who here open carries?

[Revolver Ocelot]

I just found out after arriving at my duty station in ft wainwright alaska that concealed carry off post is forrbiden under garrison comand. that aside I was just curious what those of you here that open carry, carry on such an occasion?

 

[possum]

I do not open carry. I carry concealed always.

I am in the military and have been for about 8 years. The Army has no business trying to tell me if i can/ cannot carry when off post. oon post there is nothing i or you can do about that. Off post i am going to carry and i am going to carry concealed end of story. If they do not like it, they can put me out. BTW i have never had this issue with a unit and or duty station that i have been at/ in.

 

[madwell]

Possum i normally agree with your posts on here, but i can't go along with that last one. I just got out of the Navy 6 months ago I was an MP. I have been to many a captin's mass and disobeying a dirrect order is never a good idea.

Ocelot, I think you have the right idea if they don't want you to concealed carry, then open carry. I think Alaska is a pretty gun freindly state.

Good luck to both of you and thank you for your service.

 

[possum]

Possum i normally agree with your posts on here, but i can't go along with that last one. I just got out of the Navy 6 months ago I was an MP. I have been to many a captin's mass and disobeying a dirrect order is never a good idea.

1) what regulation says that i can not carry off post? How does the military have any business telling me that i can't carry off post? IIRC this isn't the first time that the Garrison Command In AK has done similar anti gun crap. I would personally fight it all the way to the top, and don't tell me it can't be done. I personally would not roll over and take this one. I would pull out all the regs, see IG, send letters to congressman if i had too. As far as i know the last crap that they pulled up there got over turned. this can too if enough people say the right things to the right people.

2) The local gun shop outside of my duty station a couple years ago, told me that i have to state what unit i am in by order of the garrison commander when i buy a gun. Just so happened that i wasn't in the army that day....... It is no business to the gun shop what unit i am in, and it is no business of the commander if i buy a gun or not, and anyone that knows me, knows that i own guns. This was there way of tracking how mangy gun purchases were taking place in the various units. The command has no right to do this, and the gun shop should have never entertained the idea of doing that in the first place. Again the right things got said to the right people, and when i was on leave and bought another gun from them this was no loner a question that they asked.

 

[madwell]

If the CO says he doesn't want you to carry concealed off post I don't think you can. I may be wrong, but i think it is a lawful order. I don't think it's a good order, but i have obeyed many orders that i didn't see the merit in.

 

[zxcvbob]

I *really* thought the CO up there in Alaska got spanked a couple of years ago for that for exceeding his authority, and the order rescinded from above.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

That's strange, the CO doesn't want you to carry concealed but has no problem with you carrying openly? Strange IMO...

Revolver Ocelot, be safe up there...

possum,
You too where ever you are right now...

 

[madwell]

Military justice is far from anything like civilian justice. What ever that particular CO sets is what will get enforced. Just the facts of military life. In the military you protect rights you don't possess.

 

[luigi]

I think you have the right idea if they don't want you to concealed carry, then open carry.

Do you really think the ALCOM commander is going to go for that? I am almost certain that the commander’s intent is that no member of ALCOM carry a weapon on post or off, period. Given there’s a war on I don’t think and article 15 is quite the career killer it used to be but I wouldn’t want to be the test case.

what regulation says that i can not carry off post?

Direct order of your post commander. Who do you think is going to win the pissing contest, you or him?

How does the military have any business telling me that i can't carry off post?

Maybe they do maybe they don’t , are you willing to be the test case?

IIRC this isn't the first time that the Garrison Command In AK has done similar anti gun crap.

And he got away w/ it too.

I would personally fight it all the way to the top, and don't tell me it can't be done.

It could but I’d bet even if you won, you’d lose

As far as i know the last crap that they pulled up there got over turned.

If it was overturned this guy wouldn’t be trying it now would he?

Bottom line, you agreed to cede some of your rights to the Army when you enlisted. The area Commander (who has a lot more friends in Congress than you BTW) has the authority to issue directives that are conducive to good order and discipline and like it or not this order falls under that. A similar order has been issued and upheld previously as have orders requiring SMs to register their weapons w/ the Post Provost Marshall and to store such weapons in the unit Arms Room.
You don’t have to like the order but you are obligated to obey or suffer the consequences. Or you can end your Military Career at the end of your current enlistment.

 

[possum]

possum,
You too where ever you are right now...

thank you.

luigi,
one of the many reasons that i am leaving the military.

 

[lima_w]

I've never heard of such an order for Air Force personnel, I don't see how the Army gets off on making a standing order such as that.

I'd still carry regardless however

 

[Hk Dan]

By the way, it's "Captain's Mast", Madwell. <g> As a former Marine and assault amphibian, I became critically aware of the term and it's correct spelling.

 

[possum]

I've never heard of such an order for Air Force personnel, I don't see how the Army gets off on making a standing order such as that.

I'd still carry regardless however

agreed!

This is my view, is the army supposed to protect me when i am off post, when they can't even protect those on post? IE mass shooting at Hood, the recent happening at Lewis , and the hostage sittuation that we had at stewart what 2 weeks ago!

"Just following orders......" here it is the military saying you can't ccw off post. Then at a distance place a very little time ago people were just following orders while disarming the people which was a right that was reserved by thier countrie's constitution, then they were just following orders while they prevented the people from protesting the govt and removing thier freedom of speech, then they were just follwing orders when they seperated people into ghettos for being of the "wrong" religion, and contnued to follow orders by killing contless Jews, Homosexuals, Mental Handicapped and others.............

