To Home Carry, or Not To Home Carry:
A Battle of Experts
By
William Barclay Masterson. December 29, 2021
I always enjoy reading the JPFO articles, and two of the most recent ones by Massad Ayoob Why Wearing a Gun in the Home is a Good Idea (jpfo.org) and Alan Korwin Quick Draw or Slow (jpfo.org) were no exception. Mr. Ayoob believes that "wearing a gun in the home is a good idea." Mr. Korwin disagrees. He offers many reasons for his dissent and explains why he believes his good friend Massad is wrong, his "points unjustified compared to the degree of threat, the frequency of events, and what really happens in most confrontations." I have never met and shaken hands with either expert, but know and highly respect them both by their own words. I particularly enjoyed Korwin's book AFTER YOU SHOOT available at: www.gunlaws.com/AYS.htm. The entire gunlaws.com site is a literary 2A treasure chest!
So who do I think is right? My response is predicated on an honest answer to a very basic question. After all, it was Voltaire who famously said, "If you wish to converse with me, define your terms." So I must ask, who is Korwin's primary audience? I believe Korwin's point-by-point analysis and concerns are all important. But I also believe that responsible, educated, highly trained and well-practiced citizens who choose to own a defensive firearm and carry it both outside the home and in, will not necessarily see the concerns of both gentlemen as always related.
Here is my opening statement …
Ever since my wife and I first became homeowners, we've had fire insurance. We don't obsess about our home going up in flames, G-d forbid. We don't know anyone personally whose home did go up in flames. We simply have the protection because it might or could happen, even though statistics would indicate that while it will happen by chance expectancy to a certain percentage of unspecified others, it remains highly probable that it will not happen to us. Nonetheless, we still have fire insurance! This does not mean that we barbeque food in our living room nor roast marshmallows over an open fire in our den. It would be ludicrous to imply that having fire insurance means that we are either more prone to a house fire, are going to act carelessly because we are insured, or that we obsess about it. There is no implicative linkage.
Every time we get into our car, we put on seatbelts. We have never been involved in a collision, thank G-d, but we still put on our seatbelts and drive carefully. We don't obsess about being hit from behind and going through the windshield, G-d forbid, but we are always very careful drivers who exercise good sense and caution on the road. We always remember to put into practice everything we know about safety, prevention, driving defensively, so forth and so on. It would be insulting to suggest that since we wear our seatbelts and are insured, we would somehow be more prone to tickets, reckless driving, accidents, and worse. Again, there is no implicative linkage.
Korwin seems to believe that carrying a firearm in the house means that one is somehow magically more prone to "quick draw" when it is not warranted … especially by men! He wonders if the home carrier is secretly interested in "being a hero or spending [his] life getting free drinks for killing some dirt bag [sic] who really needs killing." For that matter, such concerns could just as easily be aimed at a person who carries OUT of the home.
Should law-abiding citizens who carry, now be suspected of roaming the streets at all hours, looking to kill some dirtbag with wildly uncontrollable explosive blasts of unending blazing firepower? Of course not! If we were to believe that, then no one should ever carry a firearm, anywhere, for fear some prosecutor will accuse him of looking to fulfill some psychotic inner need for bloodlust. Should all law-abiding bearers of firearms be so suspected and flat out not trusted? Of course not! These implications are not true.
Yes, judges and juries can and may indeed think anything, but that is why we have defense attorneys! If only there was even basic firearms education readily available in public schools. It would head off so many misconceptions and profound ignorance, including graduating to full-blown hoplophobia.
I am sure that Ayoob, Korwin, and even little old me would all agree that these sorts of concerns and fears are much better meant for tyros, rank beginners, and those who have no business even touching a gun much less owning and carrying one, those who are not yet ready, and some who may never be ready. Surely we can all agree that carrying a gun ANYWHERE is a tremendous responsibility and not for everyone. It absolutely requires a lot of thought, maturity, soul searching, education, training, practice over time, and an honest assessment of one's personal temperament and feelings on the whys and reasons for such an immense decision. This process is a must for anyone even thinking about going anywhere near a gun, much less choosing to carry one, anywhere. The fact is, everything gun related is always a choice, and that demands very wise decisions, for and from every unique individual. There are no exceptions or shortcuts … if one wants to be wise!
Because I respect these two experts as much as I do, I must assume that what these two great friends are really saying, is that there is a need to accept this immense responsibility, including the moral, legal, financial, and willingness to assume all the potentially life-altering risks that go with it. Such a complicated business, again, is clearly not for everyone.
For me, there is nothing that Korwin writes that would have me either take off my sidearm in the home, or not have one at arm's length, always at the ready. Period! Keep in mind, there are no children in our home. My wife and I both carry at least something legal, even where guns are prohibited by law. We are both educated, trained, practiced, and carry the USCCA protection at the highest level. I urge everyone to keep training, keep learning, keep practicing the right way, and maintain both a quality education and continuing re-education, as muscle memory skills are all perishable. It is no different than practicing the violin. Practice. PRACTICE. PRACTICE!
