by Tim Schmidt
Many, many people have been coming to me lately telling me that between the presidential election and the general atmosphere in the country, they have been feeling a tug towards concealed carry.

I’ve even had guys who have carried for thirty years email me saying that they are getting more serious about how they carry concealed. They tell me they are practicing more, telling more people about carrying concealed, and even signing up for professional classes. Gun sales are WAY up, and carry permit applications are at an all time high.

In fact, I was browsing our members-only forum today, and saw this little tidbit:

• Law abiding US citizens bought on average 3,177,256 guns every 3 months in 2008.

• You also bought 1,529,635,000 rounds of ammunition in just the month of December 2008. Yeah that is right, that is Billion with a “B”.

It’s easy to see that these people feel a sense of duty toward gun ownership and concealed carry.

I’ll never forget the time I first felt this ‘tug’. It was shortly after becoming a father, while reading an article titled “The Constitutional Right and Social Obligation to Carry a Gun.” I was given the article by a friend, and it really struck a chord with me. It wasn’t that I was new to guns- it was just that I had never really put much thought into carrying one around with me. With my new child, I naturally felt the need to keep him safe, but I had never really felt a duty to carry a gun. But I read on…

“A citizen who shirks his duty to contribute to the security of his community is little better than the criminal who threatens it.”

Wow… Needless to say, by the time I finished the article, I began to share the sense of duty that the author, Robert H. Boatman, was taking about. I realized that not only was it my job to keep my family safe, but it was my duty to help keep my community safe. I’m not talking about sticking on one of those corny “CCW Badges” and pretending to be a cop- I just mean spreading the word about concealed carry, and making criminals think twice before they pull a gun on someone. If they hear that one out of every ten people walking around has a gun on them, they have to ask themselves: Is $20 or $30 worth dying for? More and more frequently, that answer is “NO!”. And statistics back that up: Concealed Carry laws lower crime.

So let me ask you- do YOU feel a duty to carry your weapon concealed?

Do you believe that your community is better off having you armed?

I do. I believe your township, village, or city is better off having you as a member of the community. And you know what? Well over 20,000 members of the United States Concealed Carry Association believe so too.

Friend, if you feel this same sense of duty as all these members, you might be a good match for a membership to the USCCA. See, people join the USCCA because we’re the ‘Ultimate Resource for the Armed Citizen’- and we take that mission statement very seriously.

Our 25,000+ members love our magazine and our website for this reason- these materials help them fulfill their civic duty more effectively. We are more than just a club. We are a tight knit community. We’re host to hundreds upon hundreds of articles, stories, and profiles all meant to help you become prepared for whatever you may encounter. Our writers come from all walks of life- some are expert trainers, and some are people just like you and I.

Friend, here is your next step: Click the image below for membership details to the United States Concealed Carry Association.