If your state permits open carry, do you?

M

Mokumbear

New member
No need to beat this one to death because I'm sure it already has been.
I would just like to see some good points made.

My otherwise gun friendly state is just now passing open carry legislation.

I'm all for it from a 2nd Amendment perspective but not sure if I would personally chose to.

One concern is that you would lose the element of surprise.
I think an attacker would be at a much greater disadvantage if you draw a concealed weapon. If a criminal knew you were carrying (and he was prepared to go up against a "hard target") it could turn very violent, very fast.

I could see it being useful in certain limited situations like a late night walk or bike ride or perhaps while hiking but I'm not sure about going out to dinner with a holstered gun.

On the other hand, I have read that in the distant past, open carry was the norm and concealed carry was the style of thieves and assassins.

Your 2 cents?
 
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While I know there are people that strongly disagree with me but...

I think if you open carry in the general public you are asking for attention - and probably negative attention. Why do you want that is beyond me but hey people dye their hair blue too. It can scare people. It can make people nervous around you. It can make people not like you. It can give people a negative impression of you...etc. I just dont get it. I see zero advantage to open carrying. I cant think of any middle or upper middle class place in society that views it as a normal thing unless you are a cop. Now if you are hiking that is one thing but going shopping? I think its not normal. I dont want people to know I even own a gun let alone let them see me strutting around with it. I do not like discussing politics or religion with people as it just causes trouble and this is doing just that - making a statement for everyone to see. I know there are people that disagree strongly with what I said but I just can't see it being good in normal circumstances. Having said all of that I personally have no problem with people that open carry and am all for open carry rights - I just know how its viewed by most of society.
 
I sometimes will carry on a belt holster semi-concealed. It really isn't open carry, but I purposely carry this way when I have to go into areas where I am nervous from a crime point of view. Will have a concealed gun in my pocket too. However, I have never had a problem. Open carry is frowned upon in my state by law enforcement except in situations where it would be considered "normal".

I do not encourage people to open carry a handgun in an urban environment.
 
I Agree

While I know there are people that strongly disagree with me but...

I think if you open carry in the general public you are asking for attention - and probably negative attention. Why do you want that is beyond me but hey people dye their hair blue too. It can scare people. It can make people nervous around you. It can make people not like you. It can give people a negative impression of you...etc. I just dont get it. I see zero advantage to open carrying. I cant think of any middle or upper middle class place in society that views it as a normal thing unless you are a cop. Now if you are hiking that is one thing but going shopping? I think its not normal. I dont want people to know I even own a gun let alone let them see me strutting around with it. I do not like discussing politics or religion with people as it just causes trouble and this is doing just that - making a statement for everyone to see. I know there are people that disagree strongly with what I said but I just can't see it being good in normal circumstances. Having said all of that I personally have no problem with people that open carry and am all for open carry rights - I just know how its viewed by most of society.
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adamBomb

I agree 100%. Georgia doesn't allow open carry and I hope that they never do. The only thing that I would add to this is that I am 69 years old and I would worry about a bad guy sneaking up on me and stealing my weapon and shooting me with it if I would carry it open.
 
I live in central Iowa where open carry is allowed if you have a permit to carry. I don't plan on ever open carrying and I've seen 1 person open carry in the last 10 years and he looked like he had just come out off a farm and probably open carried all the time.
 
My State allows it, and I do not open carry. I see absolutely no benefit to open carry. I do see a lot of disadvantages and most have already been mentioned by others.
 
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I'm of the "I don't want to be the first target" line of thinking. My state allows open carry by CCW licensees, but I chose not to.
 
No, don't need the attention. Don't have any desire to make strangers uncomfortable. Don't want people who are not necessarily "gun people" to develop negative opinions about firearms.
 
For many years, Arizona was an open carry state. Years ago, a person carrying open did not attract any particular attention either negative or positive. Then the demographics changed with an infestation of people from other states and now open carry attracts negative attention in public places. I still open carry occasionally in relatively rural places, but, as a rule, if I am in "polite" society, I ccw.
 
My state is trying again to pass an open carry provision. If it passes I will.
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Having the ability or legal authority to do something "just because you can" doesn't win any friends.
 
So I'm going to add my 2 cents. My state doesn't have law stating against open carry, making it defacto legal, but even if it was , I wouldn't. I feel that it draws negative attention, similar to the Joe standing in line at the grocery store with his hand on his "concealed" weapon.

Now, with that said if I lived somewhere very very rural, then yes. Its very different. Places like that I feel it's like a way of life, almost providing a friendly conversation piece, like hey how you like that 686? Etc.


I live In a very very gun friendly state, but a state that is well populated and while I live In a rural area, the demographic is more urban at times. The sight of a gun would only draw fear and unwanted attention.

Besides, to further give away my online anonymity, my appearance isn't that of the typical NRA demographic lol. I think the police and I would be having a lot of conversations as to what am I doing etc...
 
I agree 100%. Georgia doesn't allow open carry and I hope that they never do.
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It is legal here in GA and I see someone doing so from time to time. Probably on average 1-2 times a month. It doesn't seem to cause any issues, certainly none I've noticed. Under the right circumstances I would, but as a rule choose not to do so in populated areas. When hunting, hiking or working in a rural area I may, or may not. I tend to carry concealed, but the nice thing about OC being legal is not having to worry about being spotted.
 
I have the option to open carry and chose not to. I CCW everywhere and surprisingly enough, when I see someone OC, I get a little anxious - not because I 'fear' them, but because of the negative impact they could have on others. Yep, I know it will start the 'well too bad for the sheep' argument, but in my opinion, I'd rather run covert without raising attention than declaring 'I've got a gun", to the already gun-fearing crowd.
 
Like Gyvel, I live in AZ and, as he said, there is both open and CCW. It doesn't SEEM to bother anyone here where we live either way, from what I can tell.

But, I just carry concealed because I don't want anyone to know I am carrying. It doesn't matter to me what someone chooses to do since an armed citizen is an armed citizen and may stop a violent crime from happening or continuing.

In the world we now live in, carrying means a whole lot more than it used to. Sad to say!
 
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California allowed unloaded open carry until a couple of years ago, when it was barred. Barring open carry resulted in the U.S. Circuit Court ruling that concealed carry permits had to be issued for anyone desiring to CCW for personal self defense. (The ruling has been vacated by the Circuit Court's acceptance to rehear the appeal en banc.)
 
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