MrColionNoir discusses the pros and cons:
No points that I haven’t heard before, but he does a good job of comparing the two and giving examples.
I’ve said in the past that I really don’t care what people choose to do, as long as they are carrying. The public should become desensitized to people exercising their right under 2nd Amendment, so in that respect I like the idea of open carry. I’m so sick of hearing people gasp and whisper or react in other ways when they see someone that looks like a “regular guy” open carrying. “You don’t have to be a police officer to open carry in most states… get over it” is what I’d like to say to all of them.
I like the point Colion made about people looking to you to be the savior. That is a ton of responsibility, which could definitely end badly for you in an infinite number of different ways. Stopping the threat could also go as smooth as butter… but are you willing to take that chance?
Thoughts?
Oh and also.. MrColionNoir, why is the whole cartridge shooting through your logo at the beginning? Do you work for Omega? haha just kidding I’m trollin’ ;)
Comments
20 responses to “Open Carry V.S. Concealed Carry”
I think I would only open carry around my own house…backyard so on and so forth. I just don’t like the attention I would get in the Grocery store.
I’ve open carried numerous times in my state and in the region I live it’s a non-issue. The only attention I get from people is when they ask what I’m carrying/holster or asking if I’m a cop. After I tell them no, I educate them on the gun laws in my state since most people don’t know you can open carry in our state due to poor education from LEOs who don’t know the law and counties who STILL say it’s a concealed carry license.
OC by ordinary decent people a great way to help society reconnect with our gun roots. However, it’s horrible as a tactic in self defense. It also doesn’t do anybody any good if you come off as a nut case, which is easy to do with a strong pro-gun stance.
I dont like open carry. makes you a target from the point, they see you have a gun, and if your not constantly assessing your surroundings they a group or single person has a chance you take your gun. go get the license to concel the gun. I have a question for mike or this dude in the video. to open carry does the gun have to be in a holster on your hip/leg/shoulder etc. ( asking if the gun has to be completly visiable. or can you mexican carry in your waistban. with the handle showing? (mike i know you dont like the mexican carry) this is just for the question. ( and its gansta)
I liked this video a lot. Open carry always bothers me unless they are in a uniform, so i can only imagine what non gun friendly folks think. Plus, as he mentioned and i have never thought of, if you were at the store or whatever and bad guys come in for a robbery, your up on the plate, they see the gun and so does everyone else, EVERYONE is looking to see your next move. No chance of say ‘i dont care about walmarts money’ and letting it go. And if you open carry with the wife and kids, you just made them targets, as anything that misses you is gonna be just as close to them.
Conceal carry, it give you options.
As for spencers question, im sure the rules change state by state but I would guess it has to be totally open or totally concealed. Sooner or later someone will conceal carry then get hot, take their shirt off and piss off an entire beach full of people with half a gun showing.
Most guys I know who open carry are cops who get so used to a gun outside the belt they just do it all the time. Regardless most people around here just assume that anyone open carrying is a cop. Still makes them kinda edgy lol.
Oh and Mike, I’m pretty sure that’s not a whole cartridge. Looks like a standard rifle bullet, probably a .30.
I concur. Maybe the beveled end of the bullet looked like the rim on a head of a casing to you.
hahah I swear a good portion of you guys don’t even read what I write.
I like this guy, and I like the way he “compared & contrasted” the topic.
As a former UOC (unloaded Open Carry) carrier and protester in California a few years ago, it was often the best you could do if you went in public and wanted protection. I UOC’d in local parks when my wife and I would go there with our little ones to play. There were often thugs there and if you listen to the local PD radio traffic there’s always crap going on at parks from just those kind of thugs. So comes the argument/myth that badguys will target you. This is simply false. The FBI has statistics that pretty well demonstrate that badguys ALWAYS choose the path of least resistance. Also, they don’t know my gun was unloaded. So for UOCers in CA, it was a viable self defense. Sure you’re not going to do it where you’re walking among lots of people/thugs because you’re gambling on your half second “loadandmakeready” scenario and you run greater risk of actually being robbed of your gun be being hit over your head because you can’t scan 360.
I open carry in grocery stores or on streets sometimes here in my small Montana town (10k pop) usually after being out shooting and hadn’t gone home yet to clean up and change. Normally I’m conceal carrying. The one problem I have with open carrying is simply that you lose the initiative if there’s a fight. One big advantage of carrying concealed is that you get to surprise your badguy…but then it’s arguable that you may also prevent a badguy from attacking you because you’re open carrying. Again, they DO chose the path of least resistance and open carrying is beneficial in that regard…if you can put up with everyone doubletaking you as you pass…even in sleepy gun-toter’s paradise of Hamilton MT.
