testtest

To open carry or not

dbarnes42 said:
I appreciate everyone's input. I live in Indiana and it is an open "open" or conceal state with a permit. I have seen people do both. I am retired military so I understand the need to "be the watcher and not the watched". My two primary carry guns are an XD mod.2 or a SW Shield 2.0, both in .45ACP. I try and conceal carry with an IWB holster when I can, but I find it rather uncomfortable at times. In the winter isn't so bad, because I can use an OWB holster and not print.
Click to expand...
Do you utilize a gun belt as part of your EDC? The reason I ask is because a good quality gun belt actually improved my IWB carrying.
 
Bassbob said:
So you think that when criminals go to the store they strap a pistol on their hip or in a dropleg so everyone can see their gun?

Can I ask you a personal question? What city/ state do you live in?
Click to expand...

I said what I think

I think that criminals patron all the same places that the law abiding citizens do and I think that plenty of crime ( including violent crime) has occurred inside of grocery stores. I wont dismiss the idea that I may encounter a criminal on isle 7 or anywhere else inside a store which is open to the public.

I think that some people carry their firearms in a manner which may signal a rank amateur's status or present themselves outwardly in some way to suggest they are a goofball.

I think that any combination of the 2 elements are worse than any single representation of either.

Good luck
 
Last edited:
OkiePewPew said:
I’m down with most of what you said but where did you get the idea that open carriers get their guns taken “quite regularly”.
Click to expand...
People may have a different idea of what "regularly" means to them but I regularly see examples of it occurring from news related articles on the web. Mostly because I have taken the time to look due to threads similar to this one. I have plenty of examples but I have found that it doesnt matter how many I post, its never enough to satisfy those with opposing views.
 
KASHIRA-3 said:
People may have a different idea of what "regularly" means to them but I regularly see examples of it occurring from news related articles on the web. Mostly because I have taken the time to look due to threads similar to this one. I have plenty of examples but I have found that it doesnt matter how many I post, its never enough to satisfy those with opposing views.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I’d appreciate you sharing a couple. I’ve done several searches and am having a hard time finding one.
 
KASHIRA-3 said:
I said what I think

I think that criminals patron all the same places that the law abiding citizens do and I think that plenty of crime ( including violent crime) has occurred inside of grocery stores. I wont dismiss the idea that I may encounter a criminal on isle 7 or anywhere else inside a store which is open to the public.

I think that some people carry their firearms in a manner which may signal a rank amateur's status or present themselves outwardly in some way to suggest they are a goofball.

I think that any combination of the 2 elements are worse than any single representation of either.

Good luck
Click to expand...


You're purposely conflating the two things. No one said criminals didn't go to the store or shop for mustard on aisle 7. Criminals do all sorts of things. Play with their kids, drop them off at daycare, wash their cars, go to church, whatever.
My point, which you are trying to avoid is that criminals don't generally walk around open carrying. In fact I don't think anyone who is a felon or a prohibited person would generally be open carrying. Which brings us back around to my original point which was that you feel uncomfortable around armed people who you suspect aren't as "Well trained" as you would like. Totally your business, I was just pointing out the fallacy of trying to judge how well trained someone is based on physical appearance. Personally I default to probably 90% of the people carrying guns around aren't particularly well trained. I know more than a few cops who aren't even particularly well trained.

Here's a story. Years ago Missouri had no RTC. You couldn't even have a loaded gun in your car. There was a ballot initiative called proposition B to allow CC in Missouri. I was doing a job as a subcontractor on a house that belonged to a couple who were both St. Louis County police officers. In conversation I asked the male if he supported Prop B. He told me he didn't. He didn't think regular citizens had the training necessary to responsibly carry a firearm. Less than 5 minutes later this guy handed me his service weapon (Glock) to check out. He then went into his house to retrieve something he had forgotten, leaving me standing outside with his fully loaded service weapon. And for the record, at the time I was in my early 20s, heavily tattooed and had hair down to the middle of my back.


In reality I agree with most of your points. I don't open carry and I don't think it's a great idea. And I do think that many people who do are doing it to make a point rather than as a security measure. That said I completely support their right to do it. And seeing it doesn't scare me or make me uncomfortable. Where I live ( hence why I asked you where you live) I assume just about everyone is armed. And I have been conditioned to assume that and to assume that nearly anyone could be a threat.
 
Last edited:
One thing I haven't seen mentioned here is, crowd response to open carry. If you open carry and something bad DOES go down...you are now the person everyone is going to hide behind, and they will all expect you to save them. Because they've all seen your gun, amd now its your "job" to keep them safe.

Maryland - believe it or not - does not distinguish between open or concealed carry once you have your permit. For me though...always concealed. I don't want the attention.

I'm not a cop. I'm not here to protect you. I have no illusions about that. I carry to protect ME, and the people important to me. Yes, that generally includes a crowd of innocents if the situation presents...but the situation may well call for an exit, not a stand. And that would likely **** off people left behind, if they knew I had a gun...and used it to fight my way to safety, instead of trying to defend the entire stadium.
 
