Why I Carry ...and why not to say so

From time to time I have held break-room conversations with co-workers.

They knew I'm a "Gun Nut", and some of them know I have a license to carry a concealed firearm.

 But of course, my co-workers are are Academics, who are more concerned with the concept and have no idea that I had been carrying a firearm on my employer premises (a university campus, where concealed carry is illegal) since the first day of my employment .. which lasted for over 15 years.

That's another story, which I shall not visit today.  They never knew; they never asked.

In our conversations over coffee, when the subject came up (rarely), I asked them:
"Do you have a driver's license?"

All did, of course.

I asked them: "Do you carry it at all times?  Do you have it on your person now?"

They said yes.

"Why do you carry it?"



Well .. because if I get stopped by the police, I would need it to show that I was a licensed driver.

"Okay.  You carry your drivers license because sometime you may need it, even if you believe that you are obeying all traffic laws .. sometimes you might be pulled over for some reason that you are not aware of, such as a broken tail-light.  Maybe it's not that you have intentionally done wrong, it's just because your car is old, or your car developed a short in the wiring." 

Nods all around

"Or maybe you get into an accident.  Is there anybody here who has never been pulled over by the police, or had an accident that was not their fault?"

Head shakes all around.

"Okay, so sometimes you need your driver's license, even though you never expect to use it.  It's just that when you need it, you really need it.  That's why I carry a gun.  Off-campus ... here it's always safe. We're all friend; right?"

Nods.

I only held this conversation twice.  Nobody ever asked me again.  I'm not sure whether they bought my bald-face lie that I did not have a gun on my person at the time, or whether they decided that I was one of the 'good guys'.

Or maybe they thought twice about the line:
 Not HERE, of course; this is a college campus.  What need would I have to carry a gun here?  

Strangely, after the 2007 Virginia Tech school shooting, the subject never arose again.

I'm retired now, and I don't go out much.  Of course, I no longer carry because .. why would I need a gun in a College Town?