Complacency and CCW

As a past law enforcement officer and a 10+ year CCW permit holder, I understand the dangers of becoming complacent about carrying concealed. Let’s face it, most CCW permit holders go through a cycle that takes place over time. For most people (including me), the process seems to go something like this:

Year 1 – You just received your CCW permit and you are carrying concealed whenever legally allowed. Most likely you have just started a “journey” to find the optimal CCW handgun and holster combo for your needs. You’re making monthly, sometimes even weekly trips to the range to practice.

Year 2 – You’re still a card carrying CCW person, but there are times when it just isn’t practical to grab your gun and potentially deal with the issues that may come with carrying concealed. Those issues include an action plan in the event that you need to enter a location or area where CCW isn’t legal, remembering to put on your “CCW” pants (as my wife calls them) that are one or two sizes bigger so you can carry IWB, and how to keep your handgun secure in the event you have to take it off. Trips to the range to shoot are down to once every 2 months or so.

Year 3 – By year 3, you’ve lost some more enthusiasm for CCW and it’s beginning to become a downright hassle. As such, you’ve started carrying sporadically when you “think” you need it. You’ve been meaning to go to the range, but life keeps getting in the way.

Year 4 – By year 4, your idea idea of carrying concealed is having a pistol in the car with you. While you may feel that you are still maintaining a “prepared” mindset, you haven’t been to the range to practice in the last 6 months.

Year 5 – You’re only putting a pistol in the car when you travel these days as it’s just too much of a hassle. You might get to the range this year, but if you  don’t, it’s no big deal.

Does any of this sound familiar? It sure did for me. While I was carrying in the GA store, I had reached a point where I was barely carrying outside the office. While I was keenly aware that I should have been carrying, I simply wasn’t for a multitude of reasons that all really added up to complacency.

My ah-ha moment about CCW occurred on July 21st, 2012. On July 20th, I had taken my two teenage sons to see a midnight screening of the Dark Knight Rises. The morning of July 21st, I learned about the shooting on the news. Had that gunman walked into the theater I was in that night/morning, there was very little I could have done to protect my kids, myself, or anyone else as I wasn’t carrying concealed that night. Now, in all fairness, at that time, the CCW laws in my state wouldn’t allow CCW in a movie theater. That being said, the incident really hit home for me as I saw how unprepared I had become.  Given my LEO background and industry I work in, I was very disappointed that I had let my preparedness slide so far down hill.

So I made a change. Back to carrying on nearly constant basis (when applicable) and trips back to the range to get back into shooting shape.

After hearing my experience, where do you think you stand in terms of being complacent?