Open Carry

[Sistema1927]

I have been carrying handguns for about 30 years.

I believe that Open Carry has saved my life.

I believe that Concealed Carry has saved my life.

Choices are good, very good.

 

[rmurfster]

You guys are making my eyes bleed!!!! :banghead:

The OP has stated 2 times that this is NOT A DEBATE on the merits of OC verses CC.

He is asking a specific question --- Read the original post. If you want to debate, START ANOTHER THREAD

 

[Alaskan454]

In response to the question asked by the OP, I have to say that I have wondered the same thing. I've read many (and responded to a few) threads in which this has happened, and I have come to one conclusion.

The reason these threads get pulled off topic is because there are so many (or a few VERY vocal) folks who:

1. Know beyond a shadow of a doubt that open carry is the stupidest thing anyone could ever do unless you are a LEO and therefore required to do so.
2. Are absolutely certain that open carry should never be considered, regardless of the legality of the practice or the desires/reasons of the individual.
3. Have the uncontrollable need to try to convince anyone who may consider open carry of the error of their ways.

I should add that most of those who have these beliefs and express them so vehemently, freely state that they have never OC'ed, and (although they don't say this), therefore have no experience on which to draw from, yet refuse to acknowledge that there could be a single advantage to OC.

I have also encountered a fair number of LEO's who are rabidly anti-OC. (I'm not bashing LEO's here - I used to be one, and I have the utmost respect for the LE community - I decided it wasn't for me very quickly.) Most base their position on experiences of their off-duty or undercover brethren who encounter situations that the average citizen would never experience while carrying, and I have yet to find one who can offer an incident in which a citizen was targeted because he was OC'ing, although that is one of the first stories that will surface in these threads.

Conversely, most who OC also have CCW permits and also CC, depending on various circumstances, and are supportive of both methods and the right to choose.

 

[ERIC M.]

We used to open carry in Ely, Minnesota where I grew up.
Never thought anything of it. Nobody in town thought anything of it either.
Going into the woods, or just coming out of the woods, we never bothered to take our sidearms off. Winter, or summer.
That was before Sarah Brady and her bunch of hooligans.
I have a Minnesota Carry Permit now, but if I did the same as we used to, back home in Ely, the cops would have me up at City Hall in a heart beat.[Where I know the Chief, and we would have coffee talking about stinking liberals]

The thing is, a guy just doesn't want to draw attention to himself.
The good old days are over, and us gun owners have to watch how we look to the public.

Eric

 

[CajunBass]

The good old days are over, and us gun owners have to watch how we look to the public.

If the only view "the public" ever gets of gun owners is the criminal on the news, what are they supposed to think. "Gee, criminals carry guns." Maybe if they saw a few more "regular Joe's and Janes" carrying guns, they might from time to time think, "Gee, not all people who carry guns are criminals."

 

[Majic]

Are the good old days over or just the opinions of certain people? Here in most of Va we open carried before, during, and after the efforts of Sarah Brady and her hooligans. Nothing has changed except it's now allowed all over our state.
Don't forget we are just as much of the public as everyone else.

 

[Ala Dan]

Alabama AG opinion 84-00205 says that one can openly carry in this state~!