Peglegjoe said:
One thing I haven't seen mentioned here is, crowd response to open carry. If you open carry and something bad DOES go down...you are now the person everyone is going to hide behind, and they will all expect you to save them. Because they've all seen your gun, amd now its your "job" to keep them safe.

Maryland - believe it or not - does not distinguish between open or concealed carry once you have your permit. For me though...always concealed. I don't want the attention.

I'm not a cop. I'm not here to protect you. I have no illusions about that. I carry to protect ME, and the people important to me. Yes, that generally includes a crowd of innocents if the situation presents...but the situation may well call for an exit, not a stand. And that would likely **** off people left behind, if they knew I had a gun...and used it to fight my way to safety, instead of trying to defend the entire stadium.
Click to expand...
I normally don't advertise, hadn't really thought about it that much from that perspective. But, all things depending, you could easily be right. A savior I'm not, just do best can at any given time and time can change in a heartbeat. Definitely something to think more about.
 
Bassbob said:
You're purposely conflating the two things. No one said criminals didn't go to the store or shop for mustard on aisle 7. Criminals do all sorts of things. Play with their kids, drop them off at daycare, wash their cars, go to church, whatever.
My point, which you are trying to avoid is that criminals don't generally walk around open carrying. In fact I don't think anyone who is a felon or a prohibited person would generally be open carrying. Which brings us back around to my original point which was that you feel uncomfortable around armed people who you suspect aren't as "Well trained" as you would like. Totally your business, I was just pointing out the fallacy of trying to judge how well trained someone is based on physical appearance. Personally I default to probably 90% of the people carrying guns around aren't particularly well trained. I know more than a few cops who aren't even particularly well trained.
Click to expand...

Brother... I am not concerned with comfort level. I simply take casual efforts to mitigate the potential of being in the middle of a crap show. Its not very difficult to distinguish between squared away people and those who are not. Being openly armed ( in and of itself) is not necessarily indicative of either quality, its simply an eyebrow raiser. Its everything else that is generally the qualifier, not simply the status of being openly armed. Call it a fallacy if you wish, but observation is a powerful tool for assessing all sorts of things. As far as where I live, I live in the South where darn near everyone is armed, all the time. Life if full of risk mitigations and this is simply one of mine. Its not like it rules my life, I see an open carrier once or twice every blue moon.
 
KASHIRA-3 said:
Brother... I am not concerned with comfort level. I simply take casual efforts to mitigate the potential of being in the middle of a crap show. Its not very difficult to distinguish between squared away people and those who are not. Being openly armed ( in and of itself) is not necessarily indicative of either quality, its simply an eyebrow raiser. Its everything else that is generally the qualifier, not simply the status of being openly armed. Call it a fallacy if you wish, but observation is a powerful tool for assessing all sorts of things. As far as where I live, I live in the South where darn near everyone is armed, all the time. Life if full of risk mitigations and this is simply one of mine. Its not like it rules my life, I see an open carrier once or twice every blue moon.
Click to expand...


Honestly more often than not when I see someone open carrying I get the feeling by looking at them that they fall into that category I mentioned earlier. Someone trying to look cool. Not always, but usually.
 
In Middle Georgia where I’m from it’s not surprising to see open carrying. I myself open carry because carrying IWB is uncomfortable for me, I’ve tried IWB holsters from the most expensive to the most budget holster and they all do nothing for me. No matter what angle I’ve tried it’s just uncomfortable. Yes when I carry OWB I’ll cove the firearm with my shirt but if prints then oh well. My feeling of safety overrules the looks of others if they don’t agree. I carry for myself not for them.
 
In Ohio, you can open carry or CCW, I never open carry, my opinion, its just looking for trouble, especially in todays environment. I rather avoid people seeing me carring a weapon out in the open, just me I guess.
 
CC or open carry? What's acceptable or not? From observation, much depends on environment, current society and surroundings with CC or open carry. With current society out of sight, it seems out of mind of CC seems to be preferred method in many to most places with firearms. Many people seem to want firearms around when needed to thwart off evil foes, but don't want to see them or be reminded of them or their use at other times?

Times change, but then again, not so much? 200 years ago as compared to much of today's society? A bit of denial of our countries past history in some ways now? When was a younger kid, a lot less than 200 years ago, seeing other kids playing around with toys like cap guns or other toy guns was acceptable and commonplace. Now, not so much. Likely to hit national news? Some of it may be and likely is conditioning to what's considered normal, polite or not for society by a sometimes distorted media and other sources? Why is that? Ignorance? Am sure there's many answers to the question.... One that comes to mind first is unarmed people are easier to control for whatever reason? Another answer that comes up is firearms are considered "The Great Equalizer" evening out the odds for many people that are threatened by greater odds, intimidation or larger opponents stronger than they may be.

In some ways, the open carry option may not be such a bad thing? It does send out different signals to different people ....and they're not all bad ones. Too bad it's likely the wrong one for now? Can anyone even imagine a "Shotgun Wedding" right now? :)
 
While I might carry my pistol in an OWB holster in the summer months, it is still ALWAYS covered by a shirt. So I try to get the most "body hugging" holsters I can find. And again, I don't like carrying openly for many of the reasons already mentioned - being a target, the questioning public, the idiots who call the police with an MWAG report, etc. etc. etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top