Jacket rode up over holster at a Wedding, escorted out by five police officers

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Holartic, I think you handled the situation well. It was a mistake to not check visually if you were all good but when walking into a wedding by yourself not knowing anyone, can definitely put your head somewhere else, its intimidating and probably had you nervous and thoughts racing. Im sure looking back it would have been a better idea to leave the gun and holster in your car in the first place if you cant keep focused on the task at hand, which is to conceal your weapon. But it seems you kept cool and kept yourself from actually making a scene. Learn from the mistake and be happy you were level-headed enough to make it out on your own free will.
 
Lastly, it seems that few people see any value in open carry as a means to remove the brainwashed news media/television programming that "guns are bad and their owners too."
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I certainly agree with you. If everyone that carried could/would open carry it would go a long way to get people to be used to seeing guns without panicking and calling 911 like happened to you. As it is, we have to act like it is something shameful and keep it secret lest we be banished from whatever establishment we have decided to enter.

That said, I don't see that happening any time soon and you are at a tactical disadvantage and become target number one if a bad guy decides to start shooting. The bad guy knows you have a gun but you don't know his plans until it may be too late.

I wish everyone would open carry but I'm not intentionally showing my gun unless I'm about to shoot someone.
 
Holartic,
You made a mistake and I doubt it will happen again. Chalk it up to learning experience. Life is all about awareness, and sadly perception. You need to be aware of your surroundings and also how those in your presence view you. Nothing wrong with carrying, but one needs to be mindful of how others perceive you. In the situation you describe, I can see how those not familiar with CCWs could be alarmed.
Just to be clear, I do not care what others think of me, and I'm not worried about the way I look, I know I'm rough looking (to some people). But when it comes to legal issues, stay below the radar. Better to be left alone than perceived as a threat.
Where I live, allowing your CCW to print can be viewed as brandishing the weapon. Crazy, but not to some LEOs and/or a court of law. You got lucky and nothing bad happened to you or your permit to carry. Lesson learned. If you feel the need to carry all the time, and many do, that's fine, a 442 or SP101 would be a great choice. (I like wheel guns!)
Few years ago, I parked the bike and went into a local watering hole, about 20 mins later a local cop showed up and asked me to step out and talk to him. He asked if I was carrying a gun, told him no. I had a liner lock knife and a leatherman tool. He frisked me and found nothing, asked him what is this all about, a woman had called the police and said a guy on a bike went into the bar room and she saw a gun on his belt. She most likely saw the leatherman holster, its all about perception, it may not be right, but again, be aware of your surroundings and what others may think.
I certainly support open carry, our world would be a better one if more people displayed their ability to protect themselves. However, if you can't OC, hide the gun as best as possible. Letting uninformed people see your CCW only hurts the gun owners cause.
Glad you had no further issues.
 
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Where I live, allowing your CCW to print can be viewed as brandishing the weapon. Crazy, but not to some LEOs and/or a court of law. You got lucky and nothing bad happened to you or your permit to carry. Lesson learned.
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Now hold up some. You say he got lucky but it sounds to me like he was perfectly fine as far as the law was concerned. Just some folks at the wedding got their feathers ruffled and wanted him to leave, the police were just there to check him out. If he had been a member of the family the whole thing would have gone differently. Someone might have still got their nose wrinkled up, but it wouldn't have gone farther then a minor butt chewing.

I think any State that doesn't leave some room for a concealed gun to be "noticed" without it becoming an offense is way too far to the wrong end of common sense. I know these states exist and that you guys who persevere must develop what you see as "best practices" to stay out of trouble. But it's because your State is unreasonable and not because those who live in other States are "lucky" to get away with something that shouldn't be something to begin with.

This wasn't a legal issue, it was a social issue.
 
Sounds like a good excuse to go shopping for a pocket pistol.


It also makes me think that a nationwide effort to promote open carry (where legal) would be a sad war of attrition involving quite a bit of hassle for those brave legal pioneers. :(
 
I have tried open carry at the following places with no issues:

1. Texaco Station
2. Wal-Mart
3. Express Oil Change
4. Toyota Dealership
5. Cat Dealership
6. Barnes and Noble/Star Bucks

That is all I can remember for now. I had no issues, and in some instances people struck up conversations but there was no alarm and no police for any open carry thus far except for the situation described on my post.

The fellow at Texaco had gotten to know me a bit and wanted to know about CCW and get a handgun. The fellow at Express oil were quite a bit pro-2A. Toyota did not say anything. Cat dealership wanted to know who or why I was carrying. Barnes and Noble did not say a word, but the people in the parking lot looked at me funny. Open carry in the Wal-Mart pharmacy isle with people behind me they did not say anything. People views of open carry in my city is not all bad, but it does pose a serious tactical disadvantage.

I have never tried open carry until recently, but listening to my peers on TFL it seems the 2A awareness benefit is perhaps much smaller than I anticipated.
 
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My previous positive experience with open carry and casual concealment falsely led me to believe that people in my city/state are not as uptight about firearms.


Holartic

Did this happen in Alabama by chance?
 
The Big ?

what about the wedding gift, if there was one?

Did u buy, or contribute, to same?

If so there are obviously reparations to be made!

Trying to think what Costanza would do.
 
Well, this has run its course as we are down to one liners and bad jokes.

Thus, the cone of silence descends.

As it has over many married couples as the years progress. :rolleyes:

Closed.
 
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