If you saw someone carrying a gun at a party, what would you do?

In My Humble Opinion
101

Let me weigh in as a CCW holder who quite frequently carries concealed:

If I were at a party (not that I attend parties frequently) and if I saw someone carrying NOT concealed…my reaction would depend entirely on how well I knew (or thought I knew) that person.

In my state, it is NOT illegal to carry openly, except within certain city limits. However it’s certainly considered bad manners. Like…wearing a coat made of real fur. On certain streets it might well cause a panic - and that is the real concern, and AFAIK that is what the person would be charged under: disturbing the peace. On the east side of the state, a rifle in the back of a pickup truck is neither unusual nor does it panic people. On the west side…

In my state is IS illegal to carry concealed without a CCW. And when they say concealed, they mean concealed: nobody should be able to figure, guess, see, or ascertain that you are in fact carrying a weapon, loaded or otherwise. Nor may you, without a CCW, carry a loaded gun in your vehicle, although you may carry, say, the gun up front, and the ammunition in the trunk.

I have never (to my knowledge) been ‘made’. It’s possible once: I got the visual once-over by a sheriff at a 7-11 while wearing a concealed-carry fanny-pack. But as the officer said nothing, it’s possible he was just looking. Or was not concerned.

But to return to the question: if I were at such a party, and someone at the party were careless enough to allow themselves to be seen to be carrying? If I didn’t know them, I would tell the host I was leaving, and why (since presumably they would know the person). If I did know them and knew them to be stable and peaceable people, I would approach them and tell them I’d seen their piece and they needed to be more careful, maybe talk quietly about CCWs. If I knew them and had any doubts about their stability (for example, if I knew they were easily angered, or if they were drinking), I might well call the police. It all depends. It’s never a matter of gun == okay or gun == ACK! RUN AWAY! for me.

102

Honestly? I think it depends on the circumstances.

I’m a Canadian ex-pat living in the US. If this happened in Canada, I would have serious questions as to why the person was wearing a concealed weapon. Only a handful of people would legally be able to do that. I’d call law-enforcement if I had doubts and let them sort it out.

In the US? I’d do the same if my spidey-sense set off the alarm bells, but only after asking the person a question or two about it. Chances are if they let the weapon be seen, they will be more than willing to explain why they are carrying it. If the explanation is, in my mind, a legitimate one, I would simply let things be. If not, I would leave. I do not feel safe around firearms in the wrong hands… I do, however, have no problem with firearms handled by people who are qualified to handle them, especially in the line of duty (on or off).

103

Crafter_Man’s views are generally not considered mainstream.

104

To be accurate, with an automatic or semi-automatic it would be more of a clitoris thing.

You know… rapid-fire repeatability.

:slight_smile:

105

I would be pretty uncomfortable. There are appropriate places to bring a gun and inappropriate places, and it seems to me that a party or celebration is one of the places a person is unlikely to need a weapon. If I were the host, and a person brought their gun onto my property without telling me, I would be very offended - so I would wonder if the host knew, but it would be a very awkward thing to bring up.

If I didn’t know the person who had the weapon, I would keep away. After all, you have no way of knowing what that person’s intentions are.

It would be difficult, but I suspect I would tell the host.

Interestingly, my only experience with a situation like this was at a party in college, where the boyfriend of one of my dormmates pulled out a gun and handed it to a friend of ours saying “If I get drunk I’m too likely to fire it.” :eek: I strongly suspect he didn’t have a permit :wink: .

In any case, I’m hoping those who legally carry understand that unless we know you, the rest of us are unlikely to know that you’re carrying legally.

106

True liberty is not a popular issue, so I would agree.

107

I think you’re buying into a common anti-gun tactic. Since they really have no logical argument against a law abiding gun owner, they try to paint gun owners as “scared” or “paranoid”. I know several people with a CCP (don’t have one myself), and they all have the same attitude. Possessing a gun simply gives them one more tool to deal with the world. To a man (or woman) they’ll freely admit that the situation which would require a gun is unlikely-but if that situation does occur, possessing the gun could be the difference between handling it and not having to handle any situations ever again. Far from being a position of weakness or fright, it’s a position of preparation, and as such is something to be admired, not denegraded.

Now, to answer the OP, as far as I know, most if not all CCP forbid the permit carrier from consuming alcohol while carrying. Someone carrying a gun while drinking would raise a caution flag with me because their behavior is not that of a responsible, law abiding gun owner. Other than that though…why would it bother me? Guns are neither illegal nor evil. Frankly, even though I don’t personally chose to carry a gun, and I don’t worry very much about the extremely unlikely chance that I would be involved in a VT type situation, if I thought about it (which I usually don’t, like I said, the chances of something like that happening to any given individual are minuscule), knowing there was someone in the room equipped to have a chance if a madman walks into the room would make me feel safer. Suppose someone with a concealed handgun was taking a class at VT last week (I know, I know, you can’t carry on campus. Let’s assume that you could) when Cho started shooting. Would the result have been the same? Maybe. I can’t conceive of how it could have been worse. It might have been a lot better, with the lunatic only killing a couple people instead of 30. From here:

How much difference could a legally carried weapon have made in a situation like that? Quite a bit. Quite a bit.

108

[Official Moderator Underoos On, Aluminum Moderator Cluestick In Hand]This is not a gun debate. If you want a gun debate, go start a gun debate, because this isn’t a gun debate.[/Official Moderator Underoos On, Aluminum Moderator Cluestick In Hand]

109

I just wanted to say this sounds very logical to me.

I’m curious about RCMP and local constabulary regulations regarding off-duty gun carrying now. I’ll see if I can find out about that.

