# A thought on concealed weapons **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 23, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-on-concealed-weapons/497361 "2009-05-23T00:50:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-on-concealed-weapons/497361/1 "2009-05-23T00:50:35Z")
Not wanting to hijack any other threads… Why are there concealed weapon permits? Would it not be better to say if one is going to carry a weapon, than it must be carried openly, for all to see and know about? Color me ignorant on this because I don’t know the actual arguments for concealed weapons. FWIW: I don’t own a gun, but have nothing against them, and am considering buying one in the near future. ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-on-concealed-weapons/497361/2 "2009-05-23T01:28:48Z")
Well, in a lot of states where concealed carry licenses are issued, carrying openly is also legal, often without any requirement for a permit. It’s not especially common; most people who carry prefer to keep it concealed, and a lot of people who don’t carry are very uncomfortable around visible firearms. Many police departments also take a dim view of the practice, and not uncommonly will question or harass people who carry openly, regardless of the local legality. [OpenCarry.Org](http://opencarry.org/opencarry.html) has some maps and various information regarding the various state laws, if you’re interested. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-on-concealed-weapons/497361/3 "2009-05-23T06:41:51Z")
> [@Stealth\_Potato](#): > > It’s not especially common; most people who carry prefer to keep it concealed, and a lot of people who don’t carry are very uncomfortable around visible firearms. Many police departments also take a dim view of the practice, and not uncommonly will question or harass people who carry openly, regardless of the local legality. Two people carrying concealed get in a car wreck and get out of their car. Neither knows the other one in carrying (though realize it’s a possibility). Things begin heated, but neither is really a threat to the other at the moment, so cooler heads prevail. Now two people get in a car wreck and get out of their car, both have a pistol strapped to their hip, now we’ve got an extremely tense situation as both are ready to blow each other’s head’s off should the other one reach for their gun (or even make the slightest move in that direction). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-on-concealed-weapons/497361/4 "2009-05-23T06:56:29Z")
A fairly high number of dudes are freaked by the sight of a gun, except on a policeman. Lots of calls to 911 by silly people. And, in case of a situation, sometimes it is better that the perps not know you are armed. For example, a hold-up where they come in with guns out- if they see you are armed they might just shoot you. It’d be better to lie down and play along. Maybe even there _might_ be a change where they turn their back on you and you can get the drop. When I had a CCW, I carried openly out in the wild, concealed in town. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-on-concealed-weapons/497361/5 "2009-05-23T07:01:02Z")
This is a long standing argument in American law. Some states (like California until the 1960s) allowed people to carry weapons as long as they were in plain sight. This is in line with the reasoning that as long as everyone knows you have a gun, everything is cool. Other jurisdictions prohibit open carry on the grounds it damages the public peace. (IAW it causes people to freak.) these places allow only concealed carry. I draw the parallel to rules governing prostitution. In some places hookers may only work in certain places (to keep them from scaring the horses), in other places and time they may never work from central locations (to prevent them from being abused by pimps). Good lines of reasoning have good points. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-on-concealed-weapons/497361/6 "2009-05-24T18:31:19Z")
Concealed carry has something of a protective effect on a group. If a potential attacker knows some may be armed but not which, he’s hesistant to attack any. CCW laws have had some effect of changing confrontational crime (mugging, for example) into non-confontrational crime like car theft. In the event of an actual confrontation, it also puts you in a better position - you have the initiative if your attacker doesn’t know you’re armed. I can carry openly legally here and I have the proper holster for it but I haven’t yet - I’m afraid I’ll get harassed by cops who despite knowing it’s not illegal will nonetheless harass me and possibly even try to throw a disturbing the peace type charge at me. And idiots who will probably get hysterical at the sight of a gun who will give you problems (and call those police who will then come harass you…) ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-on-concealed-weapons/497361/7 "2009-05-24T21:40:30Z")
