Life of a bachelor - Day 1

Today will be day one of my week as a bachelor while Mychelle and the kids visit family in SC. Today was also my first day carrying a weapon out in public. I openly carried my Grendel P-10 .380 pistol on my hip as I ran errands today.

When I moved to Virginia my brother-in law suggested that he and I get our concealed weapons permits. I've always wanted to get mine. I grew up in house where my step father and I dedicated a whole room to guns. I have always felt comfortable around them.

Growing up I saw some of my friends get their concealed weapons permit, and I told myself I would get one once I could afford and buy a pistol. But I never got a pistol, and I never got my permit.

When I signed up with the Army National Guard and spent months sitting, walking, eating, and sleeping with a weapon I determined to get my permit when I got back home. But I never could justify the expense of a handgun and never got a permit.

I was given a .357 revolver from my step-father for a self defense weapon. I couldn't shoot anything with it, and gave it back (my wife is a deadlier shot with a handgun then me). I got a Hungarian F.E.G. .32 ACP from him instead. I call it the Hungarian plinker as it does a better job plinking soda cans then protecting my family.

When my brother-in-law offered to do it with me I decided to actually get it done this time. I had hunter's safety and military training, so all I needed to do was pay the fees and get a pistol. A coworker had just gotten his at the time and kept encouraging me to do it.

I filled out the application, but the day I was going to take it in, I had second thoughts. With the government trying to crack down on guns, I figured any money I put into them would just get lost. I decided to skip all the gun stuff and just get a good quality bow and some arrows for when the crap hits the fan.

Then one day while helping someone move I was gifted the Grendel pistol. It is a perfect concealed weapon, which left me without excuse for not getting permit.

I will admit that when I paid the $50 bucks I felt like I was throwing away money. But afterwards I felt very patriotic to not only exercising my second amendment right, but for volunteering to be part of the militia. In Virginia's constitution it says that during the times of peace that the military is to be subservient to a well regulated militia of the people. I know now that I can be there to respond in a moment of crises.

I was a bit apprehensive about open carrying while waiting for my permit to process. I thought people would scream "that man has a gun!" or think it was illegal carry and call the cops on me. The place that scared me the most was going into the library. I though for sure a mother would fear that I was endangering her children and get me in trouble. But nobody seemed to even notice my weapon. It was a relief to know that the general populace here won't freak out at the site of a gun. It wasn't even dangerous since I decided to not load it my first time out.

It has been a patriotic experience to learn more about concealed weapon laws, stand your ground, deadly & lethal force, and castle doctrine. I feel if you are going to exercise this important right that you shouldn't just be another guy with a gun. You should be a learned and well informed citizen who know very well the laws of the land in which you reside. It is a lot of reading, but it makes me feel more qualified to carry a weapon wherever I go. It is,of course, impossible to take my weapon to work, since they are not allowed there, but I bout a nano gun case and keep a pistol at my bedside.

I don't feel like holding a gun makes me patriotic, but I think the quote I heard is right, "a right not exercised is a right lost". This is one right I don't want us to lose.

Aside from that I set up our new wireless dog fence (an entire post alone could be written on our dog issues), ate half a veggie pizza after consuming only veggie/fruit juice all day, and watched M.I. - Ghost Protocol (it wasn't amazing, but it wasn't the crappy movie I was expecting it to be).

I miss my kids and wife, but it is nice having some time to relax.