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I am noticing more and more post where people are talking about not only carrying their every day conceal carry piece, but then also mention their back up piece.
Why do so many folks feel the need to possess more than one concealed weapon on a daily basis? Has the world dropped to a level where this is needed? Do you find or place your-self in such a dangerous society or location on a daily basis? Is it a matter of not having the confidence in your first choice of firearm and feel the need for a back up? Paranoia? Or just because you can?
Kind of a second part to the question. If Texas were to go with "Open Carry", would you also conceal carry a second firearm?
I am not wanting to start a verbal war filled with nasty banter, but I am curious as to the different thought behind the need to carry more than one concealed weapon.

I don't carry a BUG, however I believe most that do, do so for the same reason you wear your seat-belt even though you have an air bag. Just in case.

Many who carry a semi-auto will sometimes carry a back up revolver. This is in case the semi fails to function for any reason or if it is taken away from them or shot out of their hand.

I do this when I know I am going to a bad part of town.

Normally I just carry the semi, but an additional back up revolver is a good idea when traveling to unknown places.

The short answer would be that those who do so, do so for the same reasons that most LEOs do so.

You can have your primary suffer a mechanical failure...... Your primary can run out of ammo...... Your primary can get taken or lost in a scuffle...... Your BUG is accessible more quickly than reloading your primary...... Etc., etc., etc.

And then, there's just because you can. Personally, I don't, but not because I'm agin it, but just because it's not practical for me. But I don't care one way or the other if someone else does.

"One is none and two is one . . . ", Clint Smith

Has the world dropped to a level where this is needed?

One could ask the same question about carrying any weapon at all ,,,, answer = Scouts motto "Be prepared" maybe it has, maybe it hasn't, but why choose to be unprepared?
The wise prepare for hurricanes before they occur, some places have tornado shelters because one "might" occur etc ...

Anyway:
I only have 1 hand but ... below is generally true even if I had 2 hands

a) faster to grab a second machine than reload
b) faster to grab a second machine than clear some types of jams
c) I mostly hang out with other CHLs, most of whom don't carry at all; I like to have one to toss to them
d) when your primary does like the below photo, it's good to have something more ...

Jumping Frog wrote:"One is none and two is one . . . ", Clint Smith

This. Murphey's Law ....


Additionally, I was in a situation with a gun at my head during a robbery, had there not been a second gunman in another part of the store, I could have easily disarmed the guy with the gun at my head ....

I'm not naive enough to think it's an impossibility that I could be disarmed too ....

Never show your hole card ... always have something in reserve.

Second question; if open carry was legal, I'd carry two concealed.
==========

Back to the first questions:

Do you find or place your-self in such a dangerous society or location on a daily basis?

1) I don't go to "bad parts of town"
Well I was at work in a hardware store/lumber yard the day the 5 armed robbers with pistols and shotguns came in
and at work at an Electronics store that sold stereos and records/CDs the day the 2 armed robbers came in ... that was downtown on main street, pretty safe area with Police on parking meters out front and several at the cafe across the street.... I'm not sure where the "Unsafe" areas are, obviously I guess you mean schools and churches and Luby's cafeterias or something or the Galleria where the guy got followed home from there and robbed at home for his Rolex in Memorial or River Oaks??

Not picking on you ... just addressing the points you made with real world experiences.

I have confidence in my Glock or I wouldn't carry it, but as I said, if some situation arose where I had parted with my primary ... I want my Ace in the hole. I mean I could role-play hypotheticals where a second robber came up behind me "drop it or I'll kill your girlfriend" (assuming I ever get another girlfriend and after dropping the mag and dropping the Glock I could reach for my wallet and give him my gold-dots ... I mean who knows what CAN happen? So why not?

I see no "DOWN SIDE" so being prepared and having a backup ... in fact carrying on the opposite side can distribute weight better....

If there's no downside, and there's potential and real benefits ... why not.

jonrjen wrote:I am noticing more and more post where people are talking about not only carrying their every day conceal carry piece, but then also mention their back up piece.
Why do so many folks feel the need to possess more than one concealed weapon on a daily basis?

For the same reason I have a spare tire in the trunk of my car. And fix-a-flat.

I'm just paranoid.

USA1 wrote:I'm just paranoid.

after 7 armed robbers, you'd think I'd be too ... the big city is unsafe, but I moved to the country a town so small you can walk it from end to end, the police dept 2 blocks from my house with the meth lab next door to the police station and that Mexican teen that shot his 8 year old niece who live next to the Police dept ... but that's rare they act up any more, there's the occasional body found in the lake but they are usually in a drum filled with concrete and the lake has to get really low to find them ... the drought has made for interesting fishing ... but I dunno how many travel in a pack of wild hogs/boar so when I'm fishin off the shore if I got a tusk through my plastic gun .... I'd want a spare...

In regards to the original question, I would say it's not as much naivety as it is missing something.

I carry one about 60% of the time, and two about 40% of the time, not counting work where I have 2 on me, and a rifle close by.

I read something a while back that made an impression on me, and I've tried to mold my carry style around it...

Pay attention to the stakes, not the stats.

One person who says "The odds of something happening to me are astronomical, so I won't bother carrying today" is probably correct, and will be just fine.

However, out of the thousands who share that opinion, suddenly there's a better and better chance that one of them will be the victim of a violent crime.

So instead of looking at the chances of something happening to me, I look at what I'm willing to risk if it does happen. For me, that usually means carrying my USPc and my LCP BUG, with a BiB in my vehicle and possibly a rifle as well. Am I worried that something is going to happen? Heck no, but I'm prepared for most things, and it takes essentially zero effort to keep that setup and mindset from day to day, so for me it's really pointless to not do that every day.

If you don't see the need to carry a backup gun or even a primary, that's entirely up to you and I won't bug you over your choice, since I don't want to push someone to carry a deadly weapon if they don't want to.


All that being said, my guns are in Texas and I'm stuck in Yuma for a few months, so I'm being a little hypocritical until I can get one of mine shipped over here

RPB pretty much covered almost everthing, and USA1 covered what was left over. I carry a back-up, for all the reasons given above, altho it is not always a back-up gun -- I have fairsized knife as well.

Spare gun, no. Spare magazine, always. Of course, this only solves the "out of bullets" problem and not the "malfunction" or "lost in a struggle" problems.

For my personal case, I have no needed to carry a BUG, other than my Sub compact, a BUG
When the times of riots like in LA or like in Katrina, you will find me clutching my AK! with a BUG.

I have many LEO friends and family--and a large majority of them carry a back-up--on and off duty. I carry a bug when I feel that I am going anywhere out of my comfort zone. A BUG is easily carried if you adjust your habits and clothing habits. I have operated, owned, maintained, and bought/sold machines of diverse types all my life and machines break, fail and malfunction. Guns are machines also.

I do what I feel I need to for myself and my families safety. I do not tell anyone else what to do and do not appreciate being told what to do by anyone else. That is my freedom of choice and my freedom of speech is to keep my trap shut.

I am through preachin' now.