Adventures in Open Carry

Kind of fun and free, isn't it sakeneko! I open carry all the time, and must respectully disagree with raftman. I've open carried in crowded theaters, Seattle city parks, banks. I've had one real incident where a customer called the cops - I was in a restaurant and the cops pressured the young, inexperienced waitress to allow him to boot me out of the restaurant. The next day I got an apology from the restaurant and they specifically asked me, my friends, and my family to come back with our firearms.

BTW, the real policy of Sportsmen's Warehouse is that your firearm has to be unloaded and checked only IF you are going to do something with that firearm inside the store other than carry it - for instance turn it in for repair or handle it to check for holster fit. If it doesn't come out of your carry holster, it doesn't need to be unloaded or checked.

Anyway, welcome to the free world of open carry!
 
Nice post sakeneko.

When I have, most folks never noticed the gun, some did but were not concerned, and then there are the ones that stare like they have never seen anything like it before. :eek:

Just the other day at Walmart I saw an older fellow open carrying a 1911. I just smiled. :) I'm in AZ.
 
I lived in Eugen, Oregon from 1994-1998. Eugene is probably the most left-wing, liberal whack-job city I have EVER lived in. There are lots of California transplants, old hippies who are still lost in the summer of love and young (and smelly) hippie wannabes. I routinely open carried and got very few comments. I did catch quite a few hateful glares from people such as those described above, but they usually kept their mouths shut (possibly out of fear that my evil pistol would jump from its holster and shoot them of its own volition). The few comments that I did get were usually along the lines of "nice gun" or "what make/model is that?"
 
Warhammer - Having grown up in Eugene/Springfield, and chosing to come back after I retired from the Army, I agree that is the perception of Eugene, but not the reality.

The vocal/visible few make it seem way more "whack-job" than it is.

I think it is actually more conservative than other west-coast cities I have lived in.

But, I would not open carry in downtown, either.
 
NavyLT said:
Kind of fun and free, isn't it sakeneko! I open carry all the time, and must respectully disagree with raftman. I've open carried in crowded theaters, Seattle city parks, banks. I've had one real incident where a customer called the cops - I was in a restaurant and the cops pressured the young, inexperienced waitress to allow him to boot me out of the restaurant. The next day I got an apology from the restaurant and they specifically asked me, my friends, and my family to come back with our firearms.
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I lived in Seattle for a couple of years in the mid-1980s. It's a nice city, or was then. At the time there were enough military bases around that I can't imagine a restaurant anywhere near downtown or in a popular tourist area such as Union Lake, Green Lake or Alki, having a problem with military guys carrying.

But I haven't lived there for over 20 years. So my experience is a bit outdated.

BTW, the real policy of Sportsmen's Warehouse is that your firearm has to be unloaded and checked only IF you are going to do something with that firearm inside the store other than carry it - for instance turn it in for repair or handle it to check for holster fit. If it doesn't come out of your carry holster, it doesn't need to be unloaded or checked.
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That makes sense. Since I was specifically looking for a new holster, though, I was definitely planning to do something with it. In any event, they were polite about the request and, while I'm not shy, I'm also not generally one to argue about store policy unless it's *really* egregious. This was not; I know perfectly well that had I been carrying concealed nobody would have looked or worried about me having a gun in the store.

Anyway, welcome to the free world of open carry!
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Thanks. I probably will carry openly fairly frequently. I now have proper holsters and clothing for carrying concealed, even on hot summer days ;), but I think I might do more good for "the cause" and the country by carrying openly. As I noted in my original post, I'm a middle-aged overweight woman who simply doesn't look like anybody's idea of a scary person. I figure, why not make use of that to break down some prejudices?
 
I feel that we will be able to open carry in Texas some time soon (unless the federal, liberal, gun grabbers in power now get their way) but I'm not sure I will. I like the idea of nobody knowing that I am armed. I feel it gives me an advantage. However I would like to have the option and don't like the idea that if someone who might accidentally see my ccw could have me arrested.
If I ever do O.C. I would want a good holster with a thumb break or some kind of security release device.
In Texas we can carry a loaded gun in our car without a CHL but I wouldn't push my luck on that in some juristictions.
 
I open carry most of the time here in Northern Virginia, an area with a storied and checkered recent history for police, not understanding the law in the Commonwealth, detaining, harrassing, or even locking up people open carrying.

My experiences have been decidedly boring - 90% + folks simply do not see the weapon. No kidding. It's almost disturbing how few people DO notice. Pay attention, folks!

But just this Saturday had a brief and mildly amusing exchange. I pulled into the local strip mall to pick up some cleaning. A full-dress police cruiser was parked a few spaces from mine, with open pavement between us, the officer behind the wheel. As I cross the parking lot walking towards the dry cleaner, an odd-looking gentleman came bounding out of the McDonalds next door, striding purposefully across the parking lot. By odd, I mean he was a tall, rather animated guy with a wild mane of hair, a similarly ill-mannered beard, plaid button-up shirt, shorts, white knee socks and sandals. He was also making a bee-line at me. I glanced back and saw he could also be making a bee-line for the police cruiser, so I changed my direction; he did, too, to intercept me.

Now, I was getting a wee bit tense, but the man simply asked, in a louder voice than really appropriate given our proximity, "Are you a detective or somethin'?"

