John Filippidis, silver-haired family man, business owner, employer and taxpayer, is also licensed to carry a concealed firearm.
He'd rather he didn't feel the need, "but things aren't like they used to be. The break-ins, the burglaries, all the crime. And I carry cash a lot of the time. I'm constantly going to the bank.
"I wanted to be able to defend my family, my household and the ground I'm standing on. But I'm not looking for any trouble."
Filippidis keeps his gun -- a palm-sized Kel-Tec .38 semiautomatic, barely larger than a smartphone in a protective case -- in one of two places, always: in the right-hand pocket of his jeans, or in the safe at home.
"There are kids in the house," Filippidis says, "and I don't think they'd ever bother with it, but I don't want to take any chances."
He's not looking for any trouble, after all.
Trouble, in fact, was the last thing on his mind a few weeks back as the Filippidises packed for Christmas and a family wedding in Woodridge, N.J., so he left the pistol locked in the safe. The state of Florida might have codified his Second Amendment rights, but he knew he'd be passing through states where recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions affirming the rights of individuals to keep and bear arms have been met by hostile legislatures and local officials.
Read the article: The Tampa Tribune
Gun owner unarmed, unwelcome in Maryland
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Monday, December 8, 2025
Until the National Firearms Act is a relic of the past, every little bit that makes it easier to navigate can surely help. In recent weeks, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) ...
Monday, March 24, 2025
Australia implemented a firearm ban and mandatory confiscation in 1996 pursuant to the National Firearms Agreement, in which nearly 700,000 privately-owned firearms were turned in to the government and destroyed.
Thursday, December 11, 2025
The National Rifle Association joined the Second Amendment Foundation, California Rifle & Pistol Association, Second Amendment Law Center, Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in filing ...
Monday, November 17, 2025
Last week the North Carolina General Assembly briefly returned from recess and re-referred Senate Bill 50, Freedom to Carry NC, to the House Rules Committee.
Monday, December 8, 2025
Joe Biden has been out of office for over 300 days now, but his anti-gun legacy lingers, including in the form of a playbook left behind for anti-liberty governors (hello, Governor Gretchen Whitmer!) to consult. NRA-ILA ...
More Like This From Around The NRA



















