That said... if you are going to be targeted by someone really intent on robbery or murder, your carrying concealed is not liable to be much of a deterrent. In fact, it's no deterrent whatsoever.
Demonstrably false. A definite statistical drop in violent crimes has occurred in every jurisdiction where they have passed shall-issue concealed carry laws. And what's more, the laws help protect citizens who aren't carrying, by introducing an element of uncertainty about who is armed, something that certainly cannot be said of open carry.
That's certainly an opinion, but why do you state it like it's common knowledge?
Because I've already posted an example of a person being targeted despite, and perhaps because of carrying openly. Open carry not only did not deter, but also did not help him. They bad guy had the drop on him, and by the time he knew he needed to defend himself, it was too late to react. He had no alternative but to meekly surrender his weapon to the mugger.
On the other hand, there are instances of concealed carriers able to deploy their weapons to save themselves, and take the bad guy unawares when it became clear they were probably going to be killed, such as in this story,
http://www.kfvs12.com/story/24474261/names-released-after-customer-kills-gun-wielding-man-in-dallas-co-store, where a citizen was able to draw and shoot a gunman who tried to herd him and the store clerk into the break room. This would not have been possible had the bad guy been able to spot him as armed. And lest you think that's an isolated incident, here's a page with a similar incident from a Walgreen's in St. Joseph, Missouri in 2007,
http://www.armed-citizens.com/ArmedCitizens/ArmedCitizens.aspx (unfortunately the heroic store employee was fired by Walgreen's for violating policy and carrying a weapon -- no good deed goes unpunished).
Open carry gives you little to no advantage in an urban area, where you are surrounded by people and will be reacting rather than acting. I am not the only one who thinks this either. Here's firearm's expert and trainer Rob Pincus on the matter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxvOjO7XjMU. And for myself, while I am not a recognized expert, I am a serving law enforcement officer with far more training than most armed citizens ever get, and Mr. Pincus' opinions certainly go along with mine on this. Based on my own training and experience, I don't see any tactical advantage to open carry for a citizen in an urban area, and there are significant disadvantages.
I've been carrying openly for ten years now, no drama. I carried openly every day very close to that Forza Coffee Shop too.
So who are you that I should take your advice?
See above.
Do you or have you carried openly in the most crime infested city in the PNW?
Yes, including a ride-along with the Seattle PD in 2007 when I almost moved out there to join that department. And in other cities besides, both concealed and open.
All you have is your speculation and maybe an outlier attack- you haven't proven anything.
No, I have a good deal of training as well, and that includes weapon retention -- something essential if you are going to carry openly. I also have far more experience dealing directly with violent criminals than most armed citizens will ever have, thanks to being a cop. Prior to joining the police department in 2000, I got a concealed permit in Virginia in 1996, as soon as they passed the shall-issue concealed carry permit law here, and prior to that, when it was all I could legally do, I did carry openly on some occasions.
You haven't shown it to be common or even somewhat expected. I've seen open carry deter a crime, from about five feet away (that's how close he got before he noticed it).
Really? What crime was this person about to commit? How do you know that? Did he tell you?
Wait...what? Open carry isn't even a guarantee that "someone really intent on robbery or murder" will even notice it in the first place? Well doesn't that just blow your unsubstantiated theory away....
I have cited examples for my "unsubstantiated theory." Last time I checked supporting evidence was substantiating. It is
you who have offered only unsupported opinion.
We go 'round and 'round on this forum about open carry all the time and not everyone will ever agree, but I can tell you from substantiated experience that while it [OC makes you a target] certainly *could* happen, so could anything else.
When you have actually gone out and carried openly, and have done it for years, then you will have an opinion based on experience, until then all you have is youtube and so-and-so said... which is to say you have very little.
Yeah, I've only been a cop for fourteen years, what would
I know?
If you at minimum had someone else's experience upon which to draw your opinion, then maybe you could generate an informed opinion, but you don't even have that.
Now, in addition to unsupported opinion, you are also making totally unwarranted
assumptions, which are also
false, as it turns out. What was your basis for such assumptions? You don't know me from Adam, and couldn't
possibly have any idea what my level of experience is.
So what do you actually have? The unsubstantiated theory that it's better to wait until after the attack has already begun and only then react to that....from waaaaay behind the curve.... Riiiiight....
When the bad guy is acting, and you are reacting, you are
already "waaaaay behind the curve." I say this from experience getting into fights with criminals. Not gunfights (yet, thank God!), but violent confrontations. You'll be standing there calmly talking to someone and the next thing you know, the fight's on. If you are alert, you
may pick up cues from his behavior that he's about to break bad on you, but maybe not.
At least if your weapon is concealed, and you come under attack, there may come a moment when your assailant looks away or turns to focus his attention on someone else, and you have the opportunity to draw and fire. That's how it played out in the two examples I linked to above where robbers tried to herd employees and customers toward a back room in a store -- a scenario that too often results in deaths (q.v. Stanley "Tookie" Williams).
I can also tell you, from experience on the range on the qualification course, that I can deploy my department-issue Glock 19 from a concealed holster under my suit coat about as fast as I can from my level 2 retention duty holster that I carry it openly in when I am in uniform. Here's Rob Pincus again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlojGZeu6GA, showing the difference in draw speed, and it's only just a tenth of a second slower drawing from a concealed holster than it is an open one. In an actual gunfight, what is going to really slow you down is the element of surprise and your startle response, and the delay while your shocked brain is still trying to figure out what's going on and then evaluate the threat. The extra tenth of a second you will need to sweep aside your concealing garment is not going to be the most significant factor delaying your response.
You seem to leap to the conclusion that I have little training or experience. But if you really think you are going to be miles slower drawing from concealed carry than open, then I have to say it is you who seems to be lacking either training or experience. Your expectations in this area are unrealistic.
Is OC better than CC? Of course not. Both have their place (at least in the free states) and both have advantages and disadvantages. For me and the threat most likely to present itself where I often am, open carry is far better.
Perhaps, but perhaps not.
In some places where I go, concealed carry is better. Most often, carrying concealed-then-open or open-then-concealed works great. Options are always great. Too hot, screw CC and take off the coat, now I'm OC.
If your mind is closed, so be it.
My mind is not closed, it is informed by training and experience -- again, more than the average armed citizen has.
If you really believe that openly carrying a handgun in a holster is going to destroy your right to keep and bear arms, I suggest that you prepare for that now, because we aren't going to stop carrying [a handgun openly in a holster] based on your theories and fantasies. So if you really believe it, you better start digging holes in the yard.
Well, I never said that. But open carry activists
did succeed in getting the state of California to outlaw the practice. They've also demonstrably motivated businesses who wanted to stay out of the whole debate about gun rights to come down on the side of excluding weapons from their property. So if you are carrying openly for defense, fine, and I support your right to do so. If you are carrying openly when you can carry concealed, in an urban setting, then I respectfully submit, you are probably not choosing the better option. But if you are carrying openly for the purpose of making a political statement, then I submit you are indeed more likely to be instrumental in getting the right curtailed.
Sure, in your hypothetical, if someone was (say) wearing gang colors/ink and carrying a poorly-concealed firearm, and if it was a man, and if he was in a certain age bracket, I'd be on alert with him, too. No question. 
