Mainsail said:
Gang of street thugs steals your wife’s purse and runs off? Tough nuts for you and her, your ‘element of surprise’ does nothing for you.
Are you for real??? Let's say I'm walking down the sidewalk (sidearm showing) with my wife and a few street thugs who are also armed see this. This is now an even greater cause for them to run up behind and just kill me outright during a robbery (they'd be removing any potential threat). As for the purse snatching while concealed carry, they can have the purse and nobody has to die. Purse snatching is not to be matched with deadly force.
Gang of street thugs jump out of the shadows, armed with a gun or knife, before you can react? It looks like the surprise is on you. They get your wallet and your concealed weapon. If you’re lucky, they won’t shoot you with your own gun merely for the irony.
Concealed carry is not as "slow to the draw" as the misinformed might suspect. Pull a knife on me and I'll put 3 in him before he could get close enough... and that's the God's honest truth! I have practiced many years from a concealed quick draw. There are others here too who have amazing drawing speeds from the point of concealed carry and they're pretty accurate.
Gang of street thugs surrounds you and taunts you like they do in the movies?
Like they do in the movies... Hmmm... Movies don't mean squat when it comes to reality.
As for me, I have a lofty goal of going my entire life without ever shooting anyone. I don’t want to surprise a criminal; I want them to avoid me. Personally, I think that many of the people who espouse the ‘element of surprise, are secretly hoping they’ll get to shoot someone. The only surprise they’ll experience will be their own. Criminals aren’t the zombies some are hoping for; they’re smart, street savvy, and cunning. They’re far better at the whole robbery business than any of us. If you don’t believe me, come on out to Tacoma and walk around a while, you’ll get your chance to ‘surprise’ a robber.
You want them to avoid you... and so that gun proudly displayed is your magical instrument in the prevention of any and all crime from ever entering your inner circle. If you really want to take the first step in avoiding most of these situations you brought up, don't walk in such areas where there is a greater propensity for such criminal activity. I wouldn't take a stroll along Joseph Avenue or Jay Street in my city
with two guns showing, if you know what I mean. Avoid the bad areas in Tacoma altogether in the first place, or would you be strolling down in those districts for some special reason?.. not my business anyways.
Hypothetical 1: What would open carry do in another DC sniper copy cat crime that would be anymore different from concealed carry? If the man pumping gas shows his sidearm, he's three to four times safer at the pump while standing in the cross hairs than the man carrying concealed??
Hypothetical 2: How about a deranged gunman who's concealing, just doesn't care about your gun showing because he doesn't care at all about life, pulls out his pistol, first wipes you out and does it so fast you wouldn't even know what hit you, shoots another 3 or 4 innocents, then ends his own life? Again, where did open carry get you that would be any different from concealed carry?
Open carry all you want. Just understand that everyone has their own unique preferences. Because some choose to cover it up, this doesn't mean they're any less of a proud gun owner or any less a supporter of the Second Amendment than the person who wants to show it off.
