No one really knows how many Americans regularly carry handguns, concealed or openly.  The number of concealed carry licenses doesn’t tell the tale, particularly since 29 states are now “constitutional carry states.” Unless otherwise prohibited by law, Americans need no license to carry concealed weapons in those states. As I recently noted here at AT, some 36 states allow open carry.

Graphic: Glock 43X, Author:

We do know that April was the 57th consecutive month of more than one million gun sales. It’s reasonable to believe tens of millions of Americans regularly carry, and most don’t advertise the fact. But why should anyone carry?  

Every year, I provide an updated rationale for carrying a handgun. The complete list is here, but here are some of the reasons:

*Evil exists and may confront anyone at any time and any place.

*Evil exists to destroy all that is kind, good and loving.

*God exists and expects me to protect myself, those I love, and those unable to protect themselves.

*Self-defense is a God-given, natural, unalienable right.

*Our country, circa May 2024, is brimming with tens — even hundreds — of thousands of terrorists.  I’m ready.

*The lives of the innocent — friend or stranger — are worth far more to me and to a just society than the lives of vicious criminals and terrorists.

*By carrying a handgun, I honor the foresight and wisdom of the Founders in writing the Second Amendment, which acknowledges, but does not create, the right to keep and bear arms.

*The Biden Mummified Meat Puppet Administration wants to ban common, usual firearms.

*Never in human history has a government disarmed a people for good reasons.

*Never in human history has a government disarmed a people to ensure greater individual liberty and public safety.

*Any government that would disarm a people cannot be trusted.

*Going armed reinforces and upholds the Social Contract.

*An armed society is a polite society.

*Those who lawfully carry concealed weapons are uncommonly law-abiding.

*A government that labels half of the nation “white supremacists” “insurrectionists,” “domestic terrorists,” “racists,” and sends federal law enforcement to spy on and harass parents objecting to the sexual and political indoctrination of their children makes plain the wisdom of the Founders in writing the First and Second Amendments.

*It demonstrates, as nothing else can, that I am the master of my government, not its slave; that elected officials work for me and only with my continuing consent.

Graphic: Author

*It reminds politicians every iota of power they possess is on temporary loan from me and every other American on condition of good, lawful behavior. They hate that.

*I am a free man and no evidence of that fact is more meaningful and convincing than that I own and carry the firearms I prefer.

*It reminds us all that the whims of the most connected and powerful may not prevail over the Bill of Rights as long as it lives and burns brightly in the hearts of patriotic Americans and is not merely fading ink on yellowing paper.

*Semiautomatic handguns and rifles with “high-capacity magazines” are precisely the kind of common and usual firearms the Founders intended Americans to keep and bear. They were content citizens kept and bore the most powerful, useful military arms of their time, even cannon. The principle does not change with time.

*Gun grabbing politicians don’t want me to have the most effective weapons, or any weapons.

*A single respiratory virus with a 99+% survival rate reminds rational Americans how fragile civilization can be, how quickly some would seize absolute power, how reluctant they are to surrender such illegitimate power over others, and how quickly it can all go bad.

*Those who willingly and meekly surrender to criminals surrender more than valuables; they surrender their dignity and honor; they surrender their sovereignty; they surrender civilization itself.

*I am old-fashioned enough to think it my duty to protect those who have less ability than mine to protect themselves.

*I could not live with myself for failing to protect women in danger. Call it sexist if you must, but if you’re unarmed and under attack, would you really think to call an unarmed, untrained Democrat/socialist/communist (D/s/c)? Would an Antifa “activist” assist you? A BLM “mostly peaceful protester”?

*Exercising the Second Amendment helps remind women it is the ultimate women’s issue. No one–apart from children–benefits more from the ability to deter and stop criminal attacks.

*The possibility of having to fend off an armed attack in a mall, theater, restaurant, or other public place has never been greater, and if D/s/cs get their way, it will become the new normal. It already is in many places.

*Foremost, I am an American; I am a free man; it is my tradition and heritage.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.