opinions on open carry

[NavyLCDR]

I just don't know about the surprise portion. I can't see it working. Can those that believe you lose the surprise aspect give your best " what if " scenario.

The best "what if" scenario is that the criminal is unarmed. He's got his hand in his pocket faking a gun. Then the victim can pull out his real gun and yell "Surprise! I have a real run gun and you just have a finger pointing at me!"

Worst case scenario, the criminal does have a gun or a knife and then it's a matter of a quick-draw shoot out just like in the old west. Except the criminal has already drawn his weapon.

The problem with the "element of surprise" is that it is strictly a tactic to enhance the effectiveness of an attack and has no deterrent value. If a person is in a self defense position that warrants using the gun, the criminal already has used the "element of surprise" to gain the upper hand against the target. Using the "element of surprise" against a criminal that ALREADY has gained the advantage is brave at best and a deadly mistake at worst.

 

[Grognard Gunny]

My version of a "best what if" scenario is if I can get through the rest of my life without having to kill another human being, for whatever reason.

If the Gods are kind, my singular selfish wish will be granted.

If not...... Not!

GG

P.S. I am not above executing rabid dogs, two or four legged. In and only in cases of self defence, of course. (Wink!)

 

[logical Larry]

In Indiana we can oc and cc. My son is an MP and when he first got his ccw, he open carried. After about 2 months he changed to cc. On night he was at a movie, and he ran into an old friend that thought his Springfield DX 40 was a toy and came up behind him and tried to pull it out of the holster. Besides having a locking holster, my son's reaction time to anything around him is very fast. That friend will not make that mistake again.

 

[rifleshooter474]

In Indiana we can oc and cc. My son is an MP and when he first got his ccw, he open carried. After about 2 months he changed to cc. On night he was at a movie, and he ran into an old friend that thought his Springfield DX 40 was a toy and came up behind him and tried to pull it out of the holster. Besides having a locking holster, my son's reaction time to anything around him is very fast. That friend will not make that mistake again.

People see things and they get ideas. Just ask me I know.

 

[logical Larry]

Amen. If My son didn't have a locking holster, even with his quick reaction time, things could have gone down very differently.

 

[logical Larry]

That's why he has switched to cc. I always perfered cc, but could not talk him out of open carry until he had the incident. He figured his MP training was enough.

 

[Firefighterchen]

That's why he has switched to cc. I always perfered cc, but could not talk him out of open carry until he had the incident. He figured his MP training was enough.

Has your son had a bad guy reach for his weapon? The old friend sounds like a real genius, first by thinking people carry around toy guns, second by grabbing someone else's gun...again it's hard to say your son was targeted because he was open carrying, sounds more like he was targeted because of who he was in relation to the old friend... but in the end it happened...If your son did encounter a bad guy in that scenario he would of been one of a handful that that has happened to. Glad everything turned out okay.

 

[DukeYukon]

There's no open carry in my state but I prefer concealed anyway.

Yet I often open carry when I make solo trips out to Idaho to fish or hike. It's an extension of TR's admonition to 'speak softly and carry a big stick.' When alone in the middle of nowhere, I try to come off as a polite and friendly guy who is not to be messed with.

Actually, the presence of the pistol seems to make the locals more friendly. They surmise from it that I'm not some granola-eating member of PETA who has come to Idaho to look down his nose at the local ranchers, loggers, and hunters.

The only problems is that the locals will sometimes point and giggle at my puny .357 as they stroke their longer, larger-bored pieces.

 

[Nightmare45]

Personal Choice, if you wish to open carry and can do so, if you wish to CC do so. In either case I will be armed.