Great read and thanks for sharing.

 

I remember the feeling I had the first time I wore my gun in a holster. Strange, liberating and yes, oddly patriotic. But withen a short time it felt very natural.

 

And that was unloaded, at the range. I can only wonder what it feels like to OC or CCW out in the "real world."

OP: I feel you chose a good place and environment for OC. Makes sense in summer heat, wearing light clothing and wanting to carry a larger handgun. Even you admitted that OC isn't for everywhere, which I also agree with. In most cases I do feel discretion is a carrier's best friend.

 

I wouldn't listen to the haters. Flaunting and narcissistic BS, pretty much anyone with <insert something nice like jewelry, fancy cars, luxurious, etc> can be labeled as such. If you ran around approaching everyone, speaking about how awesome your gun is compared to everyone else's, or got up on a soap box proclaiming your rights and how you are free, OC to support Liberty, blah blah, or where OC'ing down some slummy Philly area just to attract police attention... then would say someone is flaunting.

 

Good post Dan, +1

Keep me posted on the NJ to PA OC road trip...

During the mid-1990's in Wyoming it was legal to OC your beer and drink it while riding down the road so long as you were a passenger. I wonder if it is still that way today.

 

I don't have an actual count of States but just about everywhere I went outside Jersey back then it was legal for everybody in the car, including the driver in some states, to drink while driving. Just not to be intoxicated. Delaware (the former) and Colorado (the latter) come to mind as respective examples.

Maybe it's just me but I dont see the point and never will. Glad you enjoyed yourselves.

I am quoting you just because you were first to have this opinion but all others are free to answer. What is your opinion of CC and why?

I open carry in pa here and there. No harm no foul. I carry a sig .40 in a sig retention paddle holster.

 

Btw del you can oc too.

I am quoting you just because you were first to have this opinion but all others are free to answer. What is your opinion of CC and why?

 

 

I think everyone who isnt a felon or crazy should be able to carry a gun. I carry my off-duty all the time and not one time do I think I should open carry it. If you want to OC and let everyone know you have a gun then you either deter the crime or become the first target. I'd rather pick my time to enter the fight then let someone else pick it for me.

 

That being said I dont have a problem with OC I just think it is a bad idea.

I don't have an actual count of States but just about everywhere I went outside Jersey back then it was legal for everybody in the car, including the driver in some states, to drink while driving. Just not to be intoxicated. Delaware (the former) and Colorado (the latter) come to mind as respective examples.

Yes that is true, distances were measured by how many beers the trip would take.

 

It seemed crazy to me that you could be stopped for speeding and speak to an officer while sipping on a beer with a loaded firearm on your side and be legal as long as you were not drunk, but it did happen.

Let me start by saying that I'm a strong proponent of CCW laws, reciprocity, and letting all citizens without criminal or mental health issues own firearms.

 

However...

 

Why do you want to carry your handgun out in the open? Is it just because you can? We all know that the general public ins't comfortable with seeing non-uniformed individuals carrying weapons. We know that it makes others uncomfortable but what does it do for you?

 

I get the concept of using your rights or losing them, and in theory I get that. However, there are tons of people that don't like weapons in the world that will be just as apathetic as the majority of gun owners when it comes to voting and public support. If they start getting uncomfortable, scared, threatened, etc. couldn't that experience push them over the edge into being an anti-gunner?

 

Personally, I wish everyone was carrying CCW and just assumed that everyone else was as well - OC being a more obvious indication of not having protection.

 

FLAME ON

I think everyone who isnt a felon or crazy should be able to carry a gun. I carry my off-duty all the time and not one time do I think I should open carry it. If you want to OC and let everyone know you have a gun then you either deter the crime or become the first target. I'd rather pick my time to enter the fight then let someone else pick it for me.

 

That being said I dont have a problem with OC I just think it is a bad idea.

The choice between OC and CC basically comes down your reasoning. It's just that OC is looked at slightly differently than you do. As you mentioned when you OC You either deter crime or become a target. Now ask yourself what types of crime are you must likely to run into. For most people the answer is going to be muggings, assaults, or being at a place that is getting robbed as a distant 3rd. Now 9 out of 10 criminals if not higher that commit muggings and assault crimes will naturally not want to pick a target they see is armed. So if you are walking down a street and a would be mugger is coming towards, him seeing you armed means he is very likely to just keep walking and not even attempt any thing. For you that is the safest possible outcome, and considering you probably are not running into would be criminals that often to begin the odds of you never being attacked are great. Same thing applies to robberies though the odds are probably only 6 out of 10 of going through with the robbery while you are in there. Which considering the odds of you being someplace while it gets robbed are pretty low to begin with, you again greatly increase your odd of never being in such a position.

