Quote Originally Posted by crow_noir
Well, when we were going to go to WI we chose to go through the U.P. rather than Chicago.
Have no idea what U.P. is....

S.O.'s best friend went down to Kettering in Flint and then was living there for a job (a REALLY good job.) Were we just not supposed to see the guy for ten years except for the rare occasions that he came to see his Mum?)
So, you're saying you wouldn't go to visit your boyfriend/girlfriend's friend without a firearm?? I mean, my one ex-boyfriend lived in W. Philly, which is not for the faint of heart, especially if you are a white girl (like me) and most of the families there are black, and your boyfriend lives right outside "The Bottoms" by the zoo. However, even though I didn't feel totally safe there, I got a lot of stares, and had issues with people harassing me for taking one of "their" men ( ), I still went there all the time, and never once did I have a gun on me. Neither did he. In the house, yeah, he had a gun, but never once did we ever walk around West Philly, North Philly or South Philly with a gun, no matter that it was dangerous or not. You have a presence, that's the main thing. You have a presence and they are not going to mess with you. You go carrying a gun, you're expecting trouble, and looking for trouble more than avoiding it. That's my opinion anyway. Also, if you're carrying, and you're not comfortable using, there's more of a possibility of the gun being used against you, rather than you using it. That's been a proven statistic.

One time after we left an hour later someone got shot on the corner two houses down from where we were at.
I hear gunshots outside my house, in the blocks surrounding my house, on an almost daily occurrence. I still don't own a gun. I don't get involved in the mess outside my house. My neighborhood for the most part is a nice place, but you still have crap that goes on with some of the losers who live in the area. You have bad people no matter where you go... it doesn't matter if I live in Allentown, Philly, or NYC, or back on the farm where I grew up, I still won't carry a gun. You do things to stay safe. You stay in the right circles and you keep to yourself. You could probably live in the middle of the projects, and if you stay out of other peoples business, they'll stay out of yours and you're not going to need a firearm.

As for a vacation to a beach... You better think of that before even leaving home. Either leave the gun at home or be willing to deal with the consequences if it gets stolen when you have it locked up where ever you put it (the hotel room or the trunk of your vehicle.) (Which if someone uses it as a murder weapon, you're held accountable for that murder.)
As I said, there wouldn't be that opportunity, because I wouldn't be carrying to begin with. There are too many people carrying weapons and using them needlessly. We need stronger rules and regulation on firearms, and less people carrying them around in their handbags on the Sears Tower.