"No, I am not."

"Well, you're packin' HEAT! I just thought you must be a detective or something. Are you a security guard, then?"

"No, just a private citizen."

"A private citizen." He laughed and said, "I guess you can do that around here."

"Sure can, at least in Virginia."

He went back to his meal, satisfied, apparently, with my response. There was not a trace of animus in this exchange; he was genuinely curious.

:)
 
I'm another who open carries quite a bit here in Virginia. I've also noticed that very few people even notice the gun. Or if they do they don't react to it in any way. The few who have, all responses have been...mildly curious...I suppose would be the right term. I've gotten questions such as "Can I do that too?" "What kind of gun/1911 is that?".

No one has ever even asked me why I carry a gun, or expressed any concern about it. Never been asked to leave anywhere. Never had a LEO raise an eyebrow.

I don't live way out in the bonies either. I'm a few minutes outside of Fredericksburg, which is halfway between Richmond and Washington, on the 95 coridor. I've carried in Spotsylvania, Caroline, Hanover, Henrico, Chesterfield Counties, and the City of Richmond. As well as a few other places that I don't go regularly.
 
sakeneko said:
Thanks. I probably will carry openly fairly frequently. I now have proper holsters and clothing for carrying concealed, even on hot summer days , but I think I might do more good for "the cause" and the country by carrying openly. As I noted in my original post, I'm a middle-aged overweight woman who simply doesn't look like anybody's idea of a scary person. I figure, why not make use of that to break down some prejudices?
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I agree with your reasoning and thank you for doing what you can to help make open carry commonplace again.

It is frustrating that as a youngster in Southern California I could open carry in the early 60s without comment (13 at the time, going to the local range). But because it was not commonplace, they took that right away from us. Now, no open or concealed carry. Just because at that time not enough people cared.

Rights - insist on 'em or lose 'em.
 
YZR
I admire your moxie. OC is legal here in Michigan but I have yet to test the waters. Perhaps your experience will give me renewed inspiration to try it myself.
Well done.
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ninjatoth
I know I can open carry in state woods here in michigan without a ccw permit,but I don't know how that would work if I happened to be in city limits.But I do know that even in the woods hunting,I cannot even step into a vehicle without it being an illegal conceal.
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Yes open carry is legal in MI,here are a couple of sites for more info

http://miopencarry.org/
http://www.migunowners.org/index.php

You need to register and log in to view the open carry forums on the MI gun owners link. MI open carry has been having a series of open carry picnics or meetings at local restaurants. Most are in the Metro Detroit area but they have also been held in Jackson,Flint, Midland and last weekend they held one in Traverse City.
 
I think I'd open-carry if I had the opportunity; Texas law means that for most people, pocket carry of a small semi (I carry a Kahr PM9) or revolver is the norm during 100+ days ... I'd prefer something bigger, but I don't like IWB and I'm not wearing any more than a tank top unless I have to ... someday Texas will catch up with OC, and in the meantime, I'm not complaining ... I could live in CA ...
 
Now, no open or concealed carry.
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In california, although concealed carry is difficult to come by, it is being done.

Open Carry is legal in California, you just can't have the gun loaded. Having the ammo on your person is legal though.

There are places when you can do loaded Open carry, places where you can do unloaded open carry and finally, the prohibited places.

The guys on the CA section of www.opencarry.com can help you out quite a bit if you want to know more.

bob
 
Montana allows it, but it isn't worth the trouble.

Enough old ladies who listen to the media news and have gotten the thought that guns are bad.

I really doubt anything would happen much. And as it happens most of the local cops are shooters, so they'd know that Open Carry is legal.
 
OC

I believe OC is legal in my state but I wouldn't try it. I have heard of several people who did and got nothing but harassment from the police in the bigger cities. Also the culture here is constantly being adjusted by the weiners moving in from other states. I wouldn't recommend it unless you are hunting, but then I don't hunt. CC is easy and I have my permit.
 
Montana allows it, but it isn't worth the trouble
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I don't know where the trouble would come from, other than internally.

When I lived in Montana I open carried all over the western half of the state. I lived in Browning, OC'd there with the BIA police blessings, open caried frequently in Great Falls, Kalispell, Helena and Missoula. Every where else I carried were small towns and never had a problem anywhere.

Whenever I traveled to Spokane, which was at least once every 2 months I open carried the entire trip, with MT, ID and WA all open carry friendly it only made sense to me.

Some people just don't want the attention OC can generate, that's fine.

But we are all in the fight to preserve the Second Amendment, I don't care how you carry, or if you even carry, as long as you support the rights of those who do carry, no matter what type of carry they choose.

bob
 
I don't mind attention. Most people wouldn't care.

Like my grandmother. Decent woman, but....Not exactly anti-gun, but doesn't understand what guns mean. I saw her the day I got my CCW, and she asked what I was doing in town. Not being the lying type, I told her. Thought her jaw would hit the ground.

I might try it, I just figured there would be instances where someone calls the cops, etc. and figured it would be a PITA to work out.

But ;) I may try it. Ain't like anything bad can actually happen I guess.....I AM legal, regardless of what people think.
 
Open carry in Mass. produces open mouths.lol
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They still let you have guns up in MA? I probably shouldn't comment, open carry would definitely produce the same reaction in Connecticut.
 
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