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Old April 28, 2007, 12:09 AM   #1
gvf
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CCW & Glasses?

I have to wear glasses for driving the last few years, required on driving license. However, aside from this I don't wear them. My eyes are not that bad for close and medium distance, though a bit out of focus, and for distance are admittedly somewhat blurred. I hate wearing glasses though, they make me feel extremely uncomfortable, and so am willing to put up with this.

However, I will be CCWing soon, and both for practical and legal reasons ("So, your eyesight is a 'bit blurred' as you say and yet you decided to shoot a man without having glasses, is that what you're telling the court?") - I wondered what people think of my continuing not to wear them when I carry, nor at the range when I practice with CCW in mind? (Seems you should practice in conditions close to those of Carry)
Thanks

Last edited by gvf; April 28, 2007 at 12:11 AM. Reason: edit
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Old April 28, 2007, 12:17 AM   #2
ShootemDown
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I can understand your problem.

not being able to see is very bad. I suggest you carry your glasses with you wherever you go.
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Old April 28, 2007, 01:43 AM   #3
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Have you considered contacts?
Just a thought
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Old April 28, 2007, 03:00 AM   #4
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I like the way you are thinking and planning.

There are many legal "pitfalls" to being in a shooting. I would suggest that you either have corrective surgery, wear contacts or get used to wearing your glasses all the time. I do not buy in to the "Nothing matters if it's a good shoot" stuff.

Everything matters, and the less ammunition you can give an oppossing lawyer the better. It's one thing if your glasses are knocked off in an attack, quite another if you chose not to wear them. "My client was putting his arms up to surrender and you didn't see that and shot him." I can just see it now.

Good luck and stay safe. By the way, I wear my glasses all the time, and up close or medium distance I have no problems seeing either.

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Old April 28, 2007, 03:25 AM   #5
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Personally I cannot understand anyone practicing with a firearm and NOT wearing protective glasses. My prescription glasses are safety glasses. I wear them almost always, especially at the range. I have a pair of welding glasses, uncorrected, I practice with each range trip, just to be familiar with shooting without glasses. Look up the FBI Miami shoot out and one agent lost his glasses at the beginning of the gun fight and was taken out by his own errors.

Personally I think wearing glasses, or not, is a moot point in a shootout, from a legal standpoint. If a gun fight unfolds and you happen to not be wearing your glasses, what are you suppose to do, call, "Time Out !", so you can put them on ?

Practice with them, practice with uncorrected safety glasses ... but, wear what you want out on the street, is my thinking on the matter.
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Old April 28, 2007, 04:06 AM   #6
BillCA
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The big question in a courtroom is how well you could see a weapon in the hand of an attacker, identify your target or determine he was doing something that would be threatening.

Vision is measured as Your-vision/Normal-vision. Thus, if your eyes are 20/100, what a person with normal vision sees at 100 feet, you need to be at 20-ft to see it clearly.

At what distance are faces not easily recognized? How far away does someone have to be before you can tell if he is reaching for a cell-phone on his belt or a gun? If he's holding something, (cellphone or gun) how close do you need to be to recognize it correctly?

In most cases, the threat should be obvious to you, based on the perp's actions, words or motions. Someone coming at you in a dark parking lot from 30-ft, with a dark object in his outstretched hand saying "Gimme your money or I'm gonna kill your a**" can fool even those with 20/20 corrective lenses.

If you're taking a shot at a perp at a distance and there are others in the area, visual acuity might be important in identifying your target (e.g. by face, jacket lettering, etc.)

Does that help?
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Old April 28, 2007, 09:27 AM   #7
gvf
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Thanks

Yes, that and all the posts helped a lot - I'll at least keep the glasses with me when carrying and use them at the range - and experiment with wearing them at times I am not carrying to see if I adjust to them. Thanks all again!
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Old April 28, 2007, 12:07 PM   #8
katana8869
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I'm in the same boat. I wear my glasses when carrying but for different reasons.
One of the defenses nature gives animals to defend themselves from predators is eyesight.

Think about it. If your vision is slightly blurred, you might not notice that homie eyeballing you across the parking lot or the slight bump under a t-shirt that might be a gun on the guy asking for change.

It's great to be armed, but don't forget the rest of the package.

Regards, Mike
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Old April 29, 2007, 06:44 AM   #9
STEVE M
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I would also suggest having an instructor run you through a qualifaction

course twice; once with the glasses and once without. A training record

such as this will show you were competent both ways. Failing that, take a

camcorder to the range and tape yourself shooting at targets that portray a

gunman and hostage at the max. distance your CCW qual. was. This would

again show that you were competent before it became an issue in court.

As an aside, I also suggest the above for shooting off hand.
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Old April 29, 2007, 07:36 AM   #10
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Quote:
I hate wearing glasses though, they make me feel extremely uncomfortable, ...
Why do they make you uncomfortable? Are they too heavy, or do you just not like them cosmetically?

