Hmmm.... How to respond?
I understand that NY law prohibits open carry....and mostly ANY carry....
and I understand that you did the right thing. The guy was breaking the law, and you called it in. Good job on getting an armed criminal off the streets.
But the psyco comment was warranted by? What constitutes an "arsenal"?
I open carry pretty regularly. I also sometimes keep a second revolver loaded with snake shot in my vehicle, and at times an additional rifle behind the seat in a soft case. They each have their use, and none will ever by used by me to do criminal acts. Am I psycho? Am I carrying an "arsenal". Somehow I don't see it that way.
I can carry either concealed or openly here, and be perfectly legal either way. Concealed requires that I take a class, apply for a permit, and carry that permit with me. It's a "priviledge" that can be revoked by voiding the permit. Open carry here requires no permit, and even the LEO's here are used to it. I've been mostly open carrying most of my life, and have never had an issue.
Many others here do the same thing, with the same results.
Agreed. Open carry is ridiculous. I don't live in Tombstone, and I'm not a cowboy. Nor do I need to show people how tough I am wearing a gun they can see. Absurd.
Why is open carry rediculous? The only thing rediculous is your statement. You must be fairly new with firearms, or you'd remember times when most states didn't issue concealed permits, and open carry was the only option for most people in most states. BTW-I carried back then, too. No permit, and open carry without a permit is still legal and accepted here. The "shall-issue" laws enacted by most states now didn't come along until after the Brady law requiring background checks and such went into place in the early-mid 1990's.
I don't live in Tombstone either. I live about 20 miles from Tombstone, and some might consider me to be a "cowboy", although not of the wannabee Tombstone variety that wouldn't know either end of a horse from a hole in the ground. Open carrying isn't to show anyone "how tough you are". It just isn't so. If that's what you think, then I, for one, question your own reasons for having guns. Not your right to have them, ese, but just the reasons you choose to do so. It doesn't make you any tougher, or weaker than you are otherwise.
You saddle a bronc you can't ride, it's likely to hurt you, armed or not.
I worked construction for a lot of years; my brother and I still own a construction company that does minimal business these days because of other irons in the fire. Years ago my tool belt included screwdrivers, a hammer, a couple pairs of pliers, a pencil, speed square, tape measure, chalk line, and whatever else I might have needed for the day. I never felt a need to hide any of it, and it was far more comfortable to carry it all in a fully displayed "holster", while also giving me better access to the tools when I needed them.
A firearm is a tool, just like the hammer, scewdrivers, etc. If you want to hide your's, then that's your choice. There are times I'd rather hide mine, too (in banks and such). Open carry is just another way to carry a firearm; it can be a lot more comfortable for every day carry, and can also allow for quicker access if it's needed. I also carry a Leatherman Wave, and a cell phone on my belt. Those are the "tools" I might need throughout the day, and they each have their own uses.
I see nothing rediculous about it.
Daryl