Are there issues if you’re carrying openly, but then get in a car or put on a long coat or something? Does anyone know how states define “concealed”? ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-on-concealed-weapons/497361/8 "2009-05-25T03:41:50Z")
Beyond the fact that the sheer sight of a gun freaks out a lot of people, why would you really _want_ everyone to know who the armed one is in a crowd? Would that not paint a huge “shoot me first!” target on the person in a crowd that’s capable of defending themselves/stopping the potential crime? To me (and I know this is somewhat of a controversial stance on these forums), not having the attacker know who is armed (if anyone) is a tactical advantage as they’re not going to attack you first if they indeed attack. Of course, on the flip side, if you’re carrying unconcealed they might feel compelled not to commit their impending crime in the first place. Still, I’d rather if they commit it, I not be the first one targeted. ---
**Author:** ![BlakeTyner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@BlakeTyner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlakeTyner)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-on-concealed-weapons/497361/9 "2009-05-25T04:19:50Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Are there issues if you’re carrying openly, but then get in a car or put on a long coat or something? Does anyone know how states define “concealed”? To the first part of the question: depends. In some cases, while open carry is fine, once the long coat is on, the gun is concealed and would become a no-no. And a lot of places have regulations about transporting a firearm–in Texas, for instance, any citizen with a right to own a gun can carry a loaded one, concealed but ready, in their car. It’s the so-called “traveling” exemption (basically, if you’re traveling, it provides an affirmative defense to prosecution.) Other states aren’t so lenient. As far as “concealed,” I don’t recall whether there’s a statute in Texas law that defines it, other than applying the ‘reasonable person’ doctrine–if a reasonable person can’t tell you’re carrying, then it’s concealed. This leads, of course, to discussions within the CHL community about whether “printing” is illegal. The consensus is, in Texas, that it is not illegal. For example, in the summer I wear an untucked tee shirt over my gun. If you look closely, you can see the outline, though because of the nature of the holster and its cant, it doesn’t scream “OMG GUN!” In fact, since I’ve gotten my BlackBerry, I’ve noticed that the BlackBerry creates a vaguely similar ‘bulge’. Or, I’ve heard it argued, it could, to the average observer, be a medical thing–a diabetic pump or some such. The only very bad thing I can think of is a crime called “intentional failure to conceal,” which obviously requires the element of intent. I mentioned in the other thread that I once accidentally tucked my overshirt behind my gun, meaning the gun was exposed at Wal-Mart. Even though the gun was visible, I wasn’t guilty of the crime, because I wasn’t intentionally failing to conceal. Whether a police officer would have seen it that way, I don’t know, but I feel pretty confident that a jury would have seen it for what it was, had it gotten to that. Same thing goes for a gust of wind lifting someone’s shirt. It happens from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-on-concealed-weapons/497361/10 "2009-05-25T04:36:53Z")
I think the whole thing is absurd. Why should anyone care if you stick your pistol inside your waistband instead of outside it? ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-on-concealed-weapons/497361/11 "2009-05-25T04:47:17Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I think the whole thing is absurd. Why should anyone care if you stick your pistol inside your waistband instead of outside it? You may be misunderstanding. It’s about whether a gun is visible or not. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-on-concealed-weapons/497361/12 "2009-05-25T05:31:22Z")
The biggest argument for concealed is “You don’t know” so no one has the advantage. Bluffing is a great tool. But Americans aren’t really used to guns. I recall in the days after 9-11 I went to New York City and they had the high level alert (Orange or whatever it was called) and I had an appointment at Wall Street and I came up from the subway, and there were cops and Feds all over the place carrying these shot guns and automatic weapons. It took me aback for a minute. Till I realized “Oh Orange alert, OK now.” ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-on-concealed-weapons/497361/13 "2009-05-26T23:00:19Z")
For pretty much exactly the same reasons that sky marshals and FBI agents don’t wear a uniform when traveling in an airliner.