110

For me, to answer the OP, it would depend on whether that person was drinking alcohol/taking drugs at all or not.

111

I went with a police officer for ten years, and he usually carried a gun. Most people who noticed it asked him about it before doing anything, and he wouild show them his badge/i.d. A few times in stores & other public establishments, people would come up to him:

Excuse me, sir, but are you carrying a gun.
Yes I am.
I’m sorry, but you cannot bring a gun in here.
[Flashing badge/i.d.]I’m a police officer.
Oh, I am very sorry, sir.

112

The OP is a little misleading. If you bump up against someone and feel something rock hard, why would you automatically think “GUN!”? I think the average person would think, “PDA, Cell Phone, etc…” or not think much of it at all.
Now, if you could see what was obviously a gun because the person is wearing a tight ass sweater or they are sloppily exposing their nit-so-concealed firearm, then it’s entirely that person’s fault. If he doesn’t like the reactions he gets from making people uncomfortable, then he should do a better job of keeping it concealed.
When carrying a firearm, nobody should ever know or suspect you have it. Telling someone, showing someone, flashing it, etc are all pretty damn lame!

Personally, I can kinda understand the whole “why do you think you need it here” attitudes. But at the same time, I carry my wallet even if I dont intend to buy stuff when I leave my house, and I never expect to have to show my ID to someone, but I have it with me in my wallet just in case. I also carry a cell phone even if I leave the house at 2am or some other time that a person is very unlikely to call me. I also wear a watch, even though there are clocks everywhere I go and even one on my phone. I also carry a firearm. It’s just one of the things that I put in my pants before I leave the house. I dont even think twice about it. It’s simply not a huge issue or a big deal to me. I dont go through the whole “Do I really need it where I’m going to day” justification in my head.
If I went to your party, I’d most likely have it on me. But you’d never know it. That’s the point. If any problems or uncomfortable feelings came from someone seeing that I was armed, that would be my fault.

If I saw someone else’s exposed pistol, I’d tell him to cover it up. I would assume he was carrying legally unless he was just some thug with a Glock shoved in his pants. In that case, I guess my reaction would depend on the person and the situation.

113

Keeping Czarcasm’s missive firmly in mind, Annie Xmas’s post makes me wonder about this kind of conversation:

Host: Excuse me but are you carrying a gun?
Your PO Pal: Yes I am.
Host: I’m sorry but you cannot have a gun in my home.
YPOP: [flashes a badge/ID] I’m a police officer.
Host: This is my home and you either have to leave or put the gun into your car and then come back in. Your call. My home. My rules, and my party.

What would your friend the P.O have done? Attend a social event unarmed or leave? I’m not asking for blanket policy, just curious what your particuar friend would have done. You went with him for 10 years, I suspect you would have an informed opinion.

114

He would take his side gun to the car and keep his little tiny ankle gun. Police officers always wear their ankle gun. Butch usually didn’t even wear his side gun to social gatherings at people’s houses.

I did state in my post that he only insisted on wearing the sidearm in a public place, which the law states he could do.

115

First, I’d make sure that the gun isn’t a toy gun.

116

From Fairfax County, reported by the Wash Post:

117

I think, in the OP’s situation, it would depend on how drunk they are and how well I know them. There’s some people I know who are just off-edge enough that they shouldn’t be allowed near plastic butter knives.

However, the majority of people I associate with know gun safety as well as I do, so I probably wouldn’t freak out, I’d just let them know they were showing, or ask them what model they were sporting. Personally, I’m usually the designated driver at a party, and as open carry is legal here, I’d probably wind up being the designated gun-confiscater, as it’s illegal to carry while drinking.

I’m in the process of going through the required courses to get a concealed carry permit. I was leery of the idea at first, until recently - there has been a rash of violence in my town. People, getting beat up by baseball bats. Over PARKING SPACES. A friend of mine got his head bashed in and his chin is GONE because someone beat the shit out of him with a metal baseball bat over a parking space. I’m serious. And while he was in the hospital getting his neck and chin stitched up, an 80-year-old woman came in, who had been beaten up with a baseball bat over the same thing. People are losing it, and despite my knowledge of self-defense, I refuse to allow myself or my loved ones to be put, in public or private, into a position like that.

I won’t take the gun to work (against company policy) or on city, state or federal grounds, or into banks or credit unions. At those times the gun will stay in my vehicle, which is always locked (and a piece of shit on top of it, so unlikely to be stolen). But I would probably carry it on me most everywhere else, unless I were drinking, which is a rarity. I would alert friends ahead of time to the fact that I have a gun, and if they were uncomfortable with it, I’d stay away from that party.

If I’m lucky, I’ll never even have to draw my gun. If I’m even luckier, if I have to, I won’t have to shoot it. Most gun owners will tell you the same.

~Tasha

118

That’s a novel idea for theft prevention! Do you take a fresh shit on the gun before locking the vehicle or do you just bring some along for the purpose in a plastic bag? Either way, I know it would deter me from stealing that particular gun.

119

As an aside, some Law Enforcement Officers are required to keep their sidearm with them “at all times.” I know about this from a student who was in the FBI. He had to have his gun on campus, and during off-campus activities.

He kept it well concealed (I knew about it because he let me know in advance).

If you would have told him that, his response would have been, “I am sorry that I can no longer attend events at your home. I am required to carry this.” Mind you, he was young and still in the zealous stage of following all rules - perhaps over time he would mellow.

I had a friend’s uncle take a seat on my less than well sprung couch at which point his ankle piece was very visible. I asked him what he preferred and it led into a great discussion of the Walther PPK (which was James Bond’s gun for quite awhile).

120

Obviously that wasn’t what I meant, but that really is a novel idea. Hmmmmm.

~Tasha