Open Carry?

[BalticBob]

Originally Posted By: Al
Originally Posted By: BalticBob
I open carry.
It's legal in Texas.
Never been "hassled" by LE.
Don't be scared of the gawkers.
I DO want people to know I am armed.

I like people like you. They will shoot you first so I will have time to respond. Thanks.


So, you are an advocate of gun violence toward others?
Sad, so sad.

 

[Finn]

Originally Posted By: bigj_16
Do you open carry? Why or why not? What?

No.
It is not legal here, open nor concealed. No need for it either.
I don't carry my P226 or Browning Hi-Power.

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted By: Al
Sorta' common sense-no?


Only if it's true. I've seen no evidence to prove it is.

 

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted By: MuzzleFlash40
I have mixed feelings for licenses to carry. On one hand I feel that we should not be asking and paying the government to give us "permission" for a right we already have. But I do like that most states require training and training is a must in my opinion to carry a firearms in public.


Interesting thing about Arizona and government permission/training to carry, a few years ago Arizona did away with the concealed permit, anyone from any state legal to own a firearm now are legal to carry open or concealed. There was much hand wringing and claims of the impending explosion of shootings anywhere and everywhere. Nothing different happened. Nothing. The media waited for weeks to report on the rash of new shootings and it just didn't happen.

You can't have something be a right and have to have training/license to exercise that right. Yes I see people open carrying who I question what their ability might be but there's no way to know that.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Originally Posted By: MuzzleFlash40
I have mixed feelings for licenses to carry. On one hand I feel that we should not be asking and paying the government to give us "permission" for a right we already have. But I do like that most states require training and training is a must in my opinion to carry a firearms in public.


Interesting thing about Arizona and government permission/training to carry, a few years ago Arizona did away with the concealed permit, anyone from any state legal to own a firearm now are legal to carry open or concealed. There was much hand wringing and claims of the impending explosion of shootings anywhere and everywhere. Nothing different happened. Nothing. The media waited for weeks to report on the rash of new shootings and it just didn't happen.

You can't have something be a right and have to have training/license to exercise that right. Yes I see people open carrying who I question what their ability might be but there's no way to know that.


Limiting your rights the first step in taking them away from you. Besides what part of shall not infringe are they having trouble with?

 

[BalticBob]

Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Originally Posted By: MuzzleFlash40
I have mixed feelings for licenses to carry. On one hand I feel that we should not be asking and paying the government to give us "permission" for a right we already have. But I do like that most states require training and training is a must in my opinion to carry a firearms in public.


Interesting thing about Arizona and government permission/training to carry, a few years ago Arizona did away with the concealed permit, anyone from any state legal to own a firearm now are legal to carry open or concealed. There was much hand wringing and claims of the impending explosion of shootings anywhere and everywhere. Nothing different happened. Nothing. The media waited for weeks to report on the rash of new shootings and it just didn't happen.

You can't have something be a right and have to have training/license to exercise that right. Yes I see people open carrying who I question what their ability might be but there's no way to know that.



"Yes I see people open carrying who I question what their ability might be but there's no way to know that."

Do you question their ability to open carry based upon the way they look?
Have you ever talked to them about open carry?
Like you say.......Why know when you can guess?!

 

[BalticBob]

Originally Posted By: Bud
Although legal here, I have yet to see someone open carry. Myself, I would not do it, and in my opinion the ones that do are saying, hey, look at me.


Well, did you look?

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Originally Posted By: BalticBob
Originally Posted By: Bud
Although legal here, I have yet to see someone open carry. Myself, I would not do it, and in my opinion the ones that do are saying, hey, look at me.


Well, did you look?


Used to do a fair amount of backpacking. Getting a gun out of your pack in bear country is a little slow and cumbersome. We used to open carry.

 

[bigj_16]

Reading these posts and drawing from my own experiences, it really looks like this breaks down to where you live.
I lived in Cali for 16 years, when, legally, I could have open carried. I would have never given it serious thought. It would have been a sure ticket to arrest/interrogation. In bigger metro areas where you can legally carry, my guess is it isn't done much and probably would draw a lot of unwanted attention. I live 30 miles south of Denver in a conservative and somewhat rural county(lots of ranches in the hinterlands). Lots of (real)cowboys carry while working, and they are not going to unstrap just to drive into town.

Don't assume just because there is a perception(one way or another) about open carry where you live, it is the same way somewhere else.

 

[BalticBob]

Originally Posted By: john_pifer
Originally Posted By: BalticBob
Bad guys carry concealed, so why do you want to be like a bad guy?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Did the primitives conceal their spears?
Was the West won by concealing handguns?
Did Han Solo conceal his DL-44 Blaster when he became involved in
the Rebel Alliance's struggle against the Galactic Empire?
No, no, and no.

Everyone wants to show off their new handgun, post pics, talk all day about it.
Then will conceal it, not to be seen in public, like it is something to be ashamed of.
Sad, so sad.