I’m with the “open carry poses risks” crowd–unless you’re willing to wear a duty belt and a serious retention holster, there is a constant risk that some idiot will do something stupid–or a curious kid will grab at it. And you’re stuck with the choice of playing quick draw if you are directly confronted by an assailant with his own gun–and if you’re not directly confronted, the slight extra time to draw from a concealed position is likely immaterial. I’ve no problems with open carry as such–like others, I’ll carry in my field holster when going to and from the woods and out hiking–but in town, my Kahr is nested in my smart carry holster.
I conceal carry because honestly i worry about open carry and the hastle it can create … although legal here
I ran a Darwin Awards site in the late 90’s. One of our runner-ups was David Zaback.
Synopsis: The perp stepped around a King County Sheriffs car walking into a gun store to commit a robbery. WA state has many CHL holders. He fired about three .22 rounds into the ceiling and announced a robbery. There were approximately 47 casings recovered. The perp did not survive, amazingly. The deputy who had just changed from .38 to 9MM had the knuckle of his thumb clipped and therefore fired only a single round.
I also attend the local Ren Fest most weekends every year, in costume. I am carrying live swords, that are “peace tied”. In 20+ years they had maybe one joker pull a sword and threaten other guests. As I understand it, he had about 15 people surrounding him with drawn swords willing to turn him into a pincushion before faire security arrived.
I know this seems off-topic to open carry, but it really does apply. Criminals are not super human (outside of DC/Marvel comics). So if a bad guy or guys walks into a bank (or other business) and sees an OCer that will discourage them. If they decide to focus on the OCer, then that gives other servers/tellers a chance to kick the button, dial 911, etc. Also an additional CHL could respond as well.
As the law stands in my state, I can legally OC. But if I don’t have a CHL, I can’t carry a loaded mag/speed loader in my trunk. So for me to OC, I’d have to carry unloaded in condition 5 to my destination, load a mag and or chamber to get to C1 or C2. Then get back to the car and unload again. Then go home/dest and reload, ad nausea.
condition five? is that the with the slide in your front pocket?
Per Wikipedia:
Condition Four: Chamber empty, no magazine, hammer down.
Condition Three: Chamber empty, full magazine in place, hammer down.
Condition Two: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer down.
Condition One: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety on.
Condition Zero: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety off.
My Add:
Condition Five: Chamber empty, no magazine, hammer down, magazine or speed loader empty.
My state considers a loaded mag/speed loader in the trunk as concealed carry. They are trying to modify that, but for now I could be hosed if I were stopped that way.
Guess i never thought it went past one and two for some reason, and even then i was actually thinking 1 and 3.
i like the idea of OC’rs being decoys…
BG -“this is a robbery! i have a gun”
CC – “so does that guy over there”
BG – “wha?” turns to look at OC guy
CC – blam blam blam
It should ONLY be legal if it is openly-carried. That’s what Wisconsin does.
The only logic for allowing concealed carry but not open is “out of sight out of mind” which is like an ostrich burying its head in the sand. If people are out there carrying weapons I want to be able to know who is and who isn’t just in case someone seems angry or upset so I can avoid them.
I do prefer not to know. I don’t care if you have a gun, just like i dont care what car you drive, if you like dressing up in womens underwear. Doing it with members of the same sex, animals, household appliances or whatever. In the same way you wouldn’t tell a stranger who is pushing their shopping cart past you in the grocery store aisle any of those things there’s no reason to tell them about your gun.
Thats my theory.
I respect all those carry, whether it be open or concealed.
In the winter, I usually carry concealed because of the weather and I can easily present my firearm in less than 2 seconds if need be from my shoulder holster.
In the summer, I usually carry open because it’s a pain to try and conceal under T-shirts without printing, etc., and there’s a greater chance of fumbling trying to get to it. I don’t OC to make a statement or prove a point, I just do it to protect myself and my loved ones.
I feel the arguments regarding losing the tactical advantage due to open carry give criminals way too much credit. In all my 50 years, I’ve found criminals to be mostly opportunists who prefer soft targets so they can smash, grab and go in less than 10 seconds. A person openly carrying their firearm doesn’t represent a soft target and most criminals will quickly move on and go back to scanning for softer targets which are plentiful.
Sure, there will always be exceptions, but that basic rule of nature will always be there.
Whichever you choose to do, please do it safely and politely.