FTG-05,
I started teaching Kansas Concealed Carry in 2010 since then I have taught 83 classes & about 500 students.
(Kansas is also an "Open Carry State")
In 2006 I retired from the Air Force as a Master Sargent. I have 28 years of service. Also taught combat arms.
Pistol, Rifle & machine gun. Was Team Captain of the combat rifle team for eleven years. I like this blog to see
other peoples thoughts & opinions & to share mine. I'm not bragging, selling anything, nor am I trying to make
enimies with anyone. I do not open carry... that is my personal choice. YouTube has lots of examples of folks
being harrassed for open carry. Like I said before, I don't need the drama. I'm 58 y/o there has been enough
drama in my life. check out youtube and see for yourself:
+1 for everything Bikenut said.
It's weird what people will key on concerning the never-ending OC vs. CC debate. I wanted to remind myself what this thread started with, so I double-checked to refresh my memory. It certainly has nothing to do with one's qualifications to teach gun related skills. It has nothing to do with whether or not someone prefers CC over OC. I was a bit surprised to see a "Like" for the OP from caveatimptor, because it seems to me that what Navy was attempting to highlight and to some degree, mildly mock, that being an open fear of, or hostility towards OC in general, is exactly what caveatimptor has chosen to take the position of in his replies here. Let's all remind ourselves what the OP said:
Private Shooting Range, Texas CHL, Hunter Education Near Flower Mound | Denton County Sports Association - DCSA Blog, Indoor handgun range in DFW metroplex
In conclusion for now as it relates to the 30.06 signage: Currently, in the locations where many of us go on a daily basis, there are just not all that many 30.06 signs. What many of us fear is that if any "Open Carry" legislation happens to get passed and is not very carefully worded in regard to signage (as in NOT tied to the current 30.06 verbiage), it could result in just enough "Man with a Gun" calls to 911 to create an epidemic of wasted police resources, business owners and managers not wanting any more "panic attacks" in their buildings or parking lots and a rash of new 30.06 signs going up at thousands of locations where there are none present today.
Are they really that afraid of the sight of a gun in public in Texas?!? Wow. Feel free to leave comments on their blog....
Seems "panic attacks" and "they freaked out!" are very similar concepts, but both are equally untrue, or at least equally wildly exaggerated. And interestingly, both come from the "pro-gun" side of the argument. I put "pro-gun" in quotes to highlight the seeming oxymoronic nature of the position.
I have to admit to having the same discomfort over always having to explain myself for OC'ing before I actually started doing it. For 35 years I thought that CC was "best." But the fact is, I had no clue what was better or worse because I never gave it a second thought that anything other than what I went to City Hall or the Sheriff's Office to ask
permission for was even an option. I don't like cops. Never been particularly comfortable around them, and after a rather eye-opening event with one whom I had become friends with, just don't consider them as trustworthy at all anymore. But I'm a pretty bright guy. I know the law. I know what cops' limitations are under it. I am fairly articulate. And the main thing is, I am convinced that OC is a
much better way to deter criminals from seeing me as an easy mark, so if I have to use my skills to articulate the law and assert my rights under it to a cop every now and then, so be it,
I will not be cowed by idiots who don't understand that my rights supersede their authority to trample upon them!
That said, I have been OC'ing since last August, and to this day have not had
anyone, cop or otherwise, say a single word to me about it. The other day I was walking my dog out in my (unfenced) backyard just after getting home from running errands, and my neighbor came out and started washing his car. We stood maybe 10' from each other chatting for about 10 minutes or so, and he never said a word about why I was carrying a gun or doing it openly.
Point being, my fears over the last 35 years of others knowing that I carry a gun have been wildly overblown. Even if they were wholly accurate though, why would what someone else thinks about me engaging in a perfectly legal activity matter except for the fact that I am cowed by my own fears? When fear of exercising your God-given rights overrides your ability to push through it and actually exercise them, you don't have any rights to begin with. And I'll guaran-damn-tee ya one thing for certain, your concealed carry handgun never deterred a single bad guy from trying to make you a victim. You are just as vulnerable to an attempt to victimize you as any other schlub on the street while CC'ing. Whether or not you're up to the task to defend against it is not the point. The point is that you are only defending against it after the attack has begun. I believe in deterrents. I believe that if a BG sees my head on a swivel, sees me standing upright and confident, and then sees my OC'ed weapon, I am not going to be a likely victim for him, and therefore, am less likely to have to shoot someone, less likely to be injured or killed myself, less likely to spend a minute in jail, less likely to have my financial life ruined, and
more likely to be able to respond to an attack effectively should all those other odds be challenged. CC puts you behind the tactical curve. 35 years of my own personal experience proves that to my satisfaction.
Blues