You’re missing the main point, which is, that you lose any tactical advantage you had, by displaying your gun to an aggressor.

A is going to shoot you first.


Loss of tactical advantage? .....as you are trying to get your weapon out of your pants?

Like I am waving my firearm around yelling "look at this!" HA HA HA!!!

Why would they shoot me first if you were the bank robber or mugger or mass-shooter or terrorist first target?

 

[john_pifer]

Originally Posted By: BalticBob
Originally Posted By: john_pifer
Originally Posted By: BalticBob
Bad guys carry concealed, so why do you want to be like a bad guy?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Did the primitives conceal their spears?
Was the West won by concealing handguns?
Did Han Solo conceal his DL-44 Blaster when he became involved in
the Rebel Alliance's struggle against the Galactic Empire?
No, no, and no.

Everyone wants to show off their new handgun, post pics, talk all day about it.
Then will conceal it, not to be seen in public, like it is something to be ashamed of.
Sad, so sad.


You’re missing the main point, which is, that you lose any tactical advantage you had, by displaying your gun to an aggressor.

A is going to shoot you first.


Loss of tactical advantage? .....as you are trying to get your weapon out of your pants?

Like I am waving my firearm around yelling "look at this!" HA HA HA!!!

Why would they shoot me first if you were the bank robber or mugger or mass-shooter or terrorist first target?





Uh, what??

 

[BalticBob]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: BalticBob
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: BalticBob
Stupid to open carry?
So you are of the opinion Texas gun owners should repeal our hard fought right to open carry? Another step backward for gun owners rights?

Plenty of things are 100% worth defending as rights, but also stupid in most or all cases.


Any examples?

Racist speech
Exaggerated advertising
Negative self-talk
Drinking too much within the walls of your own home
Driving 5 MPH under the posted speed limit on a fast-moving highway
Publishing books based on pseudoscience
Wasting a ton of time posting stupid stuff on the Internet
Pretending you don't know what someone meant just because you want to disagree with them
Etc. etc.

WHAT? HUH?

Originally Posted By: BalticBob
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
By all means fight for the right to open carry. The idea that open carry should remain protected as a right doesn't mean it's smart.


Like lawfully riding a bicycle in heavy vehicular traffic?

Sure.

The difference being that riding a bicycle instead of driving a car helps others as well, at greater risk to the individual. That's different from open carry, which may or may not increase the individual's peace of mind but definitely reduces others'.

But no analogy is perfect, so I'm sure you knew that.

NO, I did not know that.

Originally Posted By: BalticBob
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
There's a right to hate speech, too. Should we exercise that as well, to help uphold the First Amendment?


Absolutely. Hate speech to one may be love speech to another.

I can think of two interpretations of this. One is charitable but irrelevant; the other is.... not charitable. So I think I'm going to have to leave this here.

Go ahead, tell me what you really think.

Originally Posted By: BalticBob
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: BalticBob
Not everyone has the mental/emotional capacity to open carry, so if it is not for you, so be it.

Agree 100%.

Unfortunately, a lot of people who lack that capacity don't know they lack it.


Those that do have the capacity, and know it, open carry.

Missed the point completely. Sorry.


I got the point, you are soooo wrong.

 

[bunnspecial]

Sometimes I open carry. Sometimes I carry concealed. Open carry is constitutionally protected in Kentucky as long as you can legally own/possess a firearm. Concealed carry follows similar permitting requirements as are in place in other states(Kentucky does recognize any valid permit from any of the other 49 states in the country).

I tend to prefer revolvers, and in most cases I just find open carrying more comfortable. About the only time I carry a concealed gun is at church.

Having open carried a fair bit, I can pretty honestly say that the vast majority of people just don't notice. Most of the ones who do don't care. I can't tell you how many "no guns" signs(don't carry the force of law in Kentucky) I've walked past and never had a word said to me.

I don't want to put myself on a pedestal, but I don't think that anyone would look at me and think "white trash" or anything of the sort-I'm generally clean and shaved when I go out of the house, and am usually dressed in clean blue jeans or khakis with a polo or button-down shirt.

I've been hearing this argument about "first to be shot" for years, but I've not seen ANYONE show an example of it actually happening. I don't buy the common sense argument.

I'd say it's just as much common sense that a person looking to rob a presumably "soft" target like a convenient store would walk in, see someone armed, and decide to pick a different target. I can't back that up, but it's just as much "common sense" to me.

One of my standard responses on the rare occasion when asked why I'm open carrying a gun is "so that I don't have to use it." I don't want to be the hero who saves the day with a fantasy about drawing a concealed gun(how many of you have timed how long it takes you to draw from concealment?) and making everyone go into hiding-I'd rather be the guy who avoids problems by not even reaching for his gun.

Going back to our constitutional right to open carry in Kentucky-it's been in place since at least since the current constitution was adopted. I'm too lazy to look up the exact phrasing, but it's something to the effect of the "The right of the people to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves and the state shall not be infringed, subject to regulation of the concealed carry of arms by the General Assembly." There was a state supreme court case in the 1930s dealing with the then complete ban on concealed weapons(that was in place until 1996) and the Chief Justice said "only criminals have a need to conceal their weapon."

