Open carry, if its legal for you...

[Blackbeard]

However, my goal isn't to kill a man. It's to avoid the neccessity entirely. Therefore, the tactics of killing a man are not needed. I'll choose to use deterrence and maybe he'll choose easier pickings and mug someone who looks like a better victim.

While that may deter some crimes, it also invites others. You advertise that you have something of value on you (a $500 to $1000 gun), and thus increase the reward to offset the risk. You would be a tougher target for a "stick up" but an inviting target for a blindside attack.

 

[Superlite27]

You would be a tougher target for a "stick up" but an inviting target for a blindside attack.

I agree. This is a good reason I am VERY in tune with situational awareness. This is not the "be all/end all", but neither is carrying a gun a 100% cure for preventing bad things from happening to you.

I have read a story about an open carrier arriving home and noticing that his sidearm had been unknowingly removed from his holster. While a good defense against violence is training to counteract it, I believe it goes the same for blindside attacks as well.

Train. Improve your situational awareness. Familiarize yourself with weapon retention drills.

Those who would consider a blindside attack against me better do a throrough risk/benefit analysis before they attempt it. Their life would only be worth about, oh, $500 to $1000. Oh, I fully realize that there are some who would willingly risk all for a small gain. Hopefully, they might consider an easier target, even though I doubt it. In this case, I'm probably just as likely to be attacked whether I was open carrying or not.

 

[model of 1905]

Christcorp, although you may never have said that open carrying was wrong, you have said on several occasions that it wasn't right so unless I need to give you a lesson in semantics, we will agree to agree that your arguments just don't hold water.

Me open carrying as an individual, in a peaceful responsible manner, is not going to create some tidal wave of sentiment that is going to cause change in my state's Constitution. You, sir are a sensationalist. Whether I carry alone or if I carry together with a group of friends, people will see what responsible gun ownership is all about.

Step down off your soapbox, take a deep breath and relax. I dont open carry to prove a point or make a statement. I open carry because it is my legal right and my choice. I have no more obligation to be "considerate of others" whether I decide to open carry or whether I decide not to wash my car. If my car being dirty bothers you, it concerns me just as much as whether you think I am being inconsiderate by open carrying.

Maybe if you and the other folks that think like you, would open carry in a responsible manner like I do, this whole discussion would not be necessary.
Once you people stop being ashamed of gun ownership, it is likely more people would get that education you stump so hard for.

I tried to put this nicely, in that you seem so determined that your opinions are the only ones that merit consideration. Bottom line, tho, is that your opinions affect me not at all. What a great country and what a great forum that we have here, that the two of us that are so different can have this discussion without fear of repurcussions. See, our country was founded on those rights. The forefathers even wrote them in our Constitution. The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Even if it makes your granny uncomfortable.

 

[Frank Ettin]

...Me open carrying as an individual, in a peaceful responsible manner, is not going to create some tidal wave of sentiment...

No, not one person, or even several, would be likely to have that affect. But depending on the demographics of a particular community, there may be some magic number that will galvanize sufficient negative sentiment to have a political effect. That's how we get zoning laws and other restrictions on individual freedom. So it may be your right, but it's good to remember that there's a "dark side."

...Whether I carry alone or if I carry together with a group of friends, people will see what responsible gun ownership is all about....

Maybe and maybe not. You really don't know what they're thinking. Some may equate your actions with responsible gun ownership. And some may think you're just a "gun nut" acting out (and that there ought to be a law). If someone doesn't complain to you, that doesn't mean he accepts your open carrying. It may only mean that he's afraid of guns and people who carry guns, so he's certainly not going to go up to someone with a gun to complain about it; but he may vote.

...I have no more obligation to be "considerate of others" ...

That's right, you don't. Of course personal traits like character, consideration and tact are about how one behaves and treats other when under no obligation to do so in a particular manner. So it's about how you choose of your own volition to treat your fellow humans.

...The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Even if it makes your granny uncomfortable....

Yes, you have the right to discomfort granny. The question is whether you choose to do so. One can exercise his rights using some judgment and tact in consideration of the attitudes of others and in recognition of the political realities of a heterogeneous society.

BTW, when I visit Arizona I can, and do carry. I have a several permits that are good in Arizona, and I prefer to carry concealed. I do on occasion carry openly when it's more convenient. But I still prefer to carry concealed.

 

[model of 1905]

fiddletown, that post was the biggest load of gobbletygook, I have ever read. It wasn't worth the time you spent typing it or the time I read reading it.

Whatever!

 

[Frank Ettin]

...fiddletown, that post was the biggest load of gobbletygook, I have ever read. It wasn't worth the time you spent typing it or the time I read reading it...

Considering the attitude you displayed in your prior post, I'm not surprised you feel that way.

Whatever.

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

It seems this one has run its course.