Our own worst enemy.

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And how has that been working for you?


Did you read past the first sentence? If so you would know it’s working out pretty well. I’ll post why here for you to save you some time:

I have had friends come up for extended visits from the city and leave with a completely new outlook on firearms. That came from showing them how they can be used in a manner that the media doesn’t show. Namely as a way to protect livestock and fun target shooting. That will do much more for the 2A than telling them they are dumb snowflakes that just need to get over it. Again, just my opinion.
 
Well, the 'where' of NE Texas might matter. If we are talking about Tyler, rather than, say, Longview, dude in from the countryside might be OC 24/7 and does not realize the tender tendencies of citified people in downtown Tyler.

If we are talking Frisco, I can see folk being more nervous-nellies what with all the displaced Dallasites there. That, and even out in Van Alstyne or Melissa there really aren't folk who are OC 24/7 on their 300 Section ranch (unlike out towards Longview or Terrel).

The more key question to me is, who on earth still goes to a brick-n-mortar bookstore? Those Rothco blueberry shorts and the combat chukkas were clearly off the internet . . .
 
I disagree. I have plenty friends that sit farther left than you are comfortable with, and not 1 wants to disarm law abiding citizens. And most know that that’s not even logistically possible. Fox News would like you to believe that, just as CNN would like you to believe that all conservatives want to walk around with an AR15 over each shoulder. That’s how they control viewers, with fear. Sit down and have an adult, level headed conversation with some people (not politicians) on the left, and you might be surprised at the common ground. Now there are extremists on both sides, and frankly, they scare the hell out of me.

I live in Washington state. You are not going to convince me that liberals do not want to disarm citizens.
 
Well, the 'where' of NE Texas might matter. If we are talking about Tyler, rather than, say, Longview, dude in from the countryside might be OC 24/7 and does not realize the tender tendencies of citified people in downtown Tyler.

In the woods, off a dirt road, with not many people around. A bit south of Tyler.
 
The more key question to me is, who on earth still goes to a brick-n-mortar bookstore?

Me. It makes a nice place to stop when I'm with the family killing time. :)

Although, I'm usually wearing my work clothes which are a dark blue shirt, blue jeans, black belt, black watch, and black work boots. Plus a pistol in my pocket. We're not allowed to open carry on the job, not that'd I'd do it anyway.
 
Yep, he as a right to carry. And if he is line with me at the Movie theater, I think I will use my right to catch the next show.

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Yeah, that's a different ball of wax than a person that carries a pistol daily. Pistols on the hip mean self defense to my brain. Slung rifles in a common store mean "protest" to my brain. Good to see that he didn't have the rifle in front of him with a hand on it.
 
"Concealed" carry gives the carrier the advantage of surprise over a bad guy, always puzzled me why one would give away that advantage with an open carry.

Of course there are times when one becomes "exposed" without knowledge.

almost concealed carry.jpg
 
The guy with the rifle is definitely just trying to be an object of discussion. It would take him 20 seconds to get the bookbag out of the way and the rifle in action so self defense certainly can't be claimed. He cant set down or drive like that. And if your one of the "never point a gun at anything you don't want to destroy no matter what" crowd then that guy is the devil.( I have a rifle in a gun rack and haul one on my atv so yes it does sweep things I don't want destroyed, including myself if i walk around) In a real world bad situation he is dead first, no doubt. Even the ankle carry guys from the other thread would fare better. As bad as I detest soda, I cant see being that scared of the aisle.

The guy on the sportbike..... Ive been that guy a lot. No amount of tucking a shirt in can keep it down on an R1. If it's not cool enough for my riding jacket and shoulder holster (after going down and having my beretta break my ribs i was hesitant on that too) I usually just took my shirt off and pocket carried.
 
I disagree. I have plenty friends that sit farther left than you are comfortable with, and not 1 wants to disarm law abiding citizens. And most know that that’s not even logistically possible. Fox News would like you to believe that, just as CNN would like you to believe that all conservatives want to walk around with an AR15 over each shoulder. That’s how they control viewers, with fear. Sit down and have an adult, level headed conversation with some people (not politicians) on the left, and you might be surprised at the common ground. Now there are extremists on both sides, and frankly, they scare the hell out of me.

I've had that conversation with many on the Left. They say they want "common sense gun control". Then when pressed they mean they don't want us to own guns.
 
I can honestly say that of the people I know, and that's a lot since I have around 400 people my business, and hundreds ive met in construction helping my in-laws in my free time, that I've only found one person who argued any "gun control" .He didn't like AR or AK rifles in civilian hands. He went on to show me many tens of thousands of dollars in colt, smith, winchester, cooper, and anschutz arms. Just didn't see the utility in those other rifles. He saw me hunt varmints with one for years. I doubt he ever changed his mind.

My area is where a lot of wealthy 2A supporters go to retire. I'm thankful for that actually.
 
I agree with the OP. Where I live (northern Virginia), open carrying by anyone other than uniformed police makes people uncomfortable, if not to say fearful. The only effect that the few open-carry activists we have here are managing to achieve is to turn people who are neutral about guns into antigunners. I've heard it said that seeing lots of open carrying makes people comfortable about the idea of guns. The actual effect is quite the opposite.

