Recently I’ve seen quite a few people (not only on this board) post something to the effect of “I’m not against guns, but only a criminal / crazy gun nut would want to carry a gun THERE.”
So far, the places that are supposedly off-limits are:
children’s soccer games
Toys ‘R’ Us stores
bars, even if you haven’t had a single drink.
So where is it acceptable to carry?
Gun stores, for one. Some idiot actually tried to hold one up.
Target range.
The OP may find this article of interest.
If it’s legal, it’s okay. And if your daily routine or work brings you to places that are dangerous, then why not? But there are many places where it seems doubtful that you’d ever need one. And “recreational places” where one expects violence or crime are places I’d just avoid.
This is all assuming you’re not mentally unbalanced.
Why would you want to take a baseball bat into a nightclub on Sunset Strip? If you really expect a brawl, then don’t go there.
No one should ever carry a gun anywhere, especially in public or private. Guns are icky and only bad people have them, bad people who would never do anything illegal around children. So there’s no need to have a gun!
In my opinion, the more likely someone is to have a fit about me carrying there, the more likely that’s the place I’ll need it.
I don’t carry when I’m drinking (because I rarely drink), but otherwise I can’t think of a single place that I think it’s a bad idea to carry a gun.
It’s “OK” where I am legally allowed to and see fit to do so.
There’s a misperception that all opinions are equally valid. They’re not: your opinion here is really dumb. Two places that people are likely to throw a fit about your having a gun: a daycare, a courtroom. Two places that people are not likely to throw a fit about your having a gun: walking down a city street late at night, driving to work.
As for “it’s legal=it’s okay,” this is not applied in other areas of life. The Reverend Birdsong is a local nutcase that goes to college campuses and calls the female students Sluts and Whores because they wear blue jeans. His actions are legal, protected by the bill of rights. His actions are not okay. Similarly, there are places where you are allowed to carry a gun openly by the law, where nonetheless doing so is a breach of courtesy and consideration for the other people there. Ignoring the requirements of courtesy places you in Rev. Birdsong’s company.
Daniel
But which places? Say I come from a totally different culture than you. My people don’t have those requirements. I can read the laws, and read signs, to find out where it’s illegal, or where the management of a place doesn’t allow it. But how do I find out where it’s discourteous or inconsiderate toward non-gunowners?
Carrying in courtrooms is illegal - they have signs saying so. I kind of thought “don’t carry where it’s illegal to do so” went without saying.
Now I will add daycare centers to the list. But is there some general principle?
Are you talking open carry or concealed carry? Open carry is going to attract stares anywhere you go other than a gun show, shooting range, hunting lodge, etc. I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if you were asked to leave if you walked into a home, place of business, or public building with an open carry weapon, unless you were in uniform. I would consider it more than merely a breach of etiquette to show up anywhere guns are not expected openly carrying a weapon. There are exceptions, or at least gray areas: if you carry openly as a plainclothes police officer (do on-duty police carry openly out of uniform?), for example, and forget to take it off when you stop at the grocery store on the way home, I wouldn’t throw a fit. If you’re coming to my house for dinner or picking the kids up from school, that’s another matter - unless you’ve cleared it beforehand.
If you’re talking about concealed carry, then it isn’t a matter of etiquette or social norms, as long as no one sees it. Since you’ve excluded legal concerns, that only leaves personal opinion to guide us. In my opinion, if you are on your way home from the range and are carrying concealed in a store or at the gas station or at a bar where you don’t plan on drinking, that’s fine. Same if you carry at work. A trucker or cab driver who carries for protection on the road is certainly reasonable in carrying it with him when he eats or takes a break or even goes to the movies, etc. OTOH, anyone who carries every time they go out in public, who brings a gun, for example, to a church potluck or a daycare or a restaurant or a grocery store when they aren’t on their way somewhere else that requires a gun is, IMO, a little nuts and way outside of what is considered “normal” by most people in society. If it’s concealed and you don’t tell me about it, I’m not likely to say anything, but since you asked for my opinion, there it is. If you take a gun anywhere you won’t need it, you’re weird and a little nuts. Deal with it.
Are we talking open or concealed carry? Because I think LHoD is thinking about open carry. Whereas I assumed concealed carry. And on that point, if the State Legislature, the State AG, the County AG, and the Sheriff of my county feel I’m worthy to carry concealed, and I’ve had to pass background checks, psych checks, criminal records checks, had my 60-day waiting period, been fingerprinted and photographed, had my training, and passed my tests, then the opinions of those who say I’m not supposed to carry in a place where I can legally carry are of highly limited weight. As in, very close to zero.
As far as when is it “OK” to open carry? Damned if I know. I reckon that pretty much most places around here where one would open carry would cause people to part like the Red Sea, fingers stabbing out “9-1-1” on their iPhones to report “crazy woman with gun.”
Maybe I can reply without being offensive (take notes, and then maybe you can try).
