Your question was, "How many openly carrying private citizens have been attacked?".
I am of the impression that there have been very few; there aren't that many open carriers, as a percentage of the total population, to start with. And if open carry is such an effective deterrent, and in many situations I believe that it certainly is, I would expect the number to be very low indeed. One carries so that one will not be attacked.
If you have some stats, do let us know.
The discussion was about how many of them are attacked. The incidence of violent attacks on people in general is relatively low (though the consequences can be severe when they happen), and the proportion of the population licensed to carry concealed is also low. We've been over that with a few examples; in the three states I mentioned, the percentage of licensed carriers ranged from just over 2 to 5 %, and, of course, not everyone who is licensed carries all the time. One could look at the rest of the country, if one thought it worthwhile.
Again, if you have some stats, share them with us.
On thing--there seems to be very considerable disagreement (a lot of it politically charged, I think) about the number of defensive gun uses in any one year, and I have seen not seen any breakdown into concealed carry or other categories.
Except for my parking lot scenario, which was intended to explain only what I would do, I haven't created any hypothetical scenarios at all, and I fail to see how your comment provides a response to this:
That statement would seem entirely self-evident.
It identifies a risk. It does not quantify the problem.
Perhaps we have a different perception of what constitutes "rarity".
My contention was that, with some exceptions, open carry is not currently permitted in most of the highly and densely populated areas with high crime rates, or in some started, in the major population centers. That would lead to the conclusion that relatively speaking, open carry is "rare" on a national basis.
Wouldn't it?
We may also have different ideas about what "close to strangers" means. The discussion of that started with a question about Chicago, DC, and NYC.
If your idea of "close to strangers" doesn't compare to the number, density, and walking speed of those shown in the Chicago video, I have no basis for challenging your opinion.
The last time I was on Beale Street in Memphis on a Saturday night, the crowds were nowhere near that tumultuous. The same goes for Pike's Market in Seattle. Of course, as private property, both have been posted. Even the crowds on the Huntington Beach Pier pale in comparison to those on Michigan Avenue or Wacker Drive.
I stay away from Beale Street now.
Certainly.
I live in Missouri, in a concealed-carry-only area. I camp in an open carry county.
During my working career, I travelled rather extensively to Alabama, Arizona (Mesa), California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois (Chicago), Ohio, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington State, and less frequently to Michigan, Nevada, and New York. I could not be armed until I retired.
I have visited Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota. Tennessee, and Virginia,and Wisconsin, and I have traveled through Georgia.
I have tended to avoid crossing into Illinois.