In Virginia, open carrying is currently legal without a license. I guarantee you that if the open-carry activists keep up what they are doing, we're going to end up seeing open carry abolished completely, and even concealed carry become more restricted.
 
I’m not a fan of OC in urban/suburban areas at all; puts carrier at tactical disadvantage, upsets the mom crowd, and being from NY originally now in WA since 2002 my concern is they do away with open carry due to people pushing against it due to the “shock value” and then you have to worry about “brandishing” charges when your pistol is inadvertently exposed in a grocery store, on a bike, while picking up your 3 yr old, etc.
 
You are not going to convince me that liberals do not want to disarm citizens.
Change this to antis and I agree, open carry will not make a difference to them, they want all of our guns, period.

Open carry by some people in some circumstances can definitely hurt public image for gun owners though, and that can hurt us.

Open carry around here is not a real big deal, other places, not so much I imagine. Only you can know whether or not it is a good or bad idea where you are.
 
I guarantee you that if the open-carry activists keep up what they are doing, we're going to end up seeing open carry abolished completely, and even concealed carry become more restricted.

That was the thinking here too. But the opposite has happened. The more people are exposed to open carry the less it concerns them. I'm about 1/2 way between Atlanta and Chattanooga and Atlanta is pretty liberal. But it doesn't seem to be causing concern.

I'll keep this as short as possible, but the back story is important. I have some friends and relatives, (all now retired) who served in the USMC Reserves out of the Chattanooga center. Most of my friends retired between the 1st and 2nd Gulf Wars, but a brother-in-law was called up to active duty for 2 years and served in Iraq in 2005 before retiring.

One of my friends had a son join the same unit and did 3 tours in Iraq. His unit earned a reputation over there and were told when they returned that ISIS had a price on their heads and to be alert 24/7. They were told to dress in street clothes to and from the reserve center and home to make it harder for militants to learn where they lived. My sons friend took his own life in 2014. He had just seen more than he could handle. At the funeral in Dalton GA there were 20+ Marines dressed in street clothes open carrying. No one batted an eye.

And the advice to be alert proved accurate. This was the same reserve center attacked in 2015 killing 4 Marines and a sailor. It was not a random attack.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Chattanooga_shootings

The guy in the photo looks like he could be former military and quite possibly with similar concerns.
 
It could even be possible that if enough people do such it would normalize people to seeing other folks carrying weapons to a point that it doesn't freak them out.
That's the perennial argument in favor of open carry. (It has to be, because open carry puts you at a tactical disadvantage when it comes to self-defense.) I can tell you that where I live, open carrying is worrisome to bystanders. It's a great recruitment tool for the antigunners. So much so, that sometimes I think these open carriers are secretly antigunners conducting a provocative "false flag" operation.
 
"Concealed" carry gives the carrier the advantage of surprise over a bad guy, always puzzled me why one would give away that advantage with an open carry.

Of course there are times when one becomes "exposed" without knowledge.

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Yeah, that was me many times. One time I'm on my way to work from Westchester Cty NY into the Bronx wearing a suit, and I think I see some red lights in my mirror. Hard to tell because I was riding a H-D XLCR Cafe Sportster. A rare vintage classic, but it vibrated like crazy and made seeing anything clearly in the mirrors impossible. It was a Harley that looked like a cafe racer, so a big sales flop for Harley in '77-78, but a collectable now. I'm not a Harley guy, but that bike was cool.

I look behind and there is a motorcycle officer, his lights are indeed on. Turns out he was a Yonkers cop who had followed me from Yonkers into the Bronx. I pull into a gas station on the Major Deegan Expressway and stop, he stops but keeps a distance. I say "you saw my gun", he nods. This is NYC after all, almost nobody legally carries a gun. I produce a shield and ID and all is well.

Turns out he was a motorcycle aficionado who also wanted to look at the bike. I was late, but hey, it was the least I could do since I may have been going a little bit over the speed limit. OK, maybe a lot. lol
 
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People on this forum are not going to see a problem with it, and it’s not going to make them uncomfortable. I think we are a minority in that respect, and it’s important to remember that. I would venture that 95% of the people in this store were not “us.” And that 95% also goes to the polls. I just don’t really see what good comes out of carrying his weapon the way he is.

I don't live my life worrying over all the different possible paranoid delusions or other mental problems anyone I might possibly meet MIGHT be suffering with. I'm not a doctor and their mental state is only a concern to me as far as I'm required to defend myself from nut jobs. I'm sure not modifying my own behavior to accommodate fools, cowards and or the mentally unstable.

If they can't face life living among the normal, legal, and law abiding citizens of this country THEY should be hospitalized.
 
Around here, about the only time you see open carry is during hunting season. And then's usually just people running errands on their way back from the day's hunt. If people were heading towards the door, I suspect it was more than simply for the fact he was armed. I have to admit, his wardrobe would tend to give me pause but should his body language and general attitude be one of simply minding his own business I would like as not chalk it up to an individual idiosyncrasy and go about my business.

Added note: if he headed to the section on applied chemistry or nuclear engineering I would definitely be not only heading for the door but a danger to life and limb of anyone in my way.
 
"Concealed" carry gives the carrier the advantage of surprise over a bad guy, always puzzled me why one would give away that advantage with an open carry.

Surprise is not a defensive tactic. Unless you're a Ninja the criminal typically makes the first move at a time and place of his choosing
 
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