Concealed Carry and Open Carry simultaneously?

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ccjcc81

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I carry IWB, but I've always heard that it's more comfortable to carry OWB. I'm afraid to carry concealed with a OWB holster because I worry that if my shirt rides up high, people will see the bottom of my holster, which can lead to suspension of my license, so I've always stuck with IWB even though it's getting annoying.

There are rumblings here in Texas that lead me to believe that we may have open carry here soon. To those of you who open carry now, where is the line drawn between open carry and concealed carry? I don't really want to open carry because I think I might feel like I have a target on my back. So my question is, If I'm carrying concealed with an OWB, and my shirt blows open and someone sees it, am I protected by open carry? How about if I stretch up to get something off the top shelf at the store and my shirt rides up exposing the bottom of my holster or the barrel of my gun? Am I then protected?

Thanks in advance.
 
In states where open carry is legal, and you have whatever it takes to make concealed carry legal, then there is generally only one situation where you might have problems - if you intentionally display the firearm in a manner in which manifests an intent to unlawfully threaten or intimidate someone. In a few states there have been reports of arrests for "scaring the public" being common. That will really depend on how the law is written, how much LEO respects the law, and how the courts decide any arrests that are made if Texas ever does legalize open carry (and I think Texas will actually be one of the very last states to do so, if they ever do). Otherwise, if you are legal to both open and conceal carry, then the gun duct taped to your forehead or buried in the bottom of your shoe and everything in between is legal.

ccjcc81 said:
I don't really want to open carry because I think I might feel like I have a target on my back.
Click to expand...

There has never been any evidence presented that open carrier causes you to be a target except for 2 or 3 incidents where a gun was taken from the Joe Regular Civilian openly carrying it - and that is 2 or 3 incidents over at least a decade. That's just historical reality, but whatever reason you choose for carrying how you choose to carry is strictly your personal choice.
 
ccjcc81 said:
There are rumblings here in Texas that lead me to believe that we may have open carry here soon. To those of you who open carry now, where is the line drawn between open carry and concealed carry?
Click to expand...

If open carry is MADE legal in Texas it will be very different than places where open carry is legal due to there being no laws against it. OC is lawful here because it was never outlawed, and to do so would require a change to the State Constitution. OC is legal and CC is legal with a license.

So there is no line drawn- with the license I can carry openly, concealed, or anywhere in between. I can carry concealed into Applebees and remove my coat and carry openly. I can carry concealed with the barrel poking out under my shirt if I wanted to.

Those may not be options in Texas if a law is written to 'allow' open carry. Your question is premature.
 
Mainsail said:
If open carry is MADE legal in Texas it will be very different than places where open carry is legal due to there being no laws against it. OC is lawful here because it was never outlawed, and to do so would require a change to the State Constitution. OC is legal and CC is legal with a license.

So there is no line drawn- with the license I can carry openly, concealed, or anywhere in between. I can carry concealed into Applebees and remove my coat and carry openly. I can carry concealed with the barrel poking out under my shirt if I wanted to.
Click to expand...

I hope you're wrong about your first point, but I guess we'll see how it goes.

Mainsail said:
Those may not be options in Texas if a law is written to 'allow' open carry. Your question is premature.
Click to expand...

Premature? Maybe, but that's a symptom of my excitement. Premature or not, I'm enjoying the discourse, and learning facts. Thanks for responding.
 
Sunshine state....

Florida did the same about 2/3 years ago. It a gust of wind or bending over shows your holstered weapon, no one will jump all over you.
:rolleyes:
It's not quite the same as full open carry but I'll take it. ;)

I OCed a few times while in west/central PA in 2013. Honestly, I liked it & thought it was less of a hassle worrying about if my M&P .45acp was covered or if anybody saw my pistol. :eek:

I do recall in the late 1990s(1999 or so), I got out of my cousins car & took my winter jacket off. It exposed my black Aker shoulder rig & several patrons of a Original O's Hot Dog were gawking at me. :rolleyes:
I quickly slung my rig into the car & put my jacket back on. Now, most diners would say; "oh, whatever"....
 
RustyShackelford said:
Florida did the same about 2/3 years ago. It a gust of wind or bending over shows your holstered weapon, no one will jump all over you.
:rolleyes:
It's not quite the same as full open carry but I'll take it. ;)

I OCed a few times while in west/central PA in 2013. Honestly, I liked it & thought it was less of a hassle worrying about if my M&P .45acp was covered or if anybody saw my pistol. :eek:

I do recall in the late 1990s(1999 or so), I got out of my cousins car & took my winter jacket off. It exposed my black Aker shoulder rig & several patrons of a Original O's Hot Dog were gawking at me. :rolleyes:
I quickly slung my rig into the car & put my jacket back on. Now, most diners would say; "oh, whatever"....
Click to expand...
That's good to know. Either the instructors in my most recent CHL class didn't touch on that, or I dozed off and didn't know it. I've had a CHL for nearly 12 years, and I've been uber paranoid about letting anyone even catch a glimpse of my firearm, to the point that it's almost...stressful.

About open carry, and regarding something you said about people not batting an eye at someone with a gun anymore, I think you're on to something. If everyone with a CHL started open carrying (when it becomes legal here) it might be a way to undo all of the fear and angst about firearms that the mass media has created in the last 20 years. It's only getting worse, and maybe seeing good folks with guns NOT committing crimes and drive-bys will get us back to a place that we need to be. Maybe wishful thinking; but interesting to think about.
 
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"There are rumblings here in Texas that lead me to believe that we may have open carry here soon."
Well, both Goober-natorial candidates are supposedly in favor ('both' is used loosely) and the bill seems to get a little bit further each special session. Texas is weird in that the legislature only meets a short time every year (or is it two years?) with a bunch of Governor-instigated special sessions at other times (Rick Perry has been very fond of them). We're weird-er in that the Constitution basically is the law code, and is frequently amended and changed each session, I think by a simple majority. Sadly, that means open carry would disappear as easily (or as difficultly) as it was passed.

I thoroughly believe that a passed open carry law would have a ton of restrictions on where you could go; same as we have with the 30-06 law prohibiting firearms from anyplace that bothers to post the proper sign. Mostly, I wish for it so there is no risk to printing, which I feel does very little to detract from what concealed-carry accomplishes (get guns out and about without people being fully aware or feeling threatened by them)

TCB
 
The Texas legislature meets for 140 days every two years. There was a mistake when the Constitution was written. It was actually supposed to be for two days every 140 years.

That it meets in years of odd numbers is completely approppriate.
 
What I have heard so far (and I haven't heard anything I would even go so far as to label an official rumor) is that the law proposed will probably take the form of legalizing open carry by persons who have CHLs, not simply legalizing open carry for the general population.
 
"It was actually supposed to be for two days every 140 years."
So that is how it was supposed to be, huh? :D I think the first act would have been to make the days longer, and the years shorter :evil:

"not simply legalizing open carry for the general population."
Give the man a cigar...:p
 
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