open carry WalMart

W

wcd

New member
Yesterday I was off duty and driving home from some training about a hundread miles away from home, was really thirsty so I stop at Walmart to grab a cold lemonade and my favorite beef stick and cheese combo slim jim. What do I see but low and Behold there is get this a person open carrying a ruger lc 380. Since I was about to walk right past him to the cold juice section I had to say hello. I could tell by his facial reaction and motioning to untuck his shirt he thought this conversation was about to head south. I said hello in a non confrontational way and said I see you have a Ruger LC380? His response was Yeah its legal to open carry. Still thinking this was going in another direction he said are we done here? I replied yeah I guess I was just curious how you liked the Ruger? Then the lights went off and his whole attitude changed and he said Oh I was expecting a big hassle, me says no just wanted to know what you thought of it? Then he tells me its his wifes gun and he just started carrying it because it is starting to get warm out. Also he said the gun was very snappy and hard to follow through with and not a range gun by any means and certainly not his Springfield! So I asked him why not just carry the XD then? He said because the Ruger is less noticeable. Which got me to thinking with all the fashion violations going on in here do you really think people are going to notice a firearm? We both laughed and before we went about our business he said thank you for not hassleing him, Me says no thank you for having the courage to exercise your rights and demonstarting that not every one with a gun is a criminal. Really kind of sad that responsible armed citizens are treated so poorly with out cause or justification.
 
Let me see if I’ve got this, I’m standing in Wal Mart, minding my own business when some random stranger appears, becomes fixated on me, approaches and then attempts to engage me in conversation about the fact that I am armed and it surprises you when I take a defensive posture?

You mentioned being off duty so I will assume you are a cop, one of the things either academy or your experience should have taught you is not to let your guard down around anyone who you don’t know. To me this is a primary component of situational awareness; if I don’t know you I treat you as a potential threat. I may not be overt about it (unless you are directly engaging/targeting me) but I’m not going to greet you as a long lost buddy.

While I support your right to open carry this is one of the key reasons I don’t. I don’t want the world in my business. I don’t want to give you a reason to approach me or a conversation starter to do it with. I’ve mentioned this before but this is also why with the exception of a ball cap I don’t wear logo’d clothing of any type in public.
 
I think location and cultural norms may play a big part of how we react. I know that I have begun to open carry to desensitize the uniformed public. Since the beginning of the CCW permits (Still working on the problem of a permit from the government for a Right) I have carried covered. Now it has become a statement of a right and I may open carry.
I try to be sensitive to time and place. I do not wish to force my ideas on folks I feel (four letter F word) may sincerely become afraid. Not that I know of many such places in the state and area I live.
I have mentioned this in the past for threads concerning reactions to open carry.
I may receive two responses from folks. Hey, mister, your gun is loaded (Cocked and Locked) or nice piece what do ya feed her.
I may, someday, have to travel to a dark blue state and change my ways but in the now Red State I live in, I have no issues in either way of carry.
 
wcd said:
Yesterday I was off duty and driving home from some training about a hundread miles away from home, was really thirsty so I stop at Walmart to grab a cold lemonade and my favorite beef stick and cheese combo slim jim. What do I see but low and Behold there is get this a person open carrying a ruger lc 380. Since I was about to walk right past him to the cold juice section I had to say hello. I could tell by his facial reaction and motioning to untuck his shirt he thought this conversation was about to head south. I said hello in a non confrontational way and said I see you have a Ruger LC380? His response was Yeah its legal to open carry. Still thinking this was going in another direction he said are we done here? I replied yeah I guess I was just curious how you liked the Ruger? Then the lights went off and his whole attitude changed and he said Oh I was expecting a big hassle, me says no just wanted to know what you thought of it? Then he tells me its his wifes gun and he just started carrying it because it is starting to get warm out. Also he said the gun was very snappy and hard to follow through with and not a range gun by any means and certainly not his Springfield! So I asked him why not just carry the XD then? He said because the Ruger is less noticeable. Which got me to thinking with all the fashion violations going on in here do you really think people are going to notice a firearm? We both laughed and before we went about our business he said thank you for not hassleing him, Me says no thank you for having the courage to exercise your rights and demonstarting that not every one with a gun is a criminal. Really kind of sad that responsible armed citizens are treated so poorly with out cause or justification.
Click to expand...

wcd some folks have forgotten that paragraphs are hard to do now. Luke made some configuration change a while back that strips blank lines and extra spaces from entries, I assume to save space at his forum host. I assume from your post that you were in uniform and that's why the open carrier got paranoid. He had probably never had an encounter with an LEO while armed so expected the worst. I commend you for not assuming he's a criminal. In my humble opinion armed citizens won't be accepted as normal until the police accept them. I open carry about half the time, living in Kansas where it's legal.

I understand Treo's paranoia he lives in Colorado.
 
Bill Cavalieri said:
wcd some folks have forgotten that paragraphs are hard to do now. Luke made some configuration change a while back that strips blank lines and extra spaces from entries, I assume to save space at his forum host.
Click to expand...

Is it that hard to go through the post and put them back in?
 
I was wondering how snappy the LC380 would be.
I have the LCP and that is a bit snappy. I also have the LC9 and don't think it's that snappy.
 
So Luke removes all out paragraphs.

So it saves file space.

Well, I guess that is just the way the forum works.

