Open Carry

I think that sounds great. Open carry concealed carry it's all good.

Under certain circumstances. That said, probably ones that you wouldn't consider "open carry". For example if I were camping. Or, say, there is something unusual going on out on the street.

As far as I see it, open carry is mainly an additional step in the continuum of force. If you say "calm down" to someone and you've got a big revolver strapped to your hip, they're more likely to listen to you than if you say "calm down" and you've got it tucked into the small of your back, under a jacket.

If everyone knows you've got a gun then drawing it gives you one more level of "I'm not fucking with you, knock that shit off" before you have to put a hole in someone.

Oh, and it advertises to people that you are in a position to help if, say, they see a bear or someone is being attacked by a vicious dog or something.

I think it should be totally and completely legal. However, two things.

#1) Your a damned fool if you carry openly in today's world and you aren't wearing a badge. You may as well wear a huge sandwich sign that says, "SHOOT ME FIRST!"

#2) Look for the laws pertaining to where you can carry to change. I don't know how it is in Florida, but look for businesses to seek the force of law to back their "You are welcome, your gun is not" type signs.

A badge makes you bulletproof? More infallible than someone not wearing one?

Oregon's laws are...interesting. The state has open carry, but I think the city has some preemption on firearms. I had a coworker come to work downtown with a BIG FUCKIN' KNIFE, strapped to his hip. And as long as he was carrying it where everyone could see it, that was perfectly legal. But if I understand the law, you can't do that with a gun. That said, when I picked up the .357, I left the Expo Center carrying it in my greasy little fist.

He never said that and if you got that impression from what he did write then you need to go read what he wrote a few more thousand times until you get it.

Open carry is, believe it or not, legal in California. However, only unloaded open carrying is lawful in incorporated areas and there are a plethora of additional restrictions which severely reduce the utility of it.

Still, there is an open carry movement here and its main purpose seems to be to get the California legislature to ban OC (which it came within a hair's breadth of doing this year) in order to launch a civil rights case against the state for infringement on the 2nd Amendment's "bear" aspect.

Carry what you want to, when you want to, where you want to nationwide IMO.

I personally won't open carry. I feel it makes rear assaults more likely and that it would also tend to make the first level of a conflict more lethal in nature.

That said, in no way shape fashion or form do I think this would even cause a blip in crime up. It would cause it to go down, imo. I just want to play things as safe as possible for me and my fiance.

A couple of dumb questions because my brain is fried today: Do you need a permit for open carry? In states where open carry is legal, do you have to have a permit to carry a gun concealed?

I would never carry openly, no matter how much legal blessing it received on paper. Cops are still going to fuck with you if they see it, particularly in urban areas. Plus it makes you a target of unwanted civilian attention. Best that nobody know you're carrying, I say.

Do you conceal carry?

Vermont, Arizona and Alaska are the only states where you can open carry and conceal carry without a permit. Some states allow open carry but you have to license to conceal carry.

http://www.opencarry.org/opencarry.html

This site lists what states allow open carry.

All states, besides two, and except for the three mentioned have a license for concealed carry. Wiki list which ones are shall issue and so forth....

Not once they get used to it and are sued enough times.

Notice that the police have no problems in Alaska or Vermont. Arizona is new but they don't have cops shooting people down.

The key is to pound a city hard when the police do something.

Of course it doesn't help OC when there are a bunch of idiots going around making trouble as alluded to by Paladin.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of it.

If it's legal, then knock yourself out, but not me. Rule number one of how not to get fucked with is to keep a low profile.

Hey, the majority of our great country is pretty sane! There may be hope after all. If we can increase the amount of good citizens in these states to actually carry, we can turn the tables on the daily armed robberies, kidnappings, etc. :santa_ok:

I've never seen anything to suggest that people who open carry are targeted by criminals. I'd be a lot more concerned about being targeted by cops.

Another thing. I think it's rude. Unless you honestly feel that open carry offers you some kind of added protection, or you can legally open carry but not concealed carry, I think it's rude.

Who said he was talking about criminals shooting you first?

(well he probably was but I make the joke anyway.... )

Agreed. The best way to win a fight is to not be in one.

That's sorta why I think the Open Carry movement here in California is being counter-productive...they organize events where 20-30 people all show up at a restaurant or a shopping center PACKING. That usually results in a call to 911 and, a short time later, a visit from the local constabulary.

It seems the police are now pretty on-board that it's perfectly legal--though only a fool would try it in San Francisco in any event--so I don't think it stresses them to show up for these things, but it does take time away from other things they could be doing. And it can be off-putting to people who might otherwise be neutral or sympathetic with gunowners simply because they get scared suddenly being in the midst of a lot of guns...

I'd prefer (and will wait for) CCW and I think "shall issue" is coming for the few remaining holdout counties of California soon. Even in the capitol, the Sheriff's Department is now issuing permits and accepting "personal protection" as a justification...

Even if my state were to pass an open carry law, I wouldn't do it.

If they passed an Alaska/Arizona/Vermont type law, I still wouldn't, but I would carry concealed.

I'd like to CCW, but I'd prefer that the permit "authorities" not be too hard-assed about unintentional displays or printing and what-not...

I open carry every day, as my hands are registered lethal weapons.

Maybe a t-shirt saying simple "packing" would be pretty nifty!
You're not displaying a weapon in an obvious manner, just letting folks know in a harmless fashion that you may indeed be armed.

Of course in California "packing" could be misconstrued......:santa_rolleyes:

I share the perception that wearing a gun in the open is asking to be jumped from behind and having it taken away. That said, my one anecdotal encounter with someone with a semi strapped to his hip (at the beach, no less!) was "Yeah. I don't think I'll fuck with that guy." Based on that and the surveys I've read of career criminals, I suspect a Bad Guy's psychology doesn't focus on the potential reward of a free gun, or shooting the biggest threat first as much as it does on the risk of missing on the first shot.

If you're set to rob a place and someone in it has a .45 on his hip, the smart/safe thing to do is rob someplace else. At worst you wind up dead and at best you wind up wanted for murder. Any time you're fixing to do some mischief and realize that someone is packing, it's probably smart to try later.

) Your a damned fool if you carry openly in today's world and you aren't wearing a badge. You may as well wear a huge sandwich sign that says, "SHOOT ME FIRST!"

Or here in Georgia where you are a target if you do carry a badge! :santa_angry:

Tennessee doesn't have open carry. My permit is a "Handgun Carry Permit". I keep it concealed.

I suppose if you're up against the "I'm-mad-as-hell-and-I'm-taking-all-you-bastards-with-me-when-I-go-down" type, then open carrying would make you an obvious first target. 'Course, I don't think that type does a whole lot of detailed, pre-event planning; it's just "show up and open fire."

On the other hand, most people who commit crimes with guns probably DON'T want to get involved in gunplay if they can help it, so seeing someone armed on the premises where they intend to violate may discourage a bad guy from committing a crime altogether...or, at least, encourage him to take it somewhere less well-defended.

I'd bet that second case is far more common.