Just curious because in another thread there is a poster who says come hell or high water they are going to call 911 whenever they see open carry, legal or not.
I imagine with the polarized politics in the USA they aren’t alone, although it probably depends on the area how many people like that there are.
So just curious what everyone’s experiences with open carry are as far as nuts calling 911, or police harassment.
Why are they nuts? Having the right to do something does not always make it proper to do so. I can guarantee if someone were spotted walking in my neighborhood with open carry, at least half of the 911 calls would be coming from gun owners demanding the fuckwit be taken down by the police, post haste.
A guy walking around with a holstered gun in a state where open carry is legal, not brandishing it or acting threatening, is a fuckwit?
I’d say someone who calls the police in that situation, knowing open carry is perfectly legal, is a nuisance at best.
Then my job is done. Maybe I can’t take your guns away, but anything I can legally do to make it more of a bother to open carry is my goal. I believe the fewer guns being carried around, the fewer innocent people will be killed by accident (or on purpose) by people I am supposed to trust have proper training and temperament for gun ownership. I hope you have to defend your right to carry to law enforcement every time you leave the house with your big bad firearm on your hip.
I’ve occasionally seen people open carry and it doesn’t bother me. It’s legal in Michigan. Obviously were I to see someone acting like a loon and waving a firearm around, I’d call 911. But someone with a clearly visible firearm? Meh.
Anecdote: The owner of the auto repair shop I go to open carries, he has a thigh holster. His shop also services all the township police cars. So there are frequently cops at the shop. (heh.)
Not only should they not be harassed, they should be honored for providing a public service. Open carriers let spree killers know who to take out first while the rest of us run for cover.
To every volunteer who wears the bullseye: can’t thank you enough. I hope one day my hypothetical children can make a play date with your orphans.
All this would likely accomplish is the police being upset with you for wasting their time. You call 911 and tell them some guy is walking down the street with a perfectly legal gun, acting in a perfectly legal manner and they’re not going to harass that guy, they’re going to be upset with you. And if you lie and say the guy is brandishing when he’s not, you’re making a false report. More trouble for you. Why would you even bother? Got nothing better to do?
do you honestly think anyone here open carries? Even if someone did I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t talk about it due to the inevitable shitstorm.
Then you have nothing to worry about. The risk is all mine.
Do you think it is right to use police to attempt to effect political/legal change?
It would be like you thinking marijuana should still be illegal in a state where legal dispensaries exist, so you call in to report drug dealing whenever you see a customer pull up.
Police don’t exist to enforce your political ideology, if you want open carry made illegal you need to be active politically not wasting officer’s time.
Actually, yes, there are dopesters who claim to open carry.
Except that if you’re wasting police time, there is a chance, however slight, that those officers are then not available to respond to a real crime when needed. The risk is everyone’s when you waste police time and resources.
It is up to law enforcement to decide if it is worth investigating a report of a man with a gun. If they decide it is prudent to make sure it is a legal carry, then I guess my report is justified. If they decide it isn’t worth responding to, then no one’s time is wasted. It is not my job to decide if a crime is being committed. See something, say something.
I suspect I am one of the few Dopers who routinely open carries.
I’ve been doing it for many years, and I’ve never been hassled by a LEO. When they see that I am open carrying, they either ignore me or give me a thumb’s up.
I received a negative reaction one once, and that was some lady at the local UDF. (It’s sort of like a 7-11.) As I was exiting the place, she was ranting & raving on how I shouldn’t be allowed to carry a gun, how I am a danger to society, etc. I just smiled at her and went on my way.
I’m in Ohio, in case you’re wondering.
I really expect it depends on your appearance: middle-class whites are not going to be harassed while young, male blacks wearing gang insignia are going to have problems in the strongest gun-rights states.
Oh, and there are busy-bodies like Fear Itself who think they’re being clever by calling the police. They don’t care that open carry is perfectly legal; they have disdain for those who have the nerve to exercise their rights, and by-golly they’re going to show it. As I stated in another thread, my LEO buddies have nothing but contempt for people who do this, for obvious reasons.
Your username says it all, IMHO.
And you’re white, in case anyone here was wondering.
Ask a black man about his experiences open-carrying. Oh, that’s right, you can’t, because he’s dead.
Sorry to be so gauche, but carrying a firearm, legal or not, in an open-carry state or not, even if the gun is a toy, can get a black man shot.
Well, yeah, thanks to the brave, selfless acts of people like Fear Itself!
See something, say something.
Yet I am the one with the courage to got out in public unarmed. Go figure.