# Why are those in favor of greater gun control opposed to concealed carry licenses? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 11, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-those-in-favor-of-greater-gun-control-opposed-to-concealed-carry-licenses/643757 "2012-12-11T22:11:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-those-in-favor-of-greater-gun-control-opposed-to-concealed-carry-licenses/643757/201 "2012-12-15T21:26:36Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > People who plan to fire their gun (aka criminals) prefer to carry concealed, actually, as it gives them the element of surprise. Yes, I understand that. But if you’re a “law-abiding citizen” and you have the license and permits to carry a gun proudly on your belt while shopping at a Target in a low-crime rate area, I think you’re a potential lunatic. And I’m sure that if I confronted a person about it, they’d proudly tell me that this is a low-crime rate area “because of citizens like us!”. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-those-in-favor-of-greater-gun-control-opposed-to-concealed-carry-licenses/643757/202 "2012-12-15T22:14:26Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > That’s because they’ve plum run out of states that ban CCW outright. Aren’t there a couple of states out west that only allow open carrying? One of the Dakotas, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-those-in-favor-of-greater-gun-control-opposed-to-concealed-carry-licenses/643757/203 "2012-12-15T22:20:33Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Yes, I understand that. But if you’re a “law-abiding citizen” and you have the license and permits to carry a gun proudly on your belt while shopping at a Target in a low-crime rate area, I think you’re a potential lunatic You can think that. It doesn’t’t make you right. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-those-in-favor-of-greater-gun-control-opposed-to-concealed-carry-licenses/643757/204 "2012-12-16T01:43:40Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Yes, I understand that. But if you’re a “law-abiding citizen” and you have the license and permits to carry a gun proudly on your belt while shopping at a Target in a low-crime rate area, I think you’re a potential lunatic. And I’m sure that if I confronted a person about it, they’d proudly tell me that this is a low-crime rate area “because of citizens like us!”. :rolleyes: The classic hoplophobe position: something must be wrong with anyone who would want to carry a gun. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-those-in-favor-of-greater-gun-control-opposed-to-concealed-carry-licenses/643757/205 "2012-12-16T03:10:53Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Yes, I understand that. But if you’re a “law-abiding citizen” and you have the license and permits to carry a gun proudly on your belt while shopping at a Target in a low-crime rate area, I think you’re a potential lunatic. And I’m sure that if I confronted a person about it, they’d proudly tell me that this is a low-crime rate area “because of citizens like us!”. :rolleyes: What they’d likely say is something to the effect of “I’m a law-abiding citizen exercising my rights. I have no realistic expectation of using this gun for anything but target practice at the range, but it suits my political beliefs to be seen carrying a gun while behaving in a safe, sane, and generally peaceful manner in the hopes that people get used to the idea that you can know someone has a gun and not be afraid of them.” ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-those-in-favor-of-greater-gun-control-opposed-to-concealed-carry-licenses/643757/206 "2012-12-16T03:17:17Z")
Also, people who are really crazy about the self-defense thing tend to carry concealed out of some misguided desire to not pre-warn the criminals that they are armed. Meanwhile, open carry people on the crazy side of the self-defensive spectrum tend to want to avoid confrontation altogether, and their hope is generally that by advertising their armed status they discourage criminal activity within their line of sight. The above represent anecdotal evidence from overheard conversations at the range. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-those-in-favor-of-greater-gun-control-opposed-to-concealed-carry-licenses/643757/207 "2012-12-16T20:28:02Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Aren’t there a couple of states out west that only allow open carrying? One of the Dakotas, maybe? You’ve got that backwards. There are a few states that only allow concealed carry (something like six of them). Most states allow open carry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-those-in-favor-of-greater-gun-control-opposed-to-concealed-carry-licenses/643757.md?page=10)