I’ve had a conceled carry permit for years, and now they’re not even required in my state, Idaho, but I’ve never tried open carry before. I’ve just gotten a new pistol which is fairly uncomfortable to try to concel and I’m considering open carry instead. I feel a little gunshy about it though because I’m concerned about the response I might get from the police or others even though what I’m doing is perfectly legal. Do any of you have any experiances with open carry? Positive, negitive, or otherwise.
I’d prefer this not turn into a gun debate although if you would react negatively to seeing someone with a gun on their hip I am curious what your reaction would be.
I live in Ohio, which allows open carry without a permit and concealed carry with a permit. The only time I open carry is when I am hiking in the woods. Under normal circumstances, I carry concealed.
My primary reason for this is that I don’t want to frighten people who are disturbed by the sight of a gun. Secondarily, I would prefer not to be an unwitting target if the sight of my gun spooks a criminal who is armed.
Sorry I don’t have any open carry experience outside of the woods to share.
Pretty much the only time I open carry is when I am out doing night astrophotography. I figure that the combination of night + isolation + thousands of dollars worth of camera gear might be tempting to some people, and having my .357 or 9mm in a shoulder holster might make them think twice.
I used to carry my revolver when I rode my bicycle on crowded streets, since it seemed to help keep cars away, but I just decided that riding those roads was just too dangerous, so I gave that up.
I have a carry license as well, but like you I don’t open carry. I don’t carry often anyway, but when I do the goal is not to broadcast the fact that I’m armed. Most of the non-LEO people that I know who open carry regularly are of the “it’s my right and I’ll by golly exercise it often!” variety. It is and they can, but I kinda figure I have the right to an attorney as well, but don’t really want to carry one around all the time…
It really depends on the locality, and also how common open carry is. A few years ago, I had one mildly negative experience–some idiot called the police. They talked to me for about 5 minutes and then left.
I’ve also had a couple positive experiences. But the vast majority of the time, there’s nothing to report. Most people either don’t care, or in some cases, I suspect that they don’t even notice.
In the last few years, open carry here in Colorado Springs has been getting more common. It’s not exactly “common” yet, but it’s far from rare.
For more detailed and state-specific information, go here. You might want to register on their forums.
I’m another with CCW permit in an open carry state. I don’t use it much, usually just when I’m traveling alone and want to legally carry a loaded weapon in my car in case of unexpected encounters. I am comfortable with guns and usually don’t think anything of seeing someone in a hunting situation exercising their right to open carry. Most often, those guns are slung over a shoulder until ready for use.
All that said, I can think of two instances when open carry made me uncomfortable.
Not far from where I live, there is a whistle stop village for very expensive gas, groceries and an out-of-the-way diner. The diner is a gathering place for rural dwellers to get a cup of coffee and catch up on the local gossip. It has changed hands several times. One day I stopped by after new owners had taken over and was startled to see the cook, who worked behind the counter but in full view of customers, sporting a big ol’ .45 strapped to his hip. I found it unsettling. Although his concerns were obvious and his solution even more so, I found it confrontational and not really the best way to give customers that warm, cozy breakfast feeling. I didn’t go back until the place changed hands again – less than 6 months later. The food was ok, so I guess I wasn’t the only one troubled by the ambience.
Another episode that stands out in my mind was driving down my very rural, wooded road, considered the backwoods route to town, with a friend following behind. I noted a fellow cradling an AR-15-style rifle in his arms, trigger finger resting astride, as he walked up the road.
I understand the semi-automatic version is just a tricked-out style of the most common rifles used in this country. But he looked so out of place, strolling along this backwoods road in a spot where you’d not expect to see a hunter, and he wasn’t wearing a hunter’s customary clothing. He looked menacing and raised my feelings of hink.
When my friend and I met for our breakfast date, we agreed he made us both feel skeevy.
I agree completely with Crotalus’ reasons to not open carry.
As someone who regularly if infrequently shoots guns (don’t own any myself any more, but sometimes shoot with family), my general policy is to remove myself from the area of anyone I see open-carrying that is not an obvious LEO. My reasoning is that either:
The area we are in is dangerous enough to justify carrying a weapon. If the area is that dangerous, it’s probably not somewhere I want to be, so I will leave to a safer venue. Or,
The area is safe, but you have chosen to bring a weapon there anyway. In that case, you’ve already given me a serious reason to doubt your judgment on the appropriate use of firearms and I would just as soon not spend further time in your presence.
What is your (anyone who cares to answer) personal proximity rules when you are open carrying? I’ve never lived in an area where open carrying (or concealed for that matter) was legal.
I’m talking about say you are open carrying a pistol in a Kydex holster on your right hip, and you meet someone who comes in for a hand-shake. Now if they have your right hand in a firm grip it would be simple to pull you forward and to the left, and make a grab for the gun. Or not?
PA. It’s unusual enough that I avoid it. Sometimes I can’t; I ride a motorcycle and have been known to carry something on my hip or in a saddle scabbard on the front fork tubes in plain sight. I’ve also gotten used to meeting an amazing number of police officers when I do so. And this is just on the road, not walking into businesses. No biggie; all 50+ have been basically nice and/or polite about it. But it does show the difference between legal and readily accepted around here.
I live in Vermont and often shop in New Hampshire, both open carry states. For some reason I always see guys with hand guns shopping in NH, never in VT.
It’s like, what the hell are you armed and ready for at Market Basket? The person with the gun never looks like an off duty cop. They always have a sketchy, trailer home living, unemployed vibe to them. Why would anybody take a loaded gun into a grocery store full of children and senior citizens?
We also have a little family owned sub shop in town, and the father mother and daughter who work there all carry at work. I think they do it mainly as a way to get the local ‘rednecks’ to support them, because of America and gun rights and all that. Maybe some people feel safer there, I don’t know. I bet the mom also gets girl power points for having a pink handgun!
I am all for guns, etc. It just weirds me out and makes me uncomfortable when a random person has a gun in a place where you never see somebody with a gun. I think that their view of reality is way different than mine, so much different that it raises a few flags.
Like at the store in my town. Let’s say someone does try armed robbery while I’m looking at the beer cooler. Now I have a robber with a gun and three people in different parts of the store with guns. So yeah I avoid that place, there’s too many things that could go wrong.
There are reasons I choose to live in Western Oregon.
We have our gun fetish culture here, too – but they are much more out of sight. I’m sure such a restaurant would do fine here. Better in the eastern part of the state than the western, though.
I agree, the second guy was more brandishing than open carrying. The whole thing was just weird. Sure didn’t feel like he was hunting. Not animals, anyway.
I’m afraid I’ve never quite understood questions like “Why do you feel the need to be armed when your at X?” If someone could give me a schedule of when bad guys were going to attack then I guess I could just be armed then. Sort of like questioning why someone wears their seat belt all the time or has fire insurance on their home. Sure 99.99% of the time both those things are useless but you never know when the 0.01% is going to happen.
I live in Arizona. I mostly don’t care. Except for the asshole son of my parent’s new spouse who wore his to a family Christmas dinner. But he’s an asshole.
