To conceal or not to conceal? That is a good question

[effengee]

I can carry unconcealed, but, I just choose not to. I prefer to carry concealed because the tourists and anti-gunners don't freak out that way.

Here in Vermont, you don't need a permit or a LEO's permission to carry concealed, and as a matter of fact, (I once called the VSP Main Office in Montpelier and asked) the police prefer that you do, because as I stated above, it keeps people from freaking out and calling them to report a guy with a handgun buying milk, eggs, and bread at the local market...

I can only hope, and keep burning the phone lines between here and a few other numbers in Montpelier and Washington, that my choice does not become encumbered with mandatory registration or licensing that have price tags attached to them. Not only would that really anger me as an infringement of my right to bear arms, that would cut into my ammo allowance

 

[Outlaw Man]

I often hear that same "people freaking out and calling" excuse whenever open carry comes up around here. I wonder how often that actually happens.

Wish we had Constitutional Carry like you guys...

 

[effengee]

Believe me, it happens...

Used to be a time when you'd just get asked: "Are you a cop?"
Now, everybody has a fully-automatic, high-capacity assault phone in their hand, and they are not afraid to use it!

 

[627PCFan]

MWAG calls just dont happen that often. The videos we see on youtube are guys looking for trouble by walking down a highway with an AK and bayonet mounted on it.

Most of us who OC have never had an issue because in those states, even 911 operators are trained to know when things are legal and not.

 

[ThirtyOughtSix]

The sad fact that I've seen is that the vast majority of people never even notice my gun when I open carry. I've open carried off and on for years and never had an issue with law enforcement or liberals.

 

[jcwit]

Believe me, Yes it does happen, even when carrying concealed. The thing-a-ma-jig at the entrance to WalMart picked up my concealed sidearm and the Greeter went ballistic when I told her I was armed. I mean REALLY BALLISTIC, yelling, screaming, you'd have thought I had pistol whipped her. I stood in one spot asking for the store manager who came immediately, the greeter was yelling the manager about how I had told her I had a 'GUN", I finally got to calmly talk to the manager and informed him I was legally licensed to carry, open or concealed. He told me to go ahead and continue shopping and to have a good evening.

Never saw that greeter at that store again.

And this all happened 5 to 8 years ago, long before our current panic.

 

[BSA1]

I think as posts 2, 4 & 5 state responses on the forum are based on emotions, not on facts.

 

[md2lgyk]

What WalMart "thing-a-ma-jig?" I've never, ever seen a metal detector in a WalMart. Hell, around here they'd lose half their customers.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Coming from someone in a tourist town, I would rather freak them out, then they'd stay away from me. Man I hate summer tourism and race season.

 

[NavyLCDR]

I will not allow other peoples' fears or the disires of law enforcement officers influence my decision about what is the best way for me to protect myself and my family.

I often hear that same "people freaking out and calling" excuse whenever open carry comes up around here. I wonder how often that actually happens.

Wish we had Constitutional Carry like you guys...

I've been open carrying in Washington state for five years. It's happened once to me (that a police officer has approached me about, anyway). I've open carried in downtown Seattle, SEA-TAC International Airport, my credit union, and picking up/dropping off my daughter at school on school property. The one and only time a police officer approached me about a MWAG call was while I was eating dinner in a restaurant at dinner time.

The majority and most vehement of negative reactions I experience (3 or 4 times now) have been from people with Concealed Pistol Licenses who just can't resist coming up to me and telling me that they carry their gun concealed and that I should too. It seems like people who carry guns are more afraid of people carrying guns than those that don't carry guns.

In my area, open carry is becoming more common. I saw another person open carrying in the grocery store a couple weeks ago and we had a nice talk, and my wife saw a third person open carrying in the grocery store yesterday.

 

[Sam1911]

Oh, is it that time of year again? Time for our annual "Open Carry vs. Concealed" brawl?

 

[hardluk1]

I wish to draw NO unwanted attention to me so concealed carry for almost 27 years. Only oc in the woods. Those that wish to OC around town go for it. Anyone that carrys just be darn sure you know the laws.

 

[NavyLCDR]

Oh, is it that time of year again? Time for our annual "Open Carry vs. Concealed" brawl?

Annual? I thought it was a monthly requirement.

 

[mljdeckard]

There are several factors that affect my choice. Limiting the number of nuisance calls to the local PD is not one of them.

I do find it interesting that most of the resistance to open carry comes from states where people don't have the option. I don't believe at all that the likelihood you will be made a target isn't at least matched by the likelihood you will deter aggression.

There are two ways to look at this. We shouldn't be ashamed of our rights. We should be proud to exercise them, and the perceptions of people who are shocked need to be changed anyway. The more we do it, the less people will notice.

However, the flip side is, just because something is legal, doesn't make it a good idea everywhere, all of the time. We are at this very moment, up to our elbows in legislative battles over yet more improved gun laws in this state. I wish this was a walk-through process, but some people (our governor) are getting queasy. When we push too hard, sometimes people who previously had no reason to care one way or the other, suddenly wake up and decide that they should say or do something about all of the crazy gun people in this state. It makes it harder for the governor to ignore them. So, yes, I can open-carry while walking past the coffee shops on 400 south in Salt Lake, but that doesn't make it a good idea.

When I am out in wilderness areas doing wilderness things, I open carry and don't care. Once I was in a convenience store in Monticello, UT, and as I walked in, I overheard a guy whispering; "I hope he has a permit for that." I ignored it and paid for my gas and left.

