Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Your thoughts on "open carry"

My friends to the North (Oklahoma) can now carry their handguns in plain sight as long as they have a CHL. Personaly, I like it. I might prefer to keep mine hidden. What do ya'll think here on the "fire"?

I wouldn't carry a handgun openly for general defense. A visible handgun just allows for a perspective perp to figure out how to nutralize or disarm you.

A well written open carry law would also allow a person to carry a loaded AR in public and thats one good reason to support an open carry law. I could see situations (like katrina or sandy) where a person might want to carry a rifle for something like defense against a riot or looting and under a lot of jurisdictions laws said person could be charged with brandishing or some such.

If openly carrying an AR wasn't exactly what our founding fathers had in mind with the second amendment I don't know what it was.

sorry if I went off on a tangent.

I'd rather a bad guy not know he should shoot me first.



Travis

Great answers, I agree with both of you. I would hate to give away any advantage I might have in a fight.

However, it would be cool to wear your custom 1911 in a custom holster to your next backyard BBQ !!!

The thing about open carry is you can never measure what doesn't happen due to open carry.


Travis

That's my thought as well. I have no issue if others do, but it's not my preference.

It's good to have the option. In certain circumstances, it could be a benefit. For example, you're transporting something valuable, and several members of your family and some friends are going to accompany you, all open carrying.

PS Not precisely on point, but the principle is the same: I once read an account of a family vacationing on their sailing yacht. They were pretty far from civilization, and anchored off a small unoccupied island. A motorboat saw them, and made a straight line for them. The other boat was manned by some unsavory looking characters acting suspiciously (even soon following them when they raised anchor and sailed to, and re-anchored on, the other side of the Island), possibly deciding on whether or not to do something criminal to the vacationing family.

The father, however, had some power tools below deck and a couple of feet length of scrap 2x4. He quickly cut up several facsimiles of Glock 17s, colored them black with magic marker, and had everyone in his family stuff them into their waistbands at 4:00. All returned to the deck with their "Glocks" on display, and within just a few minutes the crew of the motorboat decided they had something better to do elsewhere.

Exactly, and probably there are occasions when a lot doesn't happen in such an environment that would have otherwise.

Correct.

The adage "There's never a cop around when you need one" holds a lot of water in these discussions.


Travis

Right there with ya George, but the rifle scenario is also valid IMHO.

My thoughts prezactly.

Yep, as you so amply demonstrated in that famous picture. Yeah, that was a shotgun, but same principle.

Let's not confuse this discussion...

No government should have the right to ban open carry to begin with. Ever.

I'm just stating that I prefer it not be in the open when I carry in an every day setting.


Travis

Yah! I remember as a kid growing up in Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas that open carry was no problem. Anybody could do so whenever they wanted to.

Times have changed in the last sixty years!

Michigan is also an open carry state. I don't OC but another advantage is if you conceal carry, printing or inadvertent flashing (reaching for something on a high shelf, for example), won't get you in trouble.

WV is the same as Michigan in this regard. I agree with UPhiker it's nice not to have to worry if you happen to flash a little steel by accident. I've just been of the opinion it's best not to let some things hang out in public. My pistol is one of those things.

Exactly. Florida recently passed a law eliminating the draconian legal consequences that could come into effect if you were caught inadvertently printing or your CCW was inadvertently displayed such as an accidentally rising cover garment. Now a cop has to prove you did it intentionally before legal consequences may attach. We still need legal open carry, though, and there are forces currently at work in Florida whose aim is to accomplish just that.

Discretion is the better part of valor ..... and common sense.

My thoughts exactly, right down to I don't OC either.

these kinds of discussions throw me living in arizona where it has never been an issue.
I have been openly packing since probably around the age of 9 or 10.
Having said i typically don't like drawing attention to myself, so mostly the only time i do oc is when out hunting or running the desert.