[ZEEK]

I was just wandering what everyone's thoughts were on open carry vs. concealed carry. I know I prefer to carry cc, but like oc law. I was reading an article in a gun magazine, don't recall which one, but it was about Vermon'ts open carry law and I did not see any crime statistics on their violent crime rates with the oc vs. cc.

I know states vary with licenses. TN has a handgun carry permit, can cary either way, but cc is recommended. Any one know if it has shown to make a difference between oc or cc?

 

[MrApathy]

..

 

[Shooter]

The thought that someone may be armed might make a BG think twice about attacking someone. If you can see the gun, then the BG can go find a target that isn't obviously carrying a weapon. I'll take the concealed version.

 

[hedrok]

I am not a lawyer and some of the terms may not be exactly correct....but they're close. Ohio is an "open carry" and "CCW" state with the appropriate permit. In some areas, you could open carry...but in most more heavily populated areas, according to many LEOs that I have talked to, you would be arrested almost immediately for "menacing, inciting riot, inducing panic, public disturbance, " and any other term that might define creating a PITA for local LEO....they have enough aggravation to deal without someone trying to make a point that they "can and therefore they will carry a gun in public" regardless of how much of a fuss it creates. It just seems to me to be a better plan for all concerned to, as they say in poker, keep your hole cards buried until showdown time. I really like low profile......just my .02.

 

[Syntax360]

Depending on where you live, open carry can be a good or bad idea. I think MOST bg's would pick other sheeple if they saw you were packing, but if they really wanted to make you a victim for some reason they are definitely going to shoot first. In that respect, I think I would still conceal. Open carry would be an excellent idea in an area that was pretty populated, provided a LOT of people carried. I think if literally every other person had a pistol strapped to their hip, the BG's would move along for their own good.
The only reason I really with TX had open carry is because it would do away with any fear about my shirt ever riding up or any other accident that may expose my pistol. I know I almost certainly wouldn't get in trouble if it was an accident, but still - open carry would completely alleviate that concern.

 

[bigtaco]

100% concealed.

i don't want to be the first one shot. i don't want to cause fear and panic. i don't want someone to be able to take my weapon from me. it's impossible to "out-draw" someone who has a drawn weapon.

plus, my pretty steyr might get dirty and scratched flopping in the breeze all day!!

 

[Seven]

Good tactical reasons to carry concealed, as noted above. Good philosophical reasons to carry open, since it would go some ways to helping increase awareness of RKBA and perhaps change some attitudes. I really don't like the idea that LE would want to hassle a law-abiding citizen just because they choose to exercise their rights legally, and that needs to be challenged (peaceably) when possible.

So, I'd say where possible, OC. When that isn't legal or smart, CC.


7

 

[SteyrMan]

If you have the need to be "manly" or show off your "big gun" then open carry is great. If you prefer not to be a target for bad guys or the police, as well as not to have people think you're some kind of goof ball, then concealed carry is best.

Vermont's crime rate has nothing to do with open carry and everything to do with it being an affluent, mostly rural state with a homogenous population.

Some one else in this thread thought that open carry was good because it brought attention to the RKBA. This is absurd, unless you want people to think that gun owners are all cop wannabe's. The best way for people to accept the RKBA is for gun owners to appear exactly like everyone else. Carrying a gun openly on your hip at the park or in the mall is not the way to do this- unless you feel the need to scare everyone.

Most people who don't own guns are at best uncomfortable around them and many are frightened by guns. Forcing someone who isn't comfortable around firearms to deal with them isn't the best way to promote your right to carry.

SM

I was just wandering what everyone's thoughts were on open carry vs. concealed carry. I know I prefer oc. I was reading an article in a gun magazine, don't recall which one, but it was about Vermon'ts open carry law and I did not see any crime statistics on their violent crime rates with the oc vs. cc.

I know states vary with licenses. TN has a handgun carry permit, can cary either way, but cc is recommended. Any one know if it has shown to make a difference between oc or cc?

 

[Shooter]

Thinking of most of my friends......I think Steyrman's point about OC is really on the mark.....Most of the people I know are at best unfamiliar with firearms or downright scared of them. I took one friend shooting and he told me he felt nausous. If I had to carry my pistol OC here in Florida, I would have to hang with gun people mostly and lots of others would think I was......radical at best.......and as bigtaco said, no one is going to outdraw a BG with a gun pointed at you already....... :idea:

 

[ScottW]

Here in WA, open carry is frowned upon. Our permit is called a Concealed Pistol License for a reason, and even if it (OC) were permissible, I would still carry 100% concealed. I generally agree with the previous two posts, and wonder what specific need there is for open carry when it comes to personal protection. Around here the only people I see "open carrying" are those who absolutely must show off, the gun show commandos, who after they get into the show will strap their Glock in a drop leg holster and walk around all afternoon like that, because it's the only time they can get away with doing it in a public place. It looks uber tacti-cool, especially with no mag in the pistol. :roll: :lol:

 

[mikey]

Open carry would be an excellent idea in an area that was pretty populated, provided a LOT of people carried. I think if literally every other person had a pistol strapped to their hip, the BG's would move along for their own good.

I kind of agree with that. I’d be quite comfortable in a community where open carrying was considered normal and routine.

But, even though open carry is perfectly legal where I live (rural Arizona) I hardly ever see it done. I guess it’s considered bad manners around here to “show off.”

Beyond mere manners, though, I think open carry only serves to terrify the stupid masses, who then run to the state capital demanding that the practice be banned - and why, pray tell, would we want to do anything to provoke our state legislators into passing still more anti-gun laws? Let’s not forget that it’s the majority who make the rules, and we (the gun enthusiast crowd) are unfortunately NOT the majority.

Carry concealed, I say. Sometimes, being discreet is a virtue.

 

[Matches]

I was in a store in Mesa, AZ a couple of months ago and a guy came in with an automatic at his side and a revolver holstered in the small of his back. This was a bit disconceting. I found it a bit more difficult to concentrate on what I was doing and keep an eye on him. Concealed carry is definitely the way to go.

Matches

 

[ZEEK]

I should have wrote:
I know I prefer to carry cc, but like oc law.


I needed to clarify about my thoughts on oc; I don't display, unless I'm; for example: at a range or gun shop. But with oc, I have the option should it be seen unintentionally in public; ie... dropped, shirt rides up, so on. I beleive the vast majority carry concealed and for a lot of the same reasons mentioned.