Glasses are much lighter and easier to care for than they were just 20 years ago. For $500, you could probably get a pair so light you would forget you were wearing them.
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Old April 29, 2007, 07:42 AM   #11
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I'm with you on this one, I hate wearing glasses (they give me a headache even though I got very expensive and light ones that were fitted to my head). Contacts also give me a headache even though I wore them for 3 weeks to get used to it. I don't think it is as big of a problem as others on here. As someone else mentioned, if you have combined vision of 20/100, others can see at 100 feet what you have to be at 20 feet to see. However, no legal shooting is going to occur at 100 feet, so I don't think it is that big of a deal. I have 20/40 in my right eye, ad 20/100 in my left. I can't read street signs at 100 feet like others can, but that doesn't mean that I can't make out whether somebody is looking suspicious, or has a weapon of some sort. I have never felt unsafe because I don't have my glasses on, and at any distance I could legally use a gun, I can see just as well as the next guy (for all practical purposes). You don't have to read a nametag across the room, just recognize a threat, and that doesn't take perfect vision.
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Old April 29, 2007, 07:59 PM   #12
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Nigelcorn

Your vision is probably not so bad as some of us and that's a good thing.

Less than perfect vision becomes a serious issue in low-light conditions. In daylight, I could probably get by without my glasses, but come night time it is much more difficult to see someone who may be wearing dark clothing. It also becomes more difficult to see details beyond about 20 feet and that can be crucial.
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Old April 30, 2007, 12:43 AM   #13
gvf
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Hmmmmm...

Well, night is the time I will be using the CCW most so.... maybe I should get used to glasses but any glasses I have worn give me the feel of looking out a window (except when driving as I'm looking out a window anyway), but other times I feel nervous and removed from my normal view of the environment - hence jumpy. My vision certainly isn't real bad:
Roughly 20/30 left eye and 20/40 right eye self-administered test, and precise results I can get from my Eye MD but it's close to that. I have astigmatism also, but as far as I know it's not severe. So, seems to me if I myself don't notice any practical difficuties seeing at mid-distance, legally it would be difficult to claim I was being irresponsible to not have glasses actually on when my vision is but slightly abnormal.
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Old April 30, 2007, 08:24 AM   #14
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I didn't get glasses until I was 24 so I had some adapting to do. I have an astigmatism and have managed to pass the driver's eye test without my glasses. Not having to wear them to drive is nice, I still always wear them.

Just like I would not needlessly endanger people by driving with less tham optinal eyesight I would also not needlessly endanger them by CCWing without them.

I still will practice shootign from time to time without them (only non-perscription safety glasses) as all people who wear glasses should do. At close range you should still be able to at least hit a man sized target unless you are nearly blind.

One thing to remember, by not wearing your glasses you are probably walking around squinting all the time. You probably do not even realize it.
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Old April 30, 2007, 08:28 AM   #15
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Quote:
legally it would be difficult to claim I was being irresponsible to not have glasses actually on when my vision is but slightly abnormal.
Why open yourself up to anything in civil or criminal court when it could be so easily defeated.

If you were in a car accident and were not wearing the glasses do you think opposing counsel in a civil case would leave it alone? Do you expect them to be even more enient in a civil case involving that poor misguided youth you gunned down?
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Old April 30, 2007, 07:26 PM   #16
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20/200

For me glasses are a 100% of the time necessity. I would worry more about being attacked and loosing them as I'm trying to get my weapon into play. With glasses on I can see groundhogs 300 yds away when hunting. With out glasses I can see about 1 yd clearly.

Godbless....
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Old April 30, 2007, 09:46 PM   #17
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I wear glasses all the time but do not see where it would make a difference in a shooting. Then the one and only question is was the shoot justified.
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Old April 30, 2007, 10:25 PM   #18
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Quote:
I wear glasses all the time but do not see where it would make a difference in a shooting. Then the one and only question is was the shoot justified.
Do you think the glasses would be a factor in a criminal case if you killed someone with your car (even if they did step out into traffic)? How about in the following civil case?

Never count on simply having a "justified shoot." Many good people have felt the same and gone to jail. Ask Mr. Fish in AZ.

One man's justified shoot is another mans homicide and all it takes is a jury of 12 to agree with the homicide in spite of reality to send you to prison. Why give them any doubt about your abilities?
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Old May 1, 2007, 04:01 PM   #19
newerguy
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I agree that you should practice shooting without glassess, just to see what you can do. With an orange sight insert, I can see just well enough to be OK (on the target) at around five or seven yards. Without an orange sight insert, I can't see the sight at all, and it's just blury point shooting.

With a rifle, I'm no good at any real distance without glasses (not really any better than with a pistol.
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Old May 1, 2007, 04:39 PM   #20
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I try to simulate shooting in practice with what and how I may have to do it for real. I don't need glasses so if envolved in a shooting it will probably be without eyewear. That said I will never volunterily fire a weapon in practice without shooting glasses. The danger to your eyes is to high to justify.

Anyone who shoots without shooting glasses is just crazy. I have a personal horror story that happened while shooting 5 stand with my shotgun. A flake of gun power hit my eye and embedded under the skin of my right eye. Thankfully a 40 dollar visit to the eye doc for removal and some steroind drops fixed me up. I can't imagine the what ifs and now always were eye protection.
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