I know that a discussion on this topic was recently closed but my understanding is it was closed for being SIXTEEN years old NOT for content.
I know this is a valid topic because it comes up at least a couple of times a year on every single internet gun forum I participate in. There is a discussion on this topic on Glock Talk that was started in August of 2011 that is TwentyEight Pages long and is still active. So, I know this is something that people give thought to.
This is what I've gathered from the discussions I've read.
The vast majority of people you run into everyday are paying you no attention. You could probably open carry and they would not notice.
True story, I was at work one afternoon (uniformed security guard) checking a city building when I was surrounded by five cop cars. The cops got out, asked me if I had seen anything suspicious or anybody else walking around the area then they told me that they were responding to a call of a man with a gun sitting in the woods across the street from where I was at. (Where I was it was the building I was checking and then the street out in front of it and then a patch of woods then a railroad track then the interstate. The concern was that the man with the gun was going to start shooting at cars on the interstate). After they told me all this the cops told me to go ahead and continue my rounds with caution and then one of them asked me if I was armed. They were literally standing in a circle around me and none of them noticed whether or not I was carrying a gun.
That's when it was driven home to me that most people really aren't paying attention.
However, you will draw the attention of some people and the people who are most likely to notice are the people you are least likely to want to draw the attention of.
The first group is other gun people and it may cause some random idiot to decide that your 5.11 pants (there are a gazillion brands of "Tactical" clothing out there. Why is it always 5.11s?) make you a kindred spirit. There is a guy who posts on the S&W forum who claims that when he sees somebody wearing the "Tactical Tuxedo" he calls them out on it in public just to be a jerk. If I can avoid that kind of interaction in my life why not wearing 5.11 pants I'm all for it.
The second group is Cops. The guy who started the discussion on Glock Talk said "Cops notice people who dress like them and criminals notice people who dress like cops." and it makes sense.
The next time you see a cop being interviewed on TV take a look at what he's wearing because it's almost always the 5-11 pants and a polo shirt. It makes sense to me that if a cop saw somebody in clothing that closely resembles a police uniform they'd give that person some extra scrutiny if for no other reason than to decide whether or not they're trying to impersonate a cop. Again, if I can avoid that type of interaction I will.
The last group is criminals. A criminal may not be able to look at those pants and say "Those are the 5.11 Royal Robbins Tactical pants." but I bet he can tell you the cops wear those clothes. Especially if he's ever been arrested by somebody wearing them.
I remember in one of these discussions a cop saying that he'd seen criminals pick up on something as small as a handcuff key on your key ring. He said that they become good at recognizing cops because that's how they stay out of jail. Another cop claimed to have seen a dope dealer walk up to a marked police car and offered to sell them drugs. I have no idea if he was serious or not.
I try not to wear "Tactical" anything. There's a lot of people in Colorado Springs that dress like they do all their shopping at REI. Generic cargo pants just fade right into the background. I went to an appointment a year or so ago with my audiologist. I remember sitting in the waiting room with my wife and I looked around and I realized there were two other guys in the room with us and all three of us were wearing the same kind of pants (Walmart Wrangler Cargos) The only difference was the color. I stood out like a Cheerio in a bowl of Cheerios.
I know this is a valid topic because it comes up at least a couple of times a year on every single internet gun forum I participate in. There is a discussion on this topic on Glock Talk that was started in August of 2011 that is TwentyEight Pages long and is still active. So, I know this is something that people give thought to.
This is what I've gathered from the discussions I've read.
The vast majority of people you run into everyday are paying you no attention. You could probably open carry and they would not notice.
True story, I was at work one afternoon (uniformed security guard) checking a city building when I was surrounded by five cop cars. The cops got out, asked me if I had seen anything suspicious or anybody else walking around the area then they told me that they were responding to a call of a man with a gun sitting in the woods across the street from where I was at. (Where I was it was the building I was checking and then the street out in front of it and then a patch of woods then a railroad track then the interstate. The concern was that the man with the gun was going to start shooting at cars on the interstate). After they told me all this the cops told me to go ahead and continue my rounds with caution and then one of them asked me if I was armed. They were literally standing in a circle around me and none of them noticed whether or not I was carrying a gun.
That's when it was driven home to me that most people really aren't paying attention.
However, you will draw the attention of some people and the people who are most likely to notice are the people you are least likely to want to draw the attention of.
The first group is other gun people and it may cause some random idiot to decide that your 5.11 pants (there are a gazillion brands of "Tactical" clothing out there. Why is it always 5.11s?) make you a kindred spirit. There is a guy who posts on the S&W forum who claims that when he sees somebody wearing the "Tactical Tuxedo" he calls them out on it in public just to be a jerk. If I can avoid that kind of interaction in my life why not wearing 5.11 pants I'm all for it.
The second group is Cops. The guy who started the discussion on Glock Talk said "Cops notice people who dress like them and criminals notice people who dress like cops." and it makes sense.
The next time you see a cop being interviewed on TV take a look at what he's wearing because it's almost always the 5-11 pants and a polo shirt. It makes sense to me that if a cop saw somebody in clothing that closely resembles a police uniform they'd give that person some extra scrutiny if for no other reason than to decide whether or not they're trying to impersonate a cop. Again, if I can avoid that type of interaction I will.
The last group is criminals. A criminal may not be able to look at those pants and say "Those are the 5.11 Royal Robbins Tactical pants." but I bet he can tell you the cops wear those clothes. Especially if he's ever been arrested by somebody wearing them.
I remember in one of these discussions a cop saying that he'd seen criminals pick up on something as small as a handcuff key on your key ring. He said that they become good at recognizing cops because that's how they stay out of jail. Another cop claimed to have seen a dope dealer walk up to a marked police car and offered to sell them drugs. I have no idea if he was serious or not.
I try not to wear "Tactical" anything. There's a lot of people in Colorado Springs that dress like they do all their shopping at REI. Generic cargo pants just fade right into the background. I went to an appointment a year or so ago with my audiologist. I remember sitting in the waiting room with my wife and I looked around and I realized there were two other guys in the room with us and all three of us were wearing the same kind of pants (Walmart Wrangler Cargos) The only difference was the color. I stood out like a Cheerio in a bowl of Cheerios.
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