No, I'm just happy to see you.

Got home from the new job tonight, and after greeting the dogs, I pulled everything off my belt and out of my pockets and flopped it down on the desk. I've never really stopped to look, but man, I carry around alot of stuff.

Left to right:

• cheapie Benchmade knife
• keys
• cell-phone
• backup weapon (S&W 442)
• Zippo
• eyedrops (it's summer in Georgia)
• speedloader
• change and wallet
• primary weapon (Sig P228)

Before you get all huffy, it's perfectly legal. I live in a state that respects the right to self-defense, I'm licensed, and I need it for work.

I've left the corporate rat-race behind, and I'm working in a gun shop now. The atmosphere is great, I work with nice and intelligent people, and I don't have to live in fear of getting "spotted."

I've been in a few sketchy spots in previous jobs, and I've even been in direct proximity to shootings. I've had a gun pulled on me. And these were "safe" jobs.

A few years back, I decided to carry a gun for self-protection. This wasn't a matter of "I'm not gonna take it any more," but a reasoned decision. I'm not a confrontational person, and I'm not the type to act out on anger. I don't have a vigilante bone in my body. However, sooner or later, it was possible that I'd be the target of imminent harm, and given that, I took it upon myself to go armed discreetly.

I've never broken the law, but most corporations forbid their employees from carrying weapons on the job, so "discretion" was the word of the day if I didn't want to be out of work. Fortunately, I was never spotted. Still, discretion means very conscientious concealment, so I had to rely on small weapons and conceal them well. That can be a real hassle. It takes time to draw and present from deep concealment in a tense situation, and if the worst happened, I'd have to worry about those around me panicking or running into the line of fire.

Now I'm at a job where I'm strongly encouraged to carry a gun, and it's a huge relief. Not only am I openly armed, those around me are as well. It's tremendously reassuring, to say the least. Plus, the job is fun. It's a liberating thing to be doing something I enjoy rather than just trudging through to make ends meet.

Quote of the day:

"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."
- George Washington's First Inaugural Address.