cincydiesel

Ok... If I had to rob someone and my choice was between 2 men.
--Guy #1 is carring a 454 casual in the open (I know he's carrying)
--Guy #2 is carrying concealed. (I don't know he's carrying)

I'm taking my chances with Guy #2.

I would think carrying in the open would deter the bad guys more.

Shovelhead

Cincy.....another take on that scenario.


Bad Guy sees Guy #1's Shootin' Iron as he walks into the scene and decides to shoot Guy #1 first before he can draw so he's longer a threat.
Giving Good Guy #2 time to take cover and protect himself.



Hmmmmmmm decisions, decisions........

Monty,...I'll take door number 2 please.......

I carry to protect my life and my family, not try to stop the bad guy from robbing the store.

Springer

only time I ever carried open was when I was on duty... even then I had a ankle holster. Concealed when off .

Fronty Owner

BG walks up behind guy #1, promptly pulls GG#1's pistol and shoots him with his own gun.
GG#2 ducks for cover or concealment, and waits for BG to shoot next innocent victim with GG#1's pistol before taking his chances at ending the crime spree.

Lesson learned for gun owners. carry open tells the BG where a loaded, readily available pistol is.
Lesson learned for anti owners. pistols will run to the nearest BG and become weapons of mass destruction.

The only time I carry open is when Im hunting.

mr_ed

I appreciate the object of the "National Open Carry Day," but I agree with most of ya'll...it's simply tactically unwise to open carry. There's also time and place. I remember growing up outside a town of 150 in the hills of north Idaho everybody and his dog toted in the open, but that was common place, and to bad guy was gonna try anything because EVERYBODY had guns. So up there I could understand open carry alot more then say, Alexandria VA where I got stationed when I joined up. Pull up to a gas station there while open carrying, and you might as well drive through the place in a Sherman.

X2 on what you said above, Fronty. One of the biggest issues that got pounded into my head during my law enforcement training in the CG was WEAPON RETENTION WEAPON RETENTION WEAPON RETENTION!!! Bad guys like going for cops guns. I think there's a lesson there for all us folks who carry as regular civilians....

cincydiesel

Never looked at it that way However why do cops carry in the open?

Shovelhead

Because they HAVE to.

Actually the whole uniform and a badge thing kinda makes "Blending In" a little difficult.........

How many LEOs here open carry when off-duty?

BoostdCTD

This doesn't sound like a very good idea.

Equalizer 2

Part of the uniform design. Others in the know will post more.

As for open carry, NM is another one of the hold out states and I have a story to go with that.

My sister was tending bar in a resort in AZ and this woman came in and was talking about a small town in NM where she went into an antique store. In this store were several men in camoflage, and some needing shaves as they had big beards but they were all wearing guns and she described a couple of them. The woman stated that she had never been so scared in her life. It turned out that the town in NM was where my parents lived and my sister had lived there a few years also. My sister told the woman that she had never been safer in her life. The rough looking men were staunch citizens of the community who included the former county sheriff and the medical examiner.

While I love nothing more than Edit (please edit if needed) off a liberal at the same time I don't go for giving them more to whine about so I don't carry openly unless absolutely required.

Dieseldude4x4

Conceal all the way even on the two wheelers. Walked right past the PG police at Burchams Cycles today with about 400 bikes and 500 people on the property. No one even suspected. I gaurentee you I would have been hassled had I been carrying open. A while back, several were hassled for properly (read legally) carrying in a restaurant in Chester so I know how it is around here. Outa sight outa mind.

Fronty Owner

How many LEOs carry concealed when on duty?

An LEO buddy of mine carries and XD sub compact concealed and a lady smith on his ankle. Not to mention a couple extra blade for when things go really bad.

He looks at it like this, everyone sees the service pistol, he reaches for it, everyone knows whats going to happen. He go for a concealed pistol, its a bit more of a surprise.

dodgeguy71

I did some work the past few months in the city and when it was warm enough for a tshirt it was hard to conceal, then throw in working on the job while carrying. Not a place I wanted to be alone unarmed, did it come out at times, yes. Bending, climbing and all manner of things the shirt tends to rise up. Other than burying it in the back of my drawers and working 10 hours it spent it's time in the open. Shorts were not an option for the type of work I was doing.

Bad guy wants my pistol he's gonna have to get past my constantly moving eyes, that are watching everyone in the quicky mart. Watch where you sit in the Mc D's, what booth I pick, what view I have of the entrance and exits, how I stand in the checkout line. 9 times out of ten it has the tshirt pulled over, the lump however is difficult to hide. So you make sure of your stance in relation to people around you or people behind you. I have a 50-60 dollar conceal holster that goes in the pants and has the ability to where a dress shirt to completely conceal. Have used that upon occasion for certain things. If I had to draw quickly......ha, yeah ok. I'd have to dumpster dive first and dig it out.

Practice, practice practice. You see them guys on the self defense tv, dry runs and so on. Practice so much it's 2nd nature, kinda like how ya drive home sometimes, wonder how you got there. Same thing.

Yes, it's better to conceal for libs and bad guy sake as described above. But if I'm aloud to open carry and what I wear let's it peak out at times so be it. I'm always aware that it is there, it's always on my mind while I carry and always watching. Usually wearing sunglasses indoors anyhow, wife says I have weak eyes when it comes to bright lights. Not out there to say, "look at me I carry a pistol" did'nt do it to show off, did it cause I don't want me or my family to become a statistic.

Marine

Concealed all the time for me.

Texaschevelle

No reason to flex your muscles just because of July 4th. Treat people the way you want to be treated, be polite, and keep it concealed!! If everyone started displaying thier firearms, it would be easy for the bad guys to know who is an easy target and who is not. I prefer everyone conceals a firearm, takes a class if necessary so they know the proper functions of a firearm, and carries with responsibility. By that I also mean, if a LEO stops you, make that one of the first things you tell him/her. There are more good citizens than bad. It is time the good excercised thier rights and we can weed out, or at the very least put fear in the bad guys.

Timmer

use it or loose it.........