Why is carrying in a daycare “dumb”? Are children less worthy of protection? Are drunken toddlers liable to overpower me and steal a concealed weapon to go on a killing spree? Or are their tender little minds likely to be warped by the mere presence of an unseen weapon? Are small kids totally immune from the effects of bad people? A quick Google search comes up with several day care shootings, so it’s not the magic fence around the place that makes them crime free zones.
Carrying in a courtroom is illegal, so that’s not even a matter of debate.
That’s an excellent idea but the truth is violence sometimes happens where people least expect it. I doubt anyone sitting down to lunch at Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas in October of 1991 had any expectation that 23 diners would be killed and 20 more injured by a gunman.
Marc
There’s not a state in the US that allows guns in a courtroom, so that’s already out. As for daycare, speaking practically, what’s the difference between a daycare and a mall?
In any event, it is by definition OK to carry wherever it is not prohibited by law. Most of you here will surely say that it is not legitimate to carry anywhere, and that’s OK. I understand where you’re coming from. I’m just glad that there are laws relating to CCW so that popular opinion does not usurp the rights of those that choose to carry a weapon. Too bad that isn’t always the case.
Several years ago I was the primary whistleblower in a $50 million corporate bank fraud case involving two black cocaine dealers who were connected to Death Row Records. Where did I carry a gun? Everywhere—everywhere as in the mall, the supermarket, the bathroom, the garage, the kitchen—you get the idea. I don’t remember ever happening to set foot in a toy store, bar, or day care center during that time frame, but had I needed to do so for any reason, my buddies Smith & Wesson would have right there with me. And no, I don’t have a CCW. They’re damn near impossible to get in California. Did I care about that at the time? Not one iota.
First let me say that I used to have a concealed carry license, but it’s been over a decade. Now that’s out of the way, can anyone say whether or not it’s typically okay to cc in a (using the example) daycare? How about a bar?
If I remember correctly when my was valid, that it wasn’t acceptable in a lot of places, like the hospital I worked for at the time, many restuarants (or bars / clubs), stores, etc. in Texas. Is the concern that many people have, certainly after recent events like what happend at Toys 'R Us even valid if it’s not legal to carry there in the first place?
I feel the same way about farting. Unless I am in a place that specifically does not allow it, I just let it rip. If people don’t like it, it’s tough.
I would say it is appropriate to carry and to fart in the privacy of your bathroom while taking a shower.
And “recreational places” where one expects violence or crime are places I’d just avoid.
Ahhh here is the rub for me and plenty of others
I like mountains,streams, swamps,waterways, hiking trails…middle of nowhere kind of places.
Till those holodeck models come out, there aint any good substitute for the real thing.
So, its recreate there or not at all.
And let me tell you, I am mostly a rural (almost country) boy, but you’ll meet some scary characters out in the boonies. Most are nice and normal, some are nice but a bit off, and a very few give off a bad vibe. Real city folk would probably hear the banjos and run for the interstate.
If one of these characters, particularly if there are more than one of them against the typically by myself me, decides to do something, I am SOL.
I’ve seriously considered carrying, but I’d have the face the easily upset folks who are offended by the sight of a gun, callling 911, and causing a fuss . And I’d have to worry about accidently showing if I concealed and carried, getting in big trouble. Not the mention the fact is its so hot and humid around here that at least half the year, light shorts and a thin t-shirt are more clothes than you really want to wear heat wise. I guess I’ll coceal carry in my stars and stripes motiff bannana hammock. And then there are the places I go where a gun is a big no no, so I gotta worry about forgetting I had a gun with me.
So, IMO, between the somewhat irrational people, the catch 22 laws, and all the exceptions for the right to carry, I am pretty much damned if I do and damned if I don’t.
So, when I run across these folks in the boonies, I just hope for the best. Thanks very much for all the support guys and gals.
I guess I’ll just have to go with a good fast kick in the nuts and the ability to run fast if things go bad :mad:
I also run into well armed (and often big and brawny) law enforcement types out in the boonies as well. Its interesting because you can even see the same mental process going on, where they are hoping this random encounter with short, little me isnt going to go bad, and they have the upper hand by far! Imagine how I feel.
just some semi-random thoughts here
Maybe you’d care to rephrase your original opinion: “In my opinion, the more likely someone is to have a fit about me carrying there, the more likely that’s the place I’ll need it.” The implication of this is that, since people will REALLY throw a fit if you carry a gun in a courtroom, you’ll REALLY need it there. That’s what I was saying is really dumb. Since people will get really freaked out with your having it in a daycare (more so than if you have it walking down an unlit street), you’re likelier to need it in the daycare than on the unlit street.
Is there a revision you’d like to make?
And I agree with Una’s statement. Carrying a concealed weapon is much less a case of etiquette. It becomes a case of ethics if you carry it into a private residence or business in contravention of what you know to be the wishes of the owner, but I don’t think etiquette has much to say about secrets that remain secretive. I assumed the question was about open carrying, which I think is inappropriate in most places in the US.
Daniel