Any Advice on Carrying Openly for the First Time?

[44-henry]

I guess I fail to understand why you would really want to carry openly in the first place. Before you jump all over me for that statement let me explain. First, you have lost all element of surprise so if somebody is intent on causing harm they will probably take you out first and they will have the advantage. Second, you are going to shock a lot of people who aren't used to seeing open carry. People are going to be watching you like a hawk, law enforcement included. In short, you are going to be drawing a lot of attention to yourself and gun owners in general and most of it won't be positive and, unfortunately, a lot of that is going to be worse for you because of your age. Also, even if you take every step to stay legal, if some LEO really wanted to be a pain they could probably come up with some reason to make an arrest and at least hold you in jail for awhile.

 

[Ltp0wer]

I guess I fail to understand why you would really want to carry openly in the first place. Before you jump all over me for that statement let me explain. First, you have lost all element of surprise so if somebody is intent on causing harm they will probably take you out first and they will have the advantage. Second, you are going to shock a lot of people who aren't used to seeing open carry. People are going to be watching you like a hawk, law enforcement included. In short, you are going to be drawing a lot of attention to yourself and gun owners in general and most of it won't be positive and, unfortunately, a lot of that is going to be worse for you because of your age. Also, even if you take every step to stay legal, if some LEO really wanted to be a pain they could probably come up with some reason to make an arrest and at least hold you in jail for awhile.

While I agree with you on the element of surprise deal, I think you're wrong. Sure, If I was old enough to conceal, I would. That doesn't mean that I think open carrying is useless. I think that if you open carry, a lot of conflict is prevented. I have seen the horror story threads on this forum where people have been confronted by a shady character. Almost always, the perp in question was either unarmed or carrying a knife. Most of the time, once the weapon carrier pulled out his or her concealed weapon, or even made the person aware of the gun, the perp backed off.

As far as shocking people goes, Who cares? People in my town need to be warmed up to firearms. I also don't mind being watched. In fact, I'd prefer that the people watch me. It would help them see that an upstanding citizen can carry a gun and not be a problem. As long as I am not doing anything wrong, or causing trouble, it shouldn't have any negative effect on what people think about firearms. When I open carried yesterday, no one seemed to care. The only thing I noticed was that some manager from the grocery store I went into followed me around until he realized I was a customer, and not some hooligan.

And yeah, A LEO could arrest me and hold me in jail even if I haven't broken any laws, but he's not going to want to unless he thinks I am a threat. As long as I don't look like one, I don't think I have to worry about that.

 

[Eschaton]

I guess I fail to understand why you would really want to carry openly in the first place. Before you jump all over me for that statement let me explain. First, you have lost all element of surprise so if somebody is intent on causing harm they will probably take you out first and they will have the advantage. Second, you are going to shock a lot of people who aren't used to seeing open carry. People are going to be watching you like a hawk, law enforcement included. In short, you are going to be drawing a lot of attention to yourself and gun owners in general and most of it won't be positive and, unfortunately, a lot of that is going to be worse for you because of your age. Also, even if you take every step to stay legal, if some LEO really wanted to be a pain they could probably come up with some reason to make an arrest and at least hold you in jail for awhile.

OC is all you can do in Arizona until you're 21. So that's one reason.

2nd, Arizona really isn't that bad when it comes to open carry. I've done it plenty of times and no one has given me a second look, even police officers. And I did it walking into a gas station and they didn't say a word to me.

 

[NavyLCDR]

I guess I fail to understand why you would really want to carry openly in the first place. Before you jump all over me for that statement let me explain. First, you have lost all element of surprise so if somebody is intent on causing harm they will probably take you out first and they will have the advantage. Second, you are going to shock a lot of people who aren't used to seeing open carry. People are going to be watching you like a hawk, law enforcement included. In short, you are going to be drawing a lot of attention to yourself and gun owners in general and most of it won't be positive and, unfortunately, a lot of that is going to be worse for you because of your age. Also, even if you take every step to stay legal, if some LEO really wanted to be a pain they could probably come up with some reason to make an arrest and at least hold you in jail for awhile.