That part of town isn't that bad. I live in that area, my 7 year old kid walks to school, and I'm not too worried. It's all about being aware and prepared.

No- I think it's got a lot more going for it than some. Less than others. But seriously, scared to drive his SUV? Gimme a break. Between that and the CCW badge, I'm beginning to think he's off his rocker.

As far as "avoiding dangerous situations", well, gee. Perhaps one ought to avoid living in rural farmhouses (see story on guy breaking in and shooting family), eating in small town diners (see TX story some years ago about a fellow driving through the front window of a diner and opening fire), going to court (today's Strib, a guy punches out his attorney), and going to school for any reason whatsoever (pick your favorite school shooting- all of which I can think of, mind you, have been in rural or suburban settings...). Not to mention going to church, to say nothing of the mall.

Maybe it's best if the folks from the "safe" part of the state stay there; I hate hearing about them getting murdered, robbed, etc. when they come to town. Oh, wait, haven't heard that much. Guess the big, bad, scary city should be left to those of us unafraid of it.

Get a grip, folks.

I think I see what he's getting at- if 100 people went jogging, and 3 or 4 of them carried, and two were attacked (who weren't carrying)- the number of folks who went home safe without carrying was higher than the number who were carrying, safe or not.

Not that it's much comfort if you're the "not"...

PRICELESS

I lived on the near North side...1509 Bryant, for many years. Like any urban neighborhood, the vast vast majority of residents are good decent law abiding people. Yet...there is an element that was not.

I walked in the area..up and down Broadway...Lyndale...Bryant..Dupont etc. all the time...never once had a problem of any type. However, the last few times I have driven in the area...looking at things....there seems to be a big downturn in outward thuggery. My last two times I parked my car on some old stomping grounds and was immediately beset by rude, loud, profane undesirable types, basically telling me to GTF away from the area. It was very uncomfortable. My Glock was not too scared, but I missed a heart beat or two.

Yeah, I had no idea what he meant and I was perfectly fine. You explanation just made my head go all explody.

… and if I ran very fast in one direction, let's assume fantastically fast, and I happened to exceed the speed of light, I would be able to see myself coming.

Back to statistics: They are the bedrock of our society. They never waver from their duty to point to the truth.

Statistically you cannot win the lottery. (Do not buy a ticket.)
Statistically you cannot get hurt in an SUV. (Only buy SUV's.)
Statistically you will never be mugged or robbed. (Get rid of your firearm.)

I have won a minor lottery prize. I have been hurt as a passenger in a Chevy SUV, and I have been robbed twice in my life.

That makes me either a non-statistic or a statistician, does it not?

Nah, you're just a figment of my imagination.

Traveler isn't real?? Are we talking not-real in the Matrix sense or in the kecker is going crazy sense?

Sorry if that didn't make sense. I was simply stating that most people who go out jogging aren't carrying a weapon. Nearly every one of them will go home safely, every time, for their entire lives.

I'm not saying I don't agree with carry, if I didn't I wouldn't be here. But a big badge, vest, shrine, wtf ever, advertising the fact is pretty obnoxious, IMHO.

I Have a permit to carry badge. In fact just ordered it today. Although I have not field tested my theory, here goes.

I own a small business in MN. I sought after my permit to carry because I go to the bank with thousands of dollars in cash a few times a week, in a not so nice neighborhood. Let alone my strong political views.

About two weeks ago, I walked into a bank with my firearm exposed. I normally do not have my firearm exposed as I would (in just about any other situation) prefer a more stealthy approach. However I have cash bags that I have to carry into the bank. I choose to expose my firearm to detour any unwanted behavior from other civilians that are observing me walking with cash bags. This was my plan and I had executed this routine twice before this infraction.

While I was filling out my deposit information at the bank, and had all of the cash exposed, a lady starts making comments on my exposed firearm. She announced to the bank and I quote, "He can't have that in here." I calmly turned to her and said, as a matter of fact I can, and explained I was doing nothing illegal. This seemed to calm her down for a few minutes as I turned to finish carrying out my business. Upon doing so I discovered I had left my business check stamp in my truck, and needed to go to the parking lot to recover it so I could stamp the checks for my deposit. So I packed everything back up, walked to my truck, and returned to the bank with my stamp. As I opened up the door, the woman that had previously commented on my exposed firearm, had now formed a posse. As I walked in the door she announced to a group of about 7-8 people surrounding her while pointing at me, "There he is.".... Wow. Now I knew I needed to go defuse this situation before it got any further. That being said, I calmly walked over to the lady, and explained that our sheriff had given me explicit permission to carry a firearm. I informed her that I was not breaking the law, and asked her if she had any questions for me. She said, no she did not and it became a dead issue. She eventually smiled and waved as I left the bank.

Now one can only wonder if I had a badge exposed on my belt next to my gun, would anybody have said anything? My guess is no. If I see someone in street clothes carrying a firearm, but with a badge right next to it, I automatically assume off duty police officer, or someone that is authorized to carry said firearm. In this case I feel the badge would bring some comfort to people who are observing the exposed firearm. For me, I never look to see what the hell the badge says, you see the badge and you assume authority figure. This is not my goal to impersonate a police officer, I just think it alleviates some situations from escalating. That said, I do not agree with wearing a badge during any other scenario other than one similar to the aforementioned.

Had I been wearing a badge nobody would have said anything. This may also save you sometime in case someone were to have called the police. Then I have to sit there for 20 minutes while they verify who I am.

Could somebody else take this one? Please?

So what you're saying is that you're intending for people to think you're a LEO because of the badge ...

Does that sound anywhere near Impersonating an officer to you? It should. I'll bet any LEO responding or interacting you would think so. As much as you may want to convince yourself otherwise, it's still wrong. The ends do not justify the means.

We are not cops. We do our cause and ourselves NO good when anyone, LEO or not thinks or assumes that we think we are.

Let me illustrate a couple downsides:
The criminal who sees your badge and thinks you might be after them.
The robbery in process where someone says "You're a cop, SHOOT HIM"
Hell, there was the Under Cover officer shot by another uniformed officer even though the UC guy had a gun and a badge ...

Better option: several unobtrusive cash drops, disguised cash bags, ANYTHING before the carry badge. Its drawbacks (many) STRONGLY outweigh its benefits (None except profit to the seller)

And in this instance we see a fine example of what is known as cognitive dissonance.