We must always remember that there is only one way to always win a gun fight. Always, 100% guaranteed! Three words. Avoid. AVOID. AVOID! I can think of 100 unforgettable facts, skills, and bits of business that always need to be available, at the ready, to any wise person with a gun. Besides safety concerns, 99 of them all lead to DON'T SHOOT. GET AWAY. AVOID! The absolute only, last-ditch reason to ever draw a gun much less fire it at another human being is because of an unavoidable, immediate threat of death or great bodily injury. Nothing less! And then and only then, DON'T MISS.
Carrying a gun in the home or anywhere else does not, in and of itself, compel any responsible bearer to automatically resort to a quick draw, nor take away the choice between a quick draw or slow draw from anyone responsible and trained. Our choices and options do not magically vanish depending on where we choose to carry. In my opinion (assuming the bearer is well-qualified), Korwin's implications and linkages to the specific issues both he and Ayoob raise are, again in my opinion, in this context, false.
Carrying options, anywhere, provide us the freedom to make quick or slow draw choices on the spot. Or my favorite, not drawing at all! Anti-freedom Marxists on the Left who ultimately want gun confiscation spew non-stop lies and peddle deliberate misinformation. "If people have guns and carry them, the streets will be like the Wild Wild West. Everyone will be shooting at everybody. Bloodshed will be everywhere. Matt Dillon will be trying to outdraw Billy the Kid." Well, they lie.
Pity these pretend caretakers of social civility who never turn their badly skewed attentions to the rioters and murderers in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, and so many other cities run for decades by Lefties. It's a disgrace! The truth is, they don't give a whit about victims. They want CONTROL and will plot and lie about anything to get it and keep it. Victims are unfortunate collateral damage. They want legal guns from law-abiding citizens because weak, defenseless, needy people are easier for them to control. There is no other reason that passes muster!
In my many decades of carrying, I have never publicly drawn my sidearm. I have never fired at anyone. And I pray to G-d that I am never in a dangerous situation that I either see coming and can't avoid, or don't see coming and can't avoid.
As to the quick or slow draw dichotomy that Korwin references, I believe it was Wyatt Earp who stressed the greater importance of accuracy. Perhaps a better way to put it, is the utmost importance of both a smooth draw and an accurate shot placement.
In my daily life, for me, when I put my pants on, I put my Glock on. Then, I immediately refresh my mind with what a huge responsibility it is. Because the truth is, life is a risk. Being safer is also a risk. And with all respect to those with differing opinions, I will continue to carry everywhere I legally can, including in my own home. That is my business, my responsibility, my life, and my choice. I WANT ALL MY OPTIONS, ALL THE TIME.
I pray we never get a government edict rammed down our throats and up the other end from evil, over-controlling tyrants, who seek to infringe on our right to defend ourselves, day and night. This right comes from G-d. It keeps us safe and free, not subjects or slaves. It also keeps the citizenry alive and resourceful without resorting to the impotency and futility of harsh words, yelling, screaming, soiling one's pants, and otherwise begging and pleading with crazy people, prematurely let out of jail by idiotic Marxist district attorneys, who never should have been voted into office in the first place.
So yes, I will continue to carry everywhere I legally can. This includes in my home, where home invasions can occur in mere seconds, and they are, sadly with greater and greater frequency. Some may be comfortable with additional ill-advised risk for reasons I do not understand, and even sign up for the handicap of even more. Well, not Mr. & Mrs. Masterson. We believe that "too little, too late" could easily lead to ultimate tragedy. We see no gain. None! And of course, if there is any doubt at all, for G-d's sake, DON'T DRAW and DON'T SHOOT! It could be the biggest mistake of your life, that could absolutely ruin the rest of your life. License to carry does not mean license to commit a crime with a firearm!
Always best to have the option of having it and not needing it, instead of needing it and not having it. I want that option and will never, ever, willingly give it up. That personal freedom is part of what liberty is all about. Our founders and framers knew it. G-d expects it of us, by commandment! As for those who don't understand and respect our constitution, history, traditions, and American way of life, I hope they never get anywhere near political power. Throughout history, when they do, nothing good ever comes of it, no matter what their needy self-righteous egos and power-hungry arrogance whispers into their all too human ears!
My thanks to Mr. Ayoob and Mr. Korwin, two 2A giants, for a good discussion. I hope you, dear reader, enjoyed all three articles and found them all good food for thought.
Stay safe. Stay free. How you choose to best do that, of course, is up to you. So know your skills well and don't take any chances. That's another part of personal responsibility (which scares the hell out of the Left) when living in this great land born of liberty and freedom.
© 2021 Copyright William Barclay Masterson
