"Why I Carry" EP 125 Show Opener By Cheryl Todd

#WhyICarry

Why do you carry a gun? Those of us who do carry, get asked this fairly often. It is a simple question, but the answers are complex, deep, and very personal. And the manner in which that question is posed is important to note. You see, all too often the question is hurled as an accusation. It is a veiled indictment that there is something deeply wrong and broken in the character of the person who does carry or simply owns a firearm.
Suppose the shoes were on different feet, and those of us who value our personal protection, and understand what it means to be our own immediate responders, and who bear the weight of the responsibility to train and teach "“ suppose we were the ones asking "“ why DON'T you carry a gun. I am sure there are as many unique, individual, and deeply personal reasons and answers to that question. But, it is noteworthy to realize how rarely it is ever asked.
The difference truly does come down to the reason that either question would be asked. Are we being curious or judgmental. I will speak for myself, and say that I don't have any reason or right to make a judgement on my neighbor who, for whatever their reasons, chooses not to own and carry guns. I grew up being taught to keep my nose in my own business, and the live and let live way of interacting with the world. I don't know that it ever occurred to me to be so prying as to ask such a question, and it is not in my mindset to impose my views and values on others.
By contrast, there are those who feel that their way is the one and only right way. These people, the #RightsRestrictors, thrive on sameness. They want the control to force everyone to fall in line with their ideas. They do not tolerate independent thought, and they will do anything to be sure that you and I, will heel and obey.
These Rights Restrictors fear your freedom and mine. Those of us who stand outside of their world-view by having the audacity to enjoy our God-given freedoms, they are unnerved by that independent spirit, and they will use any means necessary to muzzle us into silence and crush us under the thumb of tyranny and #BigGovernment.
One of their favorite tactics is using the court of "public opinion". They love the mindless repetition of phrases like #everyoneagrees an nd #commonsense tells us in order to shame us into feeling like #outcasts. This is the predictable and worn-out playground of the Rights-Restrictors. They know that if they can cause our neighbors to look distrustfully at us, those of us who love our freedoms, and who exercise those freedoms, that they can change the culture of what is "socially acceptable". From there it is a short walk to impacting how people vote, and what new laws are put into place with the intention of restricting the behaviors they see as unseemly. All this "common sense agreeing" begins to give power one person feels over their neighbor, and allows them to have a say about what actual items their neighbor may and may not have permission to possess in the privacy of their own homes. And once that fully takes hold, freedom will be dead and gone. Today it is the "˜evil' firearm"¦tomorrow who knows what it might be"¦but, once the Rights Restrictors get people hooked on the drug of control over their neighbor they will take more and more liberties with that feeling of ownership"¦and we have plenty of historical examples of the horror-filled pathway that leads down.
So, when someone asks me the question"¦why I carry"¦
The short answer is because I have people who are counting on me to be alive and well, and it is my responsibility to take my vitamins, stay healthy, and #stayalive.
Why I carry is also because I am smart enough to know that when I fall in a pool of water it is up to me to begin swimming "“ I don't simply jump in and expect a lifeguard to appear and do the swimming for me"¦and in the immediacy of a dangerous incident the police cannot magically appear in time to save me. I must take the most appropriate actions to react to be my own #ImmediateResponder.
And, finally, why I carry is to instill in our children and our children's children that we are #Patriots who value our Constitutional and #CivilRights and we exercise these Rights unencumbered, and as free American Citizens, who need no permission from anyone to do so. This and so much more is Why I Carry.
- Cheryl Todd, Gun Freedom Radio Host & AZFirearms