"You carry a gun? What are you afraid of?"

That is a question that everyone considering purchasing a firearm for self-defense or getting a concealed carry license needs to be able to answer.

When I ask participants at Ohio Concealed Carry classes why they are seeking a license, the most common answer that I get is “to protect myself and my family” or some variation on that theme. Most of them indicate that they still feel safe in their homes, that they are not concerned about their neighbors, and that they feel their communities are safe. Several have indicated they feel their lives are at greater risk because of widespread increases in crime and terrorism.

Numerous public opinion surveys have noted the same sort of trend. Americans across the country are more pessimistic about crime and terrorism as a whole rather than as it applies to their own communities.

This comes at the same time that national statistics show U.S. crime rates are actually declining and are the lowest they have been since the 1990s. Indeed, the national crime rate today is about half of what it was in 1991. Violent crime has been reduced by about 51% and property crime by about 43%. The greatest contributors to the drop in the crime rate are attributed to the aging population in the United States, changes in income, and a decrease in alcohol consumption.

So what is behind this disconnect that is driving so many people to feel a need to own and carry a concealed firearm? There appears to be several reasons, but one of the leading factors is the coverage given by the national news media to specific local crimes and terrorism events. The media’s sensationalist focus on individual crimes often creates a “dismal drumbeat” of depressing news and this shapes the public’s perceptions. Reports of terrorist attacks make it appear that authorities are powerless to stop them from occurring—and that is exactly what the terrorists are hoping for.

“If it bleeds, it leads” is an axiom the national media adheres to religiously, especially when the story supports a particular agenda they are trying to advocate. In recent years stories about home invasions, “active killers”, and terrorism have captured headlines and/or opened the nightly news broadcasts at both the local and national levels. The higher the “body count” the more coverage the event seems to get.

The [downward trend in] violent crime rates between 1992 and 2014, as reported by the FBI and the Justice Department ... should mean that people feel safer, but apparently they do not. Indeed their perceptions of crime seem to be going in the opposite direction. While there appears to have been a close correlation until the early 2000s, since then the perceptions and the actual trends seem to have diverged.

The divergence between the decline in crime rates and the public’s perception of crime rates really started to become apparent starting in 2002, around the time of the “D.C. sniper” shootings. That event created a lot of fear among the public, especially in the Washington, D.C.-area, because instead of being directed at specific individuals, the violence seemed to be totally random. People felt helpless.

Some of the largest urban areas in the U.S. do seem to have a disproportionally higher incidence of violent crime than the rest of the nation does. And, since the major national media outlets are based in these large urban areas that might account for the emphasis they place on these stories. Even so, the crime rates in large U.S. cities is also declining.

The perception is that gangs and illegal drugs are responsible for a majority of the violent crimes that occur in urban areas across the United States. Gangs largely control the illegal drug trade and aggressively react to any attempts by authorities or rival gangs to reduce their influence within their “turf”. Numerous sources indicate that if gang and drug-related violence is not considered, the violent crime rate in the United States would be among the lowest in the world.

Perhaps the issue of what motivates someone to obtain a concealed carry license comes down to the question of whether they are just preparing themselves for the possibility of becoming involved in a violent encounter or if they are paranoid about such an occurrence? Perhaps Caleb Giddings (Gun Nuts Media) said it best in a recent blog post on why he carries a firearm:

Anti-gun advocates would suggest that I carry a gun because I’m a dangerous radical spoiling for a fight. That’s nonsense, as those of us who embrace the responsibility of self-defense would be perfectly happy to go our entire lives without ever pulling a gun in self-defense. So I don’t carry a gun because I’m looking for trouble...The answer on its face seems simple, but is in fact a deeply personal and complicated process. However, it can be summed up in two words: what if. I understand that the world is a wild and unpredictable place. What if...what if today is the day that I need my gun? What if someone decides tonight, when I’m home and relaxing on my couch that they need my stuff more than I do? What if today is the day I’m walking the dog and someone decides that they need to score, and they’re going to stick a knife in someone to get that score. Most of all, I’m worried about what if something happened and someone gets hurt because I wasn’t able to act. My gun is a lot like a tourniquet, or CPR skills. If I don’t have those things, there are situations I can encounter where I’d have the training to help, but lack the correct tools.

I think Caleb provides a compelling reason for carrying a gun for self-defense. I believe the vast majority of CCW holders are just making the wise decision to be prepared. They are planning ahead and getting themselves into the proper state of mind. They understand that the world is an increasingly violent place that contains real evil. They also understand that governments can only do so much to protect them from this violence and evil as they go about their daily lives. Therefore they have decided that they must take some degree of responsibility to protect themselves and their loved ones from that violence and evil should it confront them.

And, as terrorism continues to be a threat to North America and Europe, with governments not able to stop it, citizens feel the need to do something and obtaining a firearm for self-defense and getting a concealed carry license are ways to “do something”.

Gary Evens is a NRA-Certified Instructor and Range Safety Officer.