Open carry legal- Does "printing" matter?

J

JGON

Inactive
Hi all,

My apologies if this has been discussed already, I could not turn much info up in a search.

CC is just becoming legal here in WI, so I have been putting much thought into my carry setup from holsters, belts, guns, clothing, etc.

I have one big question for you all...

If open carry is legal here in WI, is printing such a big deal? From both a legal AND a tactical standpoint, what are your thoughts on this?

I don't want anyone alarmed, and I don't want any bad guys knowing I'm armed, so it IS my intention to keep the gun concealed. I'm curious what you all are going to say though...

Thanks much,

JGON
 
Open carry is open carry and concealed carry is concealed carry.

If you are going to do either, then you should make an effort to do it right.
 
i can tell you what it's like here in kansas, but best to check with the local LEO's to see what is tolerated.
here in kansas:
open carry is considered enough of the gun is exposed so that it is obviously a gun to the general public. so, a colt saa in a cowboy rig is ok. but so is a PM9 in an owb holster.
but so is a PM9 in in an iwb that is not covered and is "obviously a gun.
there's the problem for open carry here; different jurisdictions have different opinions on what constitutes "obviously" a gun. i've been asked about what i thought was open carry and le thought was bordering on concealed.
they are pretty clear about concealed carry. if the gun is concealed it cannot be identified by the general populace as a gun. at least that is how it was explained to me by le.
so, the only way to be safe, legally, is get you concealed permit and be obvious when you open carry and secretive when you conceal.
jmho
 
It varies state tot state. In Washington, printing is a non issue. We have legal open and concealed carry. Open carry is also a bit more accepted here than a lot of other places, some very good people put in a lot of time and effort to make this so.

For me I generally use open carry to make carrying a gun more comfortable. When I first got my CC permit I worried about printing, but since learning my state laws, I don't worry about printing and it sure makes it easier on me to carry.
 
I live in a Constitutional Carry state, and I worry about printing - the object of carrying concealed is that nobody sees the sidearm. Printing negates this plan. Ergo, figure out how not to print.
 
Here in Minnesota if you have a CCW permit you can carry either way and if your printing its not legally a big deal.
 
My "conceal" is a shirt over my owb Ruger P95. I too live in WA state which seems to be pretty easy for open carry although I have no other states to compare it to.

When I conceal, it's not so much to tactical reasons. Actually, my mind set is that I want the bad guy to see my gun, think I am an off duty LEO who is deadly accurate at 1000 yards with a BB gun (in the snake world there are some snakes that LOOK like rattle snakes and that does the job just as well as actually BEING a rattle snake more often than not). Like many things in my life, I keep a general cover on my pistol to keep from freaking out the muggles.
 
Open carry is open carry and concealed carry is concealed carry.

If you are going to do either, then you should make an effort to do it right.
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I actually disagree. There's something I call "98% concealed". In my case this means a big gun carried high-and-forward crossdraw, covered by a normal-length jacket but once in a while "peeks out" unavoidably. In AZ with the same legal rules as a Wisconsin permitholder (open or concealed is OK) there's no problem - and trust me, most people don't notice.

Now, there's one major issue and that's "grab resistance" - if you're carrying open or quasi-concealed behind the hip, you've created a grab-magnet and that's no good. Somewhere up into your belly area is much easier to cover and strongly resists grab attempts from the rear, and makes side-attacks hard. Frontal attacks are easier to spot coming. My response to a grab attempt would be to jam the gun into the holster with my off-hand while going for a decent size aluminum flashlight fast-accessible in the right, which is getting jammed into their face edge-first at very high speed :).
 
Jim March said:
I actually disagree. There's something I call "98% concealed
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Here in Ohio we mostly call that "sloppy carry". Concealed, open....whatever. I personally like my concealed pistol to stay concealed but it is nice to know that if my shirt rides up or the pistol prints through it's all good. I totally agree with you about open carry/ gun security though, that's one of the main reasons open carry isn't for me. To each his/her own though
 
The first thing you need to realize is that you are not the center of everyone's universe. If your gun faintly prints from time to time, the average person isn't going to notice a little bulge. And if they do, I really doubt they'll deduce you're carrying a gun.

I'm a skinny guy with a Charter Bulldog tucked in my waistband. The "athletic fit" shirts I wore before I started carrying do a fine job of covering it. And I need to get myself in a pretty awkward position for anyone else to notice it. Heck, people have actually touched it (hugs and whatnot) and didn't seem to notice.

So don't worry too much. Just keep it out of plain sight and cut down on the cartwheels at the grocery store.
 
Crazy88Fingers, you said it well. Even with open carry, very few people even notice the gun. It's a bit surprising, at least it was to me, how oblivious people are to what's on your waist line. That black gun tends to get filed in their minds as a cell phone or other gadget.
 
If you carry open, carry open for all to see.

"Printing" in concealed carry is considered tacky, like slurping your soup. If you want to hide your weapon, then hide it completely.
 
Kevin Rohrer

If you carry open, carry open for all to see.

"Printing" in concealed carry
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+1

Get a few really ugly Hawaiian shirts, it works for me, and no "printing issues" with CCW.
 
If I gave a damn about looking "tacky", I'm carrying a gun for the wrong reasons. I carry to protect myself and my family, not to be "cool". That notion is ridiculous to me.

I carry larger guns, because they are easier for me to use. I gave up on small sub-compact guns a while ago and I'm not going back. My reasoning is simple, capacity and ease of use beat less capacity and harder to use. If someone sees a bulge underneath my T-shirt, good for them, they can speculate what it as all they want. When I carry open, I don't spend all day tucking my coat in behind my holster just so everyone can see it. Why would I do the opposite and wear multiple shirts , vests etc... when concealing. I can do both in my state, which may or may not be the case for others, but for me I don't care that much about printing.

The only places I worry about printing are in places I deem to be sensitive or absolutely not approving of a gun being there. In most of those places I won't carry, but if I feel the need to I carry with a bit more discretion.
 
Generally, printing is going to raise eyebrows, moreso than open carry. A cop who sees you printing will most likely challenge you to produce your carry permit. Their approach and tactics may vary. Not all cops will be aware of the new law, or the exact specifics, which will make your life even more... exciting.

If you're going to carry concealed, I say carry concealed. Adjust your gun, holster, and dress to ensure it stays concealed.
 
I would like to be able to open carry but I was making some assumptions about things being cool and people being cool, and people aren't.

You've got these horses-asses who walk up on an officer's traffic stop wearing a sidearm, you've got these guys wearing bandeleros and all sorts of crazy ****, and you've got people that just freak out. And then you've got those sherrifs or police chiefs who decide they're gonna make life hell for people who OC.

If I could OC I wouldn't need such a small & light pistol, I wouldn't have to worry about concealing.

I always thought that police would favor OC over CC because at least an officer has some knowledge of who is armed versus not having any information. But it doesn't seem that way...
 
For me I generally use open carry to make carrying a gun more comfortable. When I first got my CC permit I worried about printing, but since learning my state laws, I don't worry about printing and it sure makes it easier on me to carry.
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I feel about the same here in the Great Lake State.
 
I am in GA and you can carry openly or concealed as long as you have a permit. I personally always carry concealed and make an effort not to wear shirts that are going to print. My husband carries a larger gun and it varies whether he carries openly or concealed depending on where we are going, but some of his shirts definitely print more than others.
 
I usually carry a fairly large pistol in a belt holster and I'm not too big so it's not all that concealed. I wear a cover vest which some say is too obvious but it does the job and I like the extra pockets. If it shows, so be it. I've found most folks don't pay much attention and regardless of what you might think, they don't look at you all that much.
 
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