 

[Carne Frio]

If you want to enjoy your Army experience up here, following
orders is the way to go. As far as open carry goes, your now
in Fairbanks. Carry a large revolver (44's are best, but 357's
work) in a hip holster. People carrying is not unusual here.
A person's behavior is more noticeable here than their manner
of dress and we tolerate a lot of eccentrics. Hope you enjoy
your first interior Alaska winter.

 

[mljdeckard]

The best policy is to never give your command a reason to think about it. Company commanders could give a festering rat what you do off-duty and off-post AS LONG AS YOU STAY OUT OF TROUBLE. It will be when a guy gets drunk and gets in trouble, and the police report says he had a gun, even if it was legal, that the CO will declare a kibosh on all carry.

And remember Possum. It's not just putting you out that's an option. They can also revoke your off-post privileges anytime they want to and end the discussion right there. I for one am glad to be back in after a 13 year break, and I'm not thumbing my nose at any authority.

For this reason, if you are in Alaska in the military, I would carry concealed. You will limit the gossip from the guys who saw you carrying a gun off-post.

 

[Adam5]

I split about 50/50 between open and concealed carry.

 

[luigi]

The best policy is to never give your command a reason to think about it. Company commanders could give a festering rat what you do off-duty and off-post AS LONG AS YOU STAY OUT OF TROUBLE. It will be when a guy gets drunk and gets in trouble, and the police report says he had a gun, even if it was legal, that the CO will declare a kibosh on all carry

.

QFT.

I spent the majority of my adult life in uniform and I can tell you exactly what the Commander's Intent is on this one.

If you get killed off post in a robbery it's a tragedy but it’s really no skin off the commander’s nose. If, on the other hand, you have an ND, or kill your self, or kill the wrong person (or even the right one) and it reflects poorly on yourself, your unit and the United States Army, I guarantee you somebody in the Pentagon is going to ask that General what in the Hell you were doing off post w/ a firearm.

Well, now he can point to general order blah-blah and say PVT. Possum disobeyed a direct order and viola his two star ass is covered. (and your dependants don’t get the SGLI)

I don't see how the Army gets off on making a standing order such as that.

ALCOM Commander is no different than CENTCOM or USAEURA Commander he is in charge of all US forces in the theater. You are obligated to follow the lawful orders of all superior officers not just those in your branch

 

[Rail Driver]

I only open carry at home (and at private homes that are gun friendly) because I live in Florida. I think I would split it about half and half if I lived in an OC friendly state.

 

[Full Metal Jacket]

my state is OC friendly, but i have no desire to advertise to everyone around me that i have a gun.

 

[NMPOPS]

I always carry concealed it's no ones business if or what I carry. Also I read somewhere where some post commander was attempting to register all weapons belonging to MOS, even those kept off post and owned by other members of a GI's family.?????

 

[VinnAY]

I am an Army civilian and I don't mess around with the anti-gun stance on my Post. Registered at PMO, unloaded and in a locked container in the trunk, no loaded magazines or ammo in the same area as the locked in a box firearm. I've also heard the bolt has to be removed...***.
The military (this instance of the Army anyway..) is about as anti-gun as I've seen. I'd love to carry while to/from work but I'm not playing by their rules either. Last thing I need to get popped for a random search at the gate and then they go bat crap crazy when they find a gun being legally transported in my vehicle. Even after I've abided by all their reg's.

Funny how in the military we protect rights of which we can't exercise.

 

[oldfool]

well, when you took the oath, you took the oath
and you are no longer joe-average-civilian
love it or leave it, friend
you weren't drafted, you volunteered

 

[lowerunit411]

i open carry daily. CZ 75B typically.

 

[mljdeckard]

You are there to protect democracy, not practice it. ALL of your rights are allowed at the discretion of your command. Don't believe me? Try wearing a turban to work. Try telling your SMAJ what you REALLY think of him. Try telling your CO, "I'm not turning my rifle in. I have the right to keep and bear arms, and I'm taking it home with me." Try telling your command that you don't have to have a roommate in the barracks because of the Third Amendment. Try refusing a health and welfare inspection on Fourth Amendment grounds. Try refusing to give a statement to the JAG on Fifth Amendment grounds. (You do actually have Fourth and fifth Amendment rights, but they are not handled the same way as if you were a civilian.)

See how this works? You have a tattoo on your butt. Or a brand, if you prefer. It's the same one they used to brand horses that were property of the U.S. Army. I tell people going in to be ready for this, and it has implications they hadn't thought of. I also tell them that if they want to join to get a lot of shooting in, they better be in one of the jobs that is specifically for shooting, otherwise they will qualify once a year IF their unit successfully sets aside the resources to do it.

I have had frank discussions with my command about reasonable options to keep the public safe and to respect the rights of soldiers. One solution I suggested that made them scratch their heads was to allow service members who are in harmony with all applicable state laws, and are willing to coordinate training with the security forces for the post on their own time, to be allowed to carry command-approved weapons as part of a post-wide response team. That way, the command exercises control over who is armed on post, the MPs have told you how they want you to react in a crisis to help them and not get yourself shot by THEM, and you are not stripped of your means to protect yourself as you come and go from post for work. What the heck do I know? They didn't ask me before they made these policies. Guys in the Adminisphere with PhDs and slide rules.

 

[MATTHEW QUIGLEY]

My state is also open carry friendly, but I don't do it. I don't want anyone to know I have a gun until I need it, which is hopefully never. When/if shtf, whoever has a gun dangling on the hip will be the first picked off by the bg.