 

[Mainsail]

Believe me, Yes it does happen, even when carrying concealed. The thing-a-ma-jig at the entrance to WalMart picked up my concealed sidearm and the Greeter went ballistic when I told her I was armed.

You alarmed her by telling her something she didn’t need to know. If you’re going to carry concealed, why are you telling people about it?

That 'thing' did not detect your handgun; it detected an RFID tag that was attached to something on you. Stores put RFID tags in items so that if you walk out the door without paying the alarm goes off. Sometimes they don’t get erased and will set off the sensor in a different store.

I was at a wal-mart and bought a new trash can for my kitchen. As I was leaving the greeter demanded to see the receipt. I politely asked her why. She gruffly said it was store policy for anything that wasn’t in a bag. I politely told her that my policy conflicted with hers. If I have to stand in line to pay for something it becomes my property once the cashier takes my money, and my policy is that I will not prove ownership of anything. I walked out without showing her anything.

Oh, and by the way, she wasn’t alarmed and nobody freaked out during the above encounter, even though I was openly carrying a 1911 on my belt.

 

[mljdeckard]

(Yeah, those scanners read RFID tags, not metal. I had a wallet for a few years that always set them off, until I finally got sick of it and dug into the thing and found a hidden pocket with an RFID tag.)

 

[RUT]

Open carry...... "Hey, look at me!!"

 

[Plan2Live]

Or, OC - shoot me first.

 

[Sam1911]

Open carry...... "Hey, look at me!!
"OC - shoot me first."

Concealed Carry -- OOhhh, I'm ashamed!
Concealed Carry -- Wanna be undercover cop
Concealed Carry -- No honest man would hide his gun
Concealed Carry -- Too cowardly to stand up for our rights publically

See? Each of these "truisms" is as silly as the next.

...

Remember back when we were all scared of gun bans and whatever new laws were coming down the pipe at us? And how we were all pulling together to face the coming threat?

Fortunately now that all the legislative crap-storm has passed we can get back to ragging on each other!

 

[bill3424]

It depends where I'm going for me. Most of the time it's CC.

 

[NavyLCDR]

Open carry...... "Hey, look at me!!"

That is the whole point of open carry. I prefer that the criminal look at me and decide whether or not whatever might be in my wallet is worth losing their life over. I prefer that the criminal look at me and decide it would be way easier to just wait a few minutes for me to leave or go down the street block and target one of the remainder of the 99.5% of the public that does not appear to have the means to kill them in self defense.

Or, OC - shoot me first.

Let's play a little game. I will post examples of Joe Citizen openly carrying was not shot first, and you can post examples of Joe Citizen openly carrying who was shot first and we will see who runs out of examples first. I'll start:

Gun Owner Saves Lives In The Richmond VA Golden Market Shooting
http://www.ammoland.com/2009/07/gun-owner-saves-lives-in-the-richmond-va-golden-market-shooting/

"Here are my thoughts from watching that tape:

Open carry was an advantage in this case because in the video I saw just how fast the GO managed to draw his gun and begin to return fire. You always hear about how open carry is so bad tactically – you’ll be the first one shot, etc. Oh, yeah? The GO had a HUGE gun in plain sight and he was NOT shot. Who got shot first? An unarmed store owner."

Your turn!

 

[Sergei Mosin]

I carry concealed, I carry openly. Sometimes on the same day. Today I was carrying concealed until I took off my coat at a restaurant.

Only once has anyone said anything to me about it. That was a manager at Cabela's, of all places. He reassured me that he knew I was within my rights and he wasn't bothered by it; said just wanted to make sure that if I was going to try on a holster or something I'd need to check my gun up front. I don't believe for a moment that was really why he came over - I'm sure a customer said something and he felt compelled to check on me. But I do believe in being a good ambassador for open carry, so we had a pleasant conversation and went about our business.

Carry how you want, just so long as you carry.

 

[Ehtereon11B]

Oh, is it that time of year again? Time for our annual "Open Carry vs. Concealed" brawl?

Is it a Spring thing on THR?

I have only witnessed a handful of open carry in Alabama, mostly in west Jefferson county. Never saw ANY open carry living in VT with Constitutional carry law. It was a small shock to me that open carry was practiced by non-LEOs but went away when I reminded myself that open carry is legal in this state.

I make the conscious effort to not carry openly. For one it is tactfully unsound. Criminal with gun will see Joe with gun and shoot him first. Deal with the largest threat then go after sheeple. A remote possability, yes. But still something we all consider in the back of our minds, otherwise we wouldn't carry.

The second is just hassle. MWAG incidents *probably* happen more times than a CCW holder stopping a crime in progress. At best it is the Wal-Mart incident in post 6 taking up a little bit of time to deal with some anti to be on your merry way. Why chance the opportunity to have some anti jumping up and down in your face because you don't match their bubble ideal? Conceal carry and they are none the wiser.

 

[Texan Scott]

Texas has a bill (HB700) before the state house right now to legalize OC. Would I? No. Just my preference. I have been writing letters to my Congresscritters and Offishuls in support of it though.

Just because I prefer to CC is no reason not to support others' right to OC if that's what they think best.

 

[jcwit]

What WalMart "thing-a-ma-jig?" I've never, ever seen a metal detector in a WalMart. Hell, around here they'd lose half their customers.

Here in No. Indiana all WalMarts have some kind of scanner that can P/U whatever, in that particular it P/U'd up my concealed handgun.

The scanners that WalMart look very similar to the ones the court house uses but not sure because it very seldom I enter a courthouse.