Oh well, I guess I won't try to enter any paragraphs.

Thanks for the info, saved me a lot of time.

Since open carry started in Oklahoma on November 1, 2012, I have seen a total of two folks open carrying and one of those was in WalMart. I am glad it is an option here now, but most folks still carry concealed.

Pesky paragraphs.
 
keeping it Brief aplologies for missspellings etc my lap top is old yet still functions for the most part, however some times it will miss a letter because I dont hit the key hard enough. But Enough of that. My whole intent of the post was that it was a positive experience. I was in plain clothes but it would not take a rocket scientist to know that I was leo. The car with the lights and Badge makes it hard to hide it. I had a very pleasant 15 minute conversation with him after he introduced him self. Again I was very friendly and nonjudgmental. I for one and just my opinion do not care how some one carries as long as it is done legally. There are advantages to both methods and they I wont get into that. Again I just wanted to comment on how sad it is that law abiding armed citizens are on the offence
 
It never occurred to me that the OP would have been in uniform, primarily because I wouldn’t have been. While I’m not a cop there have been times where I’ve had to attend training in Denver wearing the company uniform and I have always made it a point to hit the bathroom and change into street clothes before leaving.

(See How hitting "Enter" works?)

If the OP was in uniform that raises questions as well, in Colorado sworn peace officers have jurisdiction through out the state. A CSPD cop could arrest me for OC in Denver but that may not be the case in the OP’s location. If I were in Lincoln Nebraska and an Omaha cop approached me I’d wonder why.

(worked here too.)

Leaving all that aside If a cop in uniform approached me at all my first thought still wouldn’t be that he intended polite conversation and I’d still be a little on my guard .

(Here as well)

As for the paranoia aspect, I had a guy walk up to me asking for directions until he had closed the gap at which point he attacked me. Let that happen to you one time and you will never let a stranger get that close to you again.
 
Glad I neither live nor work where your from! In all seriousness Harldy sounds like a pleasant place to be, But I guess each area is what the people make of it. In my neck of the woods we have a license to carry a hand Gun. The law is silent on the method of carry, again the important thing is to carry not to argue about the semantics of methods for carrying. While some ill informd will tell you its illegal unfortunately ignorance exist most everywhere and in the least acceptable places.

Just wonderng after: this

As for the paranoia aspect, I had a guy walk up to me asking for directions until he had closed the gap at which point he attacked me. Let that happen to you one time and you will never let a stranger get that close to you again.

Were you tranformed from beng a liberal? You know how the saying goes all it takes is for a liberal to experience a crime and all of a sudden they are all for the 2nd ammendment and taking responsibility for protecting ones self and family!








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Treo said:
It never occurred to me that the OP would have been in uniform, primarily because I wouldn’t have been. While I’m not a cop there have been times where I’ve had to attend training in Denver wearing the company uniform and I have always made it a point to hit the bathroom and change into street clothes before leaving.

(See How hitting "Enter" works?)

If the OP was in uniform that raises questions as well, in Colorado sworn peace officers have jurisdiction through out the state. A CSPD cop could arrest me for OC in Denver but that may not be the case in the OP’s location. If I were in Lincoln Nebraska and an Omaha cop approached me I’d wonder why.

(worked here too.)

Leaving all that aside If a cop in uniform approached me at all my first thought still wouldn’t be that he intended polite conversation and I’d still be a little on my guard .

(Here as well)

As for the paranoia aspect, I had a guy walk up to me asking for directions until he had closed the gap at which point he attacked me. Let that happen to you one time and you will never let a stranger get that close to you again.
Click to expand...

OMG dude, manners please.
 
I think you’re missing the point entirely. I take no exception with the person who was OCing, I take exception with you for approaching him. The fact that you approached him as a uniformed, or at least clearly identifiable, police officer changes the equation only slightly and still not enough that folks are going to see you as a kindred spirit who just wants to shoot the breeze about gunz.

This discussion has happened on this forum before numerous times the point I’m trying to get across here is that not everyone is like you. Not everyone wants random strangers attempting to interact with them at Wal-Mart and not every one is going to take your advances in the spirit you intend.
 
See that's what's great about America you can take exception and it changes nothing. Your opinion; your exception real simple overall in the grand scheme of things it ceases to be important to any one other than you. By the way thank God not every one is like me! It would get real boring real fast. Again reverting back to my original statement (paraphrased just for you) where you live must suck! But where I live people often acknowledge others and some times they might even strike up a conversation with someone they don't. Know. Last time I checked a stranger is sometimes a friend you have not met yet. Low and behold if you talk to some around here who routinely open carry they will tell you flat out that that they do so for educational purposes and to interact with the public in courteous respectful way. Another thing attitude is every thing. Just in case not that it matters to anyone but myself I actually prefer seeing someone open carry. There is no grey area you know they are armed and there is no quessing. Just a side bar but when was the last time you saw a criminal open carrying in a proper holster? But again just my preference but again I don't care how someone legally carries just that they do if they are so inclined.
 
Treo said:
Is it that hard to go through the post and put them back in?
Click to expand...

It takes them back out. If you look at my original post the last sentence is on a new line. During edit I inserted a blank line to delineate a paragraph but when I clicked "post" it disappeared. I tried various html and markup paragraph delimiters awhile ago to no avail. So I gave up. It's Luke's forum, he must be saving money by compressing the text so I can't blame him.
 
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