 

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted By: BalticBob
"Yes I see people open carrying who I question what their ability might be but there's no way to know that."

Do you question their ability to open carry based upon the way they look?
Have you ever talked to them about open carry?
Like you say.......Why know when you can guess?!


As a matter of fact when I see a guy with dirty old clothes carrying a full size pistol mexican style in the small of his back with no belt in his pants I'm not inclined to start a conversation with him. Or the person of undetermined gender open carrying in a horizontal shoulder holster (hate those).

Coolest thing I've seen was a young mother walking her child in a stroller with a dog on a leash and a pistol in a holster.

 

[BalticBob]

Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Originally Posted By: BalticBob
"Yes I see people open carrying who I question what their ability might be but there's no way to know that."

Do you question their ability to open carry based upon the way they look?
Have you ever talked to them about open carry?
Like you say.......Why know when you can guess?!


As a matter of fact when I see a guy with dirty old clothes carrying a full size pistol mexican style in the small of his back with no belt in his pants I'm not inclined to start a conversation with him. Or the person of undetermined gender open carrying in a horizontal shoulder holster (hate those).

Coolest thing I've seen was a young mother walking her child in a stroller with a dog on a leash and a pistol in a holster.


Yes, I see your point, those would be the type person to avoid, carrying or not!
What you said about the young mother and a holstered pistol......that is cool!

 

[BalticBob]

Originally Posted By: bunnspecial
Sometimes I open carry. Sometimes I carry concealed. Open carry is constitutionally protected in Kentucky as long as you can legally own/possess a firearm. Concealed carry follows similar permitting requirements as are in place in other states(Kentucky does recognize any valid permit from any of the other 49 states in the country).

I tend to prefer revolvers, and in most cases I just find open carrying more comfortable. About the only time I carry a concealed gun is at church.

Having open carried a fair bit, I can pretty honestly say that the vast majority of people just don't notice. Most of the ones who do don't care. I can't tell you how many "no guns" signs(don't carry the force of law in Kentucky) I've walked past and never had a word said to me.

I don't want to put myself on a pedestal, but I don't think that anyone would look at me and think "white trash" or anything of the sort-I'm generally clean and shaved when I go out of the house, and am usually dressed in clean blue jeans or khakis with a polo or button-down shirt.

I've been hearing this argument about "first to be shot" for years, but I've not seen ANYONE show an example of it actually happening. I don't buy the common sense argument.

I'd say it's just as much common sense that a person looking to rob a presumably "soft" target like a convenient store would walk in, see someone armed, and decide to pick a different target. I can't back that up, but it's just as much "common sense" to me.

One of my standard responses on the rare occasion when asked why I'm open carrying a gun is "so that I don't have to use it." I don't want to be the hero who saves the day with a fantasy about drawing a concealed gun(how many of you have timed how long it takes you to draw from concealment?) and making everyone go into hiding-I'd rather be the guy who avoids problems by not even reaching for his gun.

Going back to our constitutional right to open carry in Kentucky-it's been in place since at least since the current constitution was adopted. I'm too lazy to look up the exact phrasing, but it's something to the effect of the "The right of the people to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves and the state shall not be infringed, subject to regulation of the concealed carry of arms by the General Assembly." There was a state supreme court case in the 1930s dealing with the then complete ban on concealed weapons(that was in place until 1996) and the Chief Justice said "only criminals have a need to conceal their weapon."


Your post is spot on......enjoyed reading it!

People in public are so unaware of their surroundings, a criminal event would happen and seven witnesses would have seven different versions.

 

[aquariuscsm]

The posts here where people are saying "no permit needed",are these states constitutional carry,or do you still have to have some kind've chl?

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted By: BalticBob
People in public are so unaware of their surroundings, a criminal event would happen and seven witnesses would have seven different versions.


Very true. All this nonsense about people "noticing" you open carrying is ridiculous. In reality this is what you have out there today.

 

[bigj_16]

Don't need a permit in CO for open carry.

There was a mass shooting in a Walmart in Thornton, CO a couple of months ago. Guy walks in, starts shooting. Kills three. Abruptly leaves. When the the video was reviewed, it showed half a dozen shoppers pulled concealed weapons, when they realized what was happening. That is when the shooting stopped, and the guy bailed. SOME in local law enforcement believe these people stopped a major tragedy.

What does this prove? Nothing. But, you could make the point a show of force could prevent something. I think most(all) mass shooters are cowards, and if looks like they would be shut down before starting, a lot of these things wouldn't happen. And even if they did start, it would end fast.

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted By: bigj_16


I think most(all) mass shooters are cowards, and if looks like they would be shut down before starting, a lot of these things wouldn't happen. And even if they did start, it would end fast.


They are, hence why they most often target the ridiculously misguided 'Gun Free zones'.