday through the experiences of other forum members. If I can help someone or pass on some knowledge to others, so much the better.

Mr.72 wrote:I think it would be better for us to assume that newcomers are not going to want to conform to the CCW clique, they just simply want to become armed with the absolute minimum impact to their lives.

As far as I’m concerned there is no such CCW clique or culture to conform… If you want to become armed with the absolute minimum impact to your life, so be it. That is your level of comfort and your business.

In my humble opinion, you can’t carry a weapon and expect it to have a minimum impact on your life. Guns don’t have to become your new hobby (or life), but if you are going to carry one, self-defense should become your 24/7 pastime.

v/r

I thought the cycling parallel was interesting. Suppose someone wears a business suit to work. One day he decides to buy a bicycle and ride it wearing a suit. He gets sweaty. He gets grease on his leg. He scuffs up his dress shoes. Maybe his pants get caught in the chain and he takes a tumble.

I think the people on a cycling forum would be reasonable to suggest different clothes as a solution but that doesn't mean he has to conform.