How do you carry? Open or Concealed?

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ChiangKCMO

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I have been carrying a pistol for 5 years. Many of those years I've carried my pistol openly (properly holstered of course). Part of the reason I chose to do this was because in my state (MO) one had to be 23 years of age before one could qualify for a CCW. This recently changed but from 21 to 23 years old the only option I had to remain armed was to openly carry my firearm. This got me deeply involved in the OC movement in my state and the greater movement nationally. I often spend much of my time on and offline around OC advocates and other like minded individuals on the subject. Recently, I uploaded this video:

http://youtu.be/cIQJ_FJ8zsQ

of an incident my OC group experienced. It went semi-viral on the OC forums and other regional carry forums and sparked quite a debate. I noticed a lot of heated opposition towards OC even from the CCW community. Honestly, I was a bit surprised to see such discontent for OC from other 2A advocates. This is what brings me here to a larger 2A forum. Recently I was asked to speak at a liberty based event on OC and the greater 2A movements in my region (west MO/KCMO). I am also to host some breakout sessions on OC and its controversy. I'd love to get some feed back and general (civil) discussion over support or lack there of in regards to OC. Why you choose to do one or the other. The youtube comments on the video are quite honestly out of hand and unhelpful. A peaceful thoughtful discussion, however, will aid me greatly in the development of a good, representative and dialectic speech. Thanks
 
Always concealed.

I prefer to keep the fact that I'm carrying a gun to myself and not advertise it to the masses for my protection.
 
Welcome to THR!! I carry concealed but that's cause my state doesn't have OC, I would at times if it did
 
Concealed.

Because it is concealed! I don't carry a weapon to make a political point.

I support others who choose to open carry, but understand you often bring problems upon yourself. Is that right, nope, but it is real life. I choose not to and expect as much respect for my postition as those who open carry.

The beauty of a free country is that each of us get to choose for ourselves and for our own reasons how we will do this.

Good luck.

Fred
 
When I carry, I carry openly for various reasons.

Though, to be honest, the biggest reason is because I'm too lazy to get a CWP. It's not even hard to get one here in VA, I just don't feel like going through the motions to do it.
 
Indiana is an 'at will' state, but I always carry concealed. I personally believe it to be safer. Guns generally intimidate people and will draw attention. I look at it like this... I'm at the local bank/supermarket with my wife and child. A "bad guy" walks through the front door to rob the place and he/she notices the gun on my hip. I believe that would make my family an immediate target instead of acting as a deterrent. I enjoy exercising my rights, but I carry for personal protection.
 
Spartacus, I've never bought into to whole "OC makes me a target" thing.

Street criminals don't generally think in terms of threat elimination. They, like most of us, think in terms of threat avoidance. Dealing with you directly is a hassle so they'd probably just go somewhere else or wait for you to leave. That's why most burglaries happen around 9AM after everyone's left for work.

If we're talking about an action movie-caliber bank heist, then you might have something to worry about, but a typical in-out-"put the money in the bag" robbery... not so much.
 
i carry concealed almost all of the time. the only time i open carry is when i know i will not be around a lot of people (hunting, fishing, etc.) mostly because i just get tired of having to explain to everyone why i carry, yes its legal, yes i have a permit, blah blah blah...

for me, concealed is just more convenient.
 
I think that the possibility that OC makes you a target is at least balanced by the likelihood that if you OC you will DETER aggression.

Utah passed a law that says that simply having a gun does not equal brandishing. Meaning, if you are showing a gun on your belt, and you are in an altercation with someone, they can't say that you were threatening them with a gun just because you HAVE one. However, there were still incidents of police harassing people just for carrying. We introduced a bill to clarify that possessing a gun cannot be called disorderly conduct. It stalled, we will try again next year.

Use your brains folks. We have come a long way in the last twenty or so years. We don't need to inflame people who didn't care before to suddenly have a reason to care. When I'm outside doing....whatever, I open carry. If I'm walking down 400 south in Salt Lake past all the coffee shops, I don't. Not complicated.
 
I will eagerly follow this thread. I am considering Open carrying here in Maine (legal without a permit). The reasons for this include that I do not have the money for a concealed carry class in the near future, and with a busy work schedule they are hard to find availability when I am free. I plan to get my CC permit as soon as I can but until then I will open carry. Just need to purchase or make a holster.
 
Not wanting to draw atention to yourself from the general public is a perfectly acceptable reason to CC over OC, however, I want to make it clear that I don't think there are any tactical disadvantages to OC that aren't completely speculative and mostly nonsensical.
 
When in and around civilization, concealed-always. In the woods, openly. I greatly respect everyone's rights and reasons for how they carry, but I just do not want the extra attention in public.
 
I certainly see your point, HDCamel.

"criminals don't generally think" "they'd probably just go somewhere else" "That's why most burglaries" "but a typical in-out"

Every situation is different and relying on a statistic is simply not a chance I'm willing to take. I did not say OP makes you a target. I was basically saying in my experience open carry draws attention. And that could be a bad thing.
 
Open carry.

Always.

Everywhere I can legally.

In over 3 1/2 years I'm still waiting for my first negative encounter/event. I have had literally hundreds of positive encounters based on the number of flyers I have handed out to interested folks.

FWIW, my OC is a full size 1911 in a leather pancake OWB holster carried at the 3:00 position.
 
Also as to the video in the OP, I wish to commend all parties involved for handling themselves and the situation in such a professional and positive manner. Even though I am in no way involved, I would also like to express my appreciation to the manager and employees of that establishment for their support in the encounter and of the 2A.

One question I had, and thank you for bringing it to my attention as I will now seek the answer from my own state laws, are you not required to produce a form of Identification upon request from a law enforcement official? Any light shed on this will be much appreciated.
 
Typically concealed, although I'll open carry sometimes on the way to/from the range.

I have no problem with the idea of O/C, I just have not yet invested in a retention holster, nor the HTH training needed in my judgment to confidently defend against a hypothetical gun grab.
 
Open carry while on ones extended property or while hunting is normal. I seriously question the desireability of open carry for self dense ssince the element of surprise is lost. I also believe the open carry advocates are providing the gun haters additional ammunition to label gun owners as "undesireables" or "fanatics". We should concentrate our efforts on having all states issue permits for concealed carry and recognize the permits from other states.
 
Centurian22, where I am, it is not required to produce ID to an LEO when not doing anything the would require ID. As OC doesn't require a permit or any other form of identification to do here in MO, there is no reason one must produce it upon request. This varies state to state and occasionally jurisdiction to jurisdiction though.
 
Depends. Usually concealed just for ease of wandering through public.

To the OP, I'd suggest you do a search here for threads on Open Carry.

We've discussed this exact question dozens of times, and had to close those threads almost universally as folks can't seem to express themsevles in civil ways. We'll let this one run until/unless things stray from "The High Road," but this is heavily-trod ground.
 
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