 

On the other hand if you CC a criminal is not going to have any reason not to chose you. So if a criminal is thinking about choosing you as his target he probably will attack you. Now while you are better off than not being armed you are still already in a dangerous situation and the criminal has the initiative advantage. Your advantage of surprise may not give you a big enough edge to be able to turn the tables on him. Either way the situation is way more dangerous than having the situation not happening at all. Now on the other hand CC gives you a lot of advantage for those rarer situations.

 

CC is is jack of all trades master of none of carrying a firearm. It gives an advantage in most situations

OC is a master of some. It gives you a Great advantage in some situations (the ones you are most likely to find yourself in) while putting you at a disadvantage in others.

[[A person is holding up a pointer to a screen with an image of the World Trade Center towers mid-disaster.]] Person: Based on my analysis, I believe the government faked the plane crash and demolished the WTC north tower with explosives. Person: The south tower, in a simultaneous but unrelated plot, was brought down by actual terrorists. The 9 11 truthers responded poorly to my compromise theory. {{Title text: I believe the truth always lies halfway between the most extreme claims.}}

 

We all know that the general public ins't comfortable with seeing non-uniformed individuals carrying weapons. We know that it makes others uncomfortable but what does it do for you? I get the concept of using your rights or losing them, and in theory I get that. However, there are tons of people that don't like weapons in the world that will be just as apathetic as the majority of gun owners when it comes to voting and public support. If they start getting uncomfortable, scared, threatened, etc. couldn't that experience push them over the edge into being an anti-gunner? Personally, I wish everyone was carrying CCW and just assumed that everyone else was as well - OC being a more obvious indication of not having protection. FLAME ON

I kind of just answered they why from the advantage/disadvantage point of view, but what’s asked here is a bit different though. I think your views on how uncomfortable the general public is with seeing non-uniformed individuals OC'ing has been distorted by living in NJ. I believe that most of the general public has no real problem with it when they see it. That’s because either A) they do not have a problem with the general idea of people OC'ing or B) they just assume that the person is an off-duty/undercover/what ever law enforcement officer. Either way the sight of people being armed ends up just not really bothering people. If you watch news interviews with OC'ers especially the local ones for other places, they all almost always mention how for the most part the general public does not even notice.

 

OC'ing can even help pro 2nd amendment groups. One thing that greatly helps anti gun causes is the ability to make the general public think that gun owners are a very small minority composed of nut cases. Anti gun groups want gun owners to stay in the closet as it where, because it make it easier to convince the public of just that. And of course more gun owners feel the general population is against them the less they want to talk about it in the open for fear of being labeled a crazy. Just looking at these forums you can find plenty of stories of someone starting a new job or something and start talking to the other employees about guns and find out 4,5, maybe more people that enjoy shooting but none of them ever knew that there were also other coworkers also enjoyed shooting because they were to afraid to talk about it in public. By OC'ing you start people talking about guns. You may have one neighbor say to another "Those gun owners sure are crazy." to which the other guy says "You know that I am a gun owner" And because of that a person now changes his opinion on gun owners to a more positive stance.

I think your views on how uncomfortable the general public is with seeing non-uniformed individuals OC'ing has been distorted by living in NJ. I believe that most of am a gun owner" And because of that a person now changes his opinion on gun owners to a more positive stance.

 

I actually just finished moving into NJ from Massachusetts and have observed this behavior in NH, ME, MA - it's all the same. It is STRANGE for someone to be carrying a weapon out and about in public if they aren't also wearing a uniform. It doesn't fit the standard pattern and therefore is noted.

 

You may be right in thinking that most people assume you are an off-duty cop, but I can say for sure that I've never seen an off-duty anyone (military or police) open carrying. The only people I've ever encountered OC'ing are those that wish to exercise that right for no further purpose than they can.

I would never OC off duty. It's just bad tactics.

I would never OC off duty. It's just bad tactics.

 

Agreed.

I actually just finished moving into NJ from Massachusetts and have observed this behavior in NH, ME, MA - it's all the same. It is STRANGE for someone to be carrying a weapon out and about in public if they aren't also wearing a uniform. It doesn't fit the standard pattern and therefore is noted.

 

You may be right in thinking that most people assume you are an off-duty cop, but I can say for sure that I've never seen an off-duty anyone (military or police) open carrying. The only people I've ever encountered OC'ing are those that wish to exercise that right for no further purpose than they can.

Agreed,in the times I've witnessed OC in Maine,never once did I assume it was a off duty LEO but instead someone who needed to make a point or needed the attention and while I respect the right of the individual to OC, the consensus among my friends{all avid gun owners,hunters and patriots} in Maine is that of discounting those individuals as overzealous townies or out of staters.