You Don't Know, But I have a CCW

I agree, no need to tell, no ones business. But I don't agree with open carry either, unless your out in the sticks hunting, why would you open carry and than complain cause some blabbermouth told anyone that would listen that they were packing ? :(:confused:
 
I think there's a difference between telling people you want to get involved in the world CCW and telling everyone under the sun you CC.

Being the gray man was always pounded into my head. I was told it's generally a bad idea to sport NRA or shooting gear, 5.11 tac pants, have pro gun stuff on the vehicle. I don't even have a U.S. Veteran tag on my vehicle just because I don't want to stand out.

Be the gray man, blend in.
 
So you want the element of surprise to be able to defend yourself against a bad guy, yet when you stop to help a stranger, you show him your gun just in case he might be a bad guy?!? Still:

And if you showed him your gun thinking he was a good guy and you wanted to be "considerate" and let him know you were armed; well, then what if he really was a bad guy and the "motorist in distress" was a rouse? Now what good is your "element of surprise" going to be? Still
Click to expand...

When I'm in a public place, I can't see and watch everybody close around me. Somebody could come up and grab my weapon. If a BG pulls a gun and starts ranting about environmental issues and parasitic babies, I don't want him to know I'm armed until I can draw and surprise him.

When you stop alongside the road, you don't know if you're walking into a setup. However, in my case, there was only two other people there, one standing outside, one inside the vehicle. They were already looking at me, and if it was a setup, the odds that I'd be able to draw and maintain the element of surprise would be very slim. You can't tell if you're about to help a good guy or a bad guy. A good guy, as he was, didn't mind my caution. A bad guy would notice and either take action immediately, or opt for a victim that doesn't fight back.
 
... why would you open carry and than complain cause some blabbermouth told anyone that would listen that they were packing ?
Click to expand...

Grumpybutt: I do not know if you posed this question to me, but as the original poster and someone who does occasionally open carry, let me try to answer.

First: During both of the incidents that I mentioned in post #1, I was engaged in small talk with the clerk and these people joined the conversation. I am assuming these people do not know me, because I do not know them. I had never seen them before.

Second: When I am carrying openly, I am doing so legally and in a manner which very rarely calls attention to myself. I am usually in the sticks :) when I open carry, or at least in the fields. If I carry openly and someone happens to notice, and comments, so be it. (Only one comment ever, from the lady that runs a gas station: "That's a pretty gun...")

OK, as stated in the OP, these people announced they were carrying concealed. It was not germane to the conversation that was taking place at the time. Maybe they were new comers to the whole CC thing. Here in Missouri, if you want to open carry, you can. If you are going to announce to strangers that you are carrying a concealed weapon, why not just open carry?
 
Last edited:
dnr1128, A REAL bad guy (or two in this case), would just continue to suck you in to his helpless motorist ruse and knock your brains out with a tire iron so he could steal the car, your family AND and nice shiney new gun. Bonus. What makes you think the only two things that could happen is the bad guy immediately takes action or opts for an easier target. For a predator, your stopping and getting out of the vehicle makes you the pigeon whether you flash something extra he wants to take or not.

Two men stranded along the road and I have my family with me? My main responsibility is my family. I have no problem stopping to help, but the help may well be staying in my Jeep and offering to call someone for them.
 
dnr1128, A REAL bad guy (or two in this case), would just continue to suck you in to his helpless motorist ruse and knock your brains out with a tire iron so he could steal the car, your family AND and nice shiney new gun. Bonus. What makes you think the only two things that could happen is the bad guy immediately takes action or opts for an easier target. For a predator, your stopping and getting out of the vehicle makes you the pigeon whether you flash something extra he wants to take or not.
Click to expand...

Not if I can see both parties, I have my hand by my gun, and don't turn my back. In the time it would take to set up for an assault, I can get out of the way and start to draw. Plus, even if what you say is accurate, how does having your weapon concealed change anything, besides adding a step and valuable time to the draw?
 
I don't make a habit of OC. In fact, I can't think of a single time that I have had my gun uncovered for more than a few seconds, with the exception of the example I detailed previously. IMO the trouble it could invite would outweigh the deterrent effect.
 
So you stop to help two motorists, and you help by standing there in condition III, firearm exposed and ready to drill those two into Hades and never turning your back, continuously ready for them to pounce like rabid jackles. What help could a person give in such a scenario.

Keeping it concealed does more than one thing. It keeps you from being accused and guilty of brandishing. It also gives you an ace in the hole they don't know about. There are multiple scenarios in which this could be the thing to keep you and the family safe. If you have a gun and they know it, they would act immediately at that level of force to prevail once they decided to act. (assuming the BG scene). If you are the grey man, the inoffensive normal dude just trying to help, things could go very differently, and you have an option they are not aware of.

I like having an edge and not showing my hand. Always have an edge.
 
