arizona gun law info

[West Phx Native]

Twiggy, before you trust you life to a cop with a gun there is something you should know. A lot of cops know just enough about their duty weapon to be dangerous. I know a police amourer who can tell you horror stories of some of the weapons the police were carrying. Things such as weapons so dirty they would not function, mags that would not feed because of being dropped, cylinders rusted shut, mind you these are police weapons that they carry everyday. I had a run in with one of Phx's finest who did not know how to clear and render safe a Colt 1911, one of the most produce handguns in history.
There was a study done a number of years ago that compared the number of shots fired vs hits by police and civilians in defensive shooting, the study showed the civilians out shot the police by a wide margin.
A badge does not make a someone any better with a weapon, it just means he gets a paycheck for carrying a weapon.

[keninaz]

And let me add that the department hopes that the officer will never hope to use.
Many also think that LEOs are great drivers but they see too many movies and TV.
I knew one of the driver instructors that taught high speed driving techniques (an advanced course they gave to officers) in CA for a number of years for the CHP.
He told me that only about 15% of the drivers that came through his course had an ability to drive fast efficiently.
He also taught courses on the side such as GT style car handling to people that wanted to compete at tracks and said that most that were taking entry level courses for that were better drivers than the officers he trained by far.
Handling guns is much like driving. If you don't exercise your skills and have a desire to do it and learn you may never be any good at it.
I have known several officers in my life working for everything from little towns, big cities and the Forest Service and many rarely if ever pulled their guns.

[Bob's Burgers]

Originally Posted by nickw252

Judging by your ability to spell and type complete sentences I too am concerned about your ability to safely carry a gun, and clearly you are not intelligent enough to read the laws and research yourself.

Originally Posted by nickw252

Take a CCW class, get educated, know what you're doing, be safe, and go back to high school grammar.

Since when did learning grammar indicate that a person was intelligent? If that is the case then millions of citizens and non-citizens in the USA are "not intelligent". Personally the politicians and academic minded people have led us to believe this same point you exponded in your exposition. I do not need an eloquently worded essay or formal speech to live my life and love my neighbor.

[Kimballette]

Originally Posted by slowbill

I do not need an eloquently worded essay or formal speech to live my life and love my neighbor.

No, but basic writing skills are certainly an asset when attempting to communicate in writing.

[Beware_of_Dog]

As one who took the concealed weapons course and carried a concealed weapon for years, I would like to tell you a story about the most serious occasion regarding carrying my gun.

I had it on me or in my car 90% of the time for years. Then one summer night while driving home in Mesa late one Friday night in my conversion van, a car with dark tinted windows pulled up to me at a stop light. I couldn't see who all was in it but did see a woman in the passenger seat looking at me at they were parked right next to me. I simply smiled as our eyes met and turned away.

As I drove on towards home I noticed they were behind me for a couple miles as I kept going straight. So at one main corner when they happened to be in a lane next to me, I made a sudden left turn to play it safe. In a couple miles later, I stopped at another light and low and behold that same car pulled up next to me, this time with its windows rolled down. As I sat at the light I could see that there were two couples in the car and they seemed to be arguing about something, yet looking over at me every few seconds.

Then I saw the driver start to turn a bit towards my van and raise his arm like he was going to stick it out the window. I could see what looked like a gun in his hand and his woman friend in the front seat trying to pull his arm down and back into the car. I was parked at the light a bit farther back than they were, so as to have a direct view forward out my side window at the driver's head, where he would have to turn backwards over his shoulder to have a direct view of me in my car.

The light was still red with traffic moving across in front of me, and all this happened very quickly. I knew I had a direct view and clear shot at his head if I were to raise my 357 magnum and fire. The thing is that I didn't have my gun with me that night, or I would have prepared to fire when in the next few moments he started to turn again and move his right hand out toward the window. His girl friend pulled his arm down again just as the light turned green and as I sped off with cell phone in hand calling 911. They followed me a bit and pulled up nearly beside me once, but then turned off as they saw I was on my cell phone.

I told this long story to say that I am glad I didn't have my gun with me that night for it made me wait for another alternative. If I would have had it, I am pretty sure I would have had my mind zoomed in on using it and might have had to kill two or more young people in that car.

I no longer carry a gun with me, but do sleep with one nearby to protect my home and loved ones. I suggest you hold off on getting and/or thinking about carrying a gun. You are much more likely to make a mistake with it, than have it save your life.

[ysr_racer]

When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Me, I carry a hammer

[SeaG]

I agree with the posters that emphasize training and regular practice.

I realize my law enforcement experience dates to almost 30 years ago (and in Canada) but even with regular practice and annual qualifying you always worked things through your mind on how you would react in a life threatening situation.

Back then we had pretty basic handguns (S&W M10s) but each car had a 870P - the training we received was 'para-military' with emphasis on sorting out the real threat from perceived ones or even innocent bystanders. I guarantee that is the toughest part of having a weapon.

Luckily in my 8 years I never had to discharge a weapon at anyone, but that was a different time. I have the utmost respect for anyone in law enforcement these days, it was a pretty tough job back then - I can only imagine what they go through on a daily basis now.

For me, anyway - I think carrying gives you a false sense of security and even if it was legal for me to have a weapon down here I wouldn't.

Having said that if you want to carry by all means take as much training as you can, and practice whenever possible.

SeaG