Halloween costumes & open carry

[FSCJedi]

I know that Halloween isn't for another 2 months, but I'm already starting to think up a good costume. It got me wondering, though...

How many of you all dress up for Halloween, be it to take your kids around and trick-or-treat or to host/go to a party? My second question is how many of you pick costumes that allow you to add a firearm as part of the costume, and thusly allowing you to open carry w/o anyone thinking anything of it? (note: only to be done if there will be no imbibing of alcohol... duh)

Obviously there's a lot of options out there. Has anyone thought about this? I've been toying with the idea myself and thought I'd see what my other forumites thought about the subject.

 

[Roadkill]

Damn good way to get shot.

 

[steelhead]

Are you serious?

No haven't thought about it.

Wouldn't consider it.

Think it is a monumentally bad idea.

Stick with concealed carry.

 

[VARifleman]

What state are you in?

 

[Fu-man Shoe]

Ah, that's a crock. Open carry, depending on where you
live is perfectly legal and safe. You might get a funny look
or two, but it's *highly* unlikely you'll get shot, as some
poster claimed.

Go as a cowboy, strap on your sixgun, and have a ball.
I think you'll be fine.

It might be harder to do with a non cowboy lookin gun though.

fu-man shoe

 

[Jim K]

And if some kid grabs your gun and plays "bang bang you're dead" - and they are?

Bad idea even if open carry is otherwise legal.

Jim

 

[1911Tuner]

Trumps

Jim...Pure logic once again turns on a light in the minds of men.

 

[JohnBT]

Holloween costume => mask + gun = bad idea

 

[mustanger98]

I saw an article once about somebody going to a Halloween party done up as Laura Croft... guns and all. They suggested wearing mock-ups of the guns in case somebody wearing this costume were to get pulled over on the way to or from the party.

 

[OpFlash]

What Jim said. You would be disguising a deadly weapon as a toy and by open carrying making it available to anyone.

I don't believe in open carry at all unless you employ a retention holster and have received weapon retention training.

 

[MudPuppy]

There was a young lady dressed as Lara a couple of years ago, big guns (toys) and all.

Her hubby was off to the side with the backup candy, absolutely beaming.

 

[MechAg94]

You could paint the muzzle red also.

 

[ny32182]

I have had costumes that called for a firearm before, but as others have said, I wouldn't consider using a real firearm, because you are then sending the implicit message that the gun is a fake/model, when it is not. I think its a bad idea.

 

[Kaeto]

If you want to carry a realistic looking weapon with a costume buy an airsoft one and carry it. DO NOT carry a real weapon with your costume!

 

[Phantom Warrior]

My first thought was the same as Jim Keenan. On one of the few occasions that I open carried (in normal clothes) I had someone come up and fiddle with my gun. While it was in the holster and I was sitting down. I can only imagine it would be worse if you were wearing a costume.

 

[Roadwild17]

Just go as a fed, You could get the little ear thing and talk into your cuff-links all night & ware you shaddes till midnight or whatever. The good thing is you could carry (depending on your local laws) CONCEALED, under your jacket in a sholder rig.

 

[svtruth]

A few years ago

a guy in NYC went to a halloween party as a cop. A real cop was called for something unrelated, the guy pointed his fake gun at the real cop and the cop shot him fatally.
Good luck.

 

[mattw]

I think about the only way I would do that is if you went as a WW2 GI or Marine and used a flap holster. You see just enough to make it an accurate part o the costume but little does anyone else know.. thats a real 1911!

I think any other open carry holster would be too tempting for others to make a grab at your sidearm.

I wouldn't do it at all though. I'd rather be open carrying a six pack of bud light at a party.

 

[strambo]

Going as agent "Schmuckatelli" is a good idea, ear bud and all. I likes it! I even have a dark, conservative suit and a SIG...if I need to pull it the low life (who put me in fear for my life) will think "Wow, that's an authentic costume" BANG!

If it weren't for the grabbing potential, I would see no problem with open carry. In a controlled environment like your house and family/friends it would be fine. You could just handle it by telling any meddling kids it's real and use the opportunity to talk about gun safety and never assume something is a toy. Out in public in close proximity to strangers...problem. Unless you went as a cop, retention holster and all. That might cause other problems though...

 

[Robert Hairless]

It seems like a bad idea to equate real guns with toys or to suggest that you think of them that way. Kids pick up on ideas like that. So do some adults.

I wonder if you might appear at the home of one or more people who recognize what's in your holster and who decide that it would be prudent to have their own real gun ready just in case. I'd hate to expose my kids or anyone else's to that possibility. Or, for that matter, me. Not all people have the same sense of fun.

 

[dev_null]

Aaaaand the "streets running with blood" crowd come out. Never ceases to amaze me the number of people who reject the Brady Bunch's arguments, yet trot them out any time open carry comes up.

Someone point out the difference between these two scenarios, please:

A. You're in an open-carry state. It's August 31. You're wearing slacks, a button-up shirt, and have a 1911 in an OWB holster.

B. You're in an open carry state. It's October 31. You're wearing dress pants, a button up shirt with a tie, a fake earbud with coil wire in your ear, gel in your hair, and have a 1911 in an OWB holster.

 

[ny32182]

The difference is that in scenario A, most people will assume the gun is real, and act accordingly, while in scenario B, most people will assume the gun is fake, and act accordingly.

 

[OpFlash]

Both A and B are bad ideas unless you have a retention holster and retention training. LEOs are required to have those things. Do you somehow posess skills that make them unnecessary?

 

[mattw]

So if we don't have expensive holsters and training we should not carry firearms? Would you like to make some laws? Run in the democratic primaries maybe?

You people are getting bent out of shape about this. If you are in an open carry state and are not doing anything illegal I see no problem with it. I am more afraid of getting run over by a parent trying to control their kids that are strung out on sugar while driving the minivan to the next neighborhood than I am getting shot for no reason by somebody that I don't know.

 

[Nathan Williams]

Methinks this doth sound like a bad idea . The last thing in the world I want to hear about in the news is how some guy dressed up as G.I Joe had his gun pulled out by a kid that ended up shoting himself in the foot (or worse). It just sounds really irresponsible and would only add fuel to the antis fire. Also it may very well be illegal open carry allowed or not depending on the costume. Around here adults are not allowed to wear any type of mask in public, adding gun to a mask is a sure no-no.