I helped by seeing that his overflow reservoir cap was missing, which on that model also serves as the radiator cap. That is why he didn't have any coolant in his radiator, which caused the engine to overheat. Pressure builds as the engine warmed up, which caused the coolant to blow out.

You're welcome to your opinion, and I am to mine. You weren't there, I was. I made the call, and the situation was fine. If they had wanted to carjack me, they would have do so regardless of whether or not I was visibly armed. What I did was let them know I'm not just another passerby. Being the "grey man" wouldn't have made any difference. For normal circumstances, I'd agree with you. But in this instance, I opted to take control from the outset, not wait for them to strike then react.
 
i dont understand why people want to broadcast it either
Click to expand...

One can find similar dominance behavior in the anthropological record of primitive man. May I refer you to Bettelheims "Symbolic Wounds: Puberty Rites and the Envious Male

WildicantsaymorethanthatbecauseitsafamilyboardAlaska ™©2002-2010
 
I've been carrying a handgun of one sort or another on my person for about 35 years. NOBODY has ever caught a glimpse of any of them. It's been like a "game"....carry but never let anyone ever know you carry. There's never been an "accidental" flash, either accidental or on purpose. :cool:

Whoever flashes, or boasts or brags has an ego problem. They want some attention. Me, I don't want anyone to know except for you fellas here! :D
 
Whoever flashes, or boasts or brags has an ego problem. They want some attention
Click to expand...

Unprovable generalization. :barf: You take some instances, such as in the OP, and ascribe all those attributes to everyone who chooses to carry in a manner of which you disapprove.

I don't open carry, but neither do I insult the intelligence or maturity of those who do. Doing so proves nothing about them, but shows a good bit about your maturity level.
 
You don't know it...

But I'm a complete and total dbag.

Yeah, people that advertise that they're "packing" strike me as tools. I've OC'ed only a few times (don't have my CCW permit in VA yet, and went into the nearby woods with the false hope of finding my stolen bicycle, with my Belgian malinois), and I felt like a serious tool myself, but I really can't trust anything around here after the cop listed off nearby rap sheets while taking the report for my bike. Funny thing is, my neighbors are more intimidated by the dog than by a .45.
 
For people who don't like to advertise, there sure are a few of the concealed carry only crowd advertising their lack of ability to engage in mature and intelligent conversation! It amazes me that the anti-gun propaganda has worked it's way so deep into the ranks of "pro-gun" people.

There is one difference between the person who open carries and the person who concealed carries - the open carrier tucks his shirt in behind his gun and the cc'er tucks his shirt in over his gun. We SHOULD be on the same team.
 
Just because somebody disagrees with you doesn't make them anti-gun although that tactic is frequently tried here. And just because you say you're pro-gun and we should all be on the same team doesn't get you an automatic free pass for anything you might do or say while wearing a gun.

This post is about those who just have to tell and/or show somebody when they're carrying concealed. Some of us think that is juvenile behavior that does more damage than good in promoting second amendment rights.

We have a member here who, in his own words, stopped on the side of the road WITH HIS FAMILY IN THE CAR yet he felt enough concern about the situation that he swept his shirt "back behind my gun just so the guy would know I'm armed" apparently to "take control from the outset" and "not wait for them to strike."

I can't imagine what anyone who would do this is thinking. If one thought it was dangerous, why would one stop in the first place and if one did not think it was dangerous, what was the point in displaying the gun? As written, it sounds like a juvenile try for attention.
 
bubbaturbo said:
This post is about those who just have to tell and/or show somebody when they're carrying concealed. Some of us think that is juvenile behavior that does more damage than good in promoting second amendment rights.

We have a member here who, in his own words, stopped on the side of the road WITH HIS FAMILY IN THE CAR yet he felt enough concern about the situation that he swept his shirt "back behind my gun just so the guy would know I'm armed" apparently to "take control from the outset" and "not wait for them to strike."

I can't imagine what anyone who would do this is thinking. If one thought it was dangerous, why would one stop in the first place and if one did not think it was dangerous, what was the point in displaying the gun? As written, it sounds like a juvenile try for attention.
Click to expand...

I agree with all that 100%!

What I don't agree with are the general statements that everyone who open carries are "tools".... ****cough****docdizz****cough****

That is what I was referring to.

I agree with concealed carrying, I do it sometimes myself. The object is to prevent the gun from being seen. I agree with open carrying - the way I usually carry - the object is deterrence. I, like most here, don't understand announcing or flashing the gun carried concealed. But maybe that's my problem; some can't understand open carry. I can almost buy it under the argument of temporary or immediate deterrence, IF there is a threat present - but in the cashier line at Wal Mart?
 
Last edited:
I'm guessing most guys make a show of carrying because they can't walk around with their fly open -- or because what might be exposed wouldn't register on the radar ... as for me, I'd like the gun I carry to be a surprise to those who might need to meet it -- the thugs and predators with whom we share this planet ... carrying a gun is for self-defense, not self-promotion ... hide it 'til you need it ...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top