OT: Open Carry

[Coon Gravy]

As of January 1, 2016 CHL holder's in Texas will be allowed to openly carry a handgun provided that it is properly holstered an not taken into an establishment that displays a 30.07 or 51% signage. No additional licensing is required. The current CHL will suffice as proper ID for open carry.
I am an avid gun rights supporter and a lifelong shooter and sportsman, but I have a couple of issues with this right way.

1. The reason I have a concealed carry permit is to carry a weapon for the protection of myself and my family, and subsequently that of those around me should a situation arise. Openly carrying a weapon takes away what I see as the advantage of concealment/surprise and I doubt works as well as a deterrent as it does a targeting mechanism.

2. Based on my first reason, I fear that a large portion of the people who will take advantage of this open carry law will be individuals who will... for lack of a better explaination... tarnish the image of the responsible gun owner, or more so support of second amendment rights.
-=(I realize this is a broad statement but I close my eyes and see Bubba with a 44 mag in a leather bandolier holster wearing sweat pants and flip flops grabbing a couple tall boys and a pack of smokes at the Quick Stop at 12:20 on Sunday getting a little too aggressive at the attendant when his debit card won't work.) This guy is on TV all the time anyhow so maybe I'm over thinking it. You may know him from the interview he did that time it flooded, or when that house burned down, or when the school board sent that letter to parents about that suspicious person around the elementary. My point is... this is built for bad press, and they know it and love it.

Not looking to have heated argument on this, just my thoughts and yours. Interested to hear what others think.

[TheBig1]

I understand exactly what you're speaking of and completely agree with you. Personally, I'd never open carry. It only puts a bullseye on your back for when things do go wrong. A bad guy knows who the first person is that they have to take out.

Chad

[LoneWolf45]

"Always carry, never tell."

[xcaliber]

X4, nothing like the element of surprise.

[Boo]

I think it sucks to live in a country where social issues make decent people carry a gun. I've never wished I carried and I thankful for that.

[Scarecrow]

Anyone can open carry in Michigan without a permit. As long as you have a registered gun you can open carry. At first you had the yahoo's walking around with their AR15's but that has died down. I for one would never open carry for all the reasons listed above plus it just scares people. Even though it is legal, people end up calling the police and that's when problems begin.

Nobody including my family usually know when I carry.

[Minnow]

Well said boo

[newbie]

I think it sucks to live in a country where social issues make decent people carry a gun. I've never wished I carried and I thankful for that.

this is why I married Amy....mean and bigger then me to hide behind
I couldn't agree more though.

[Boo]

I think it sucks to live in a country where social issues make decent people carry a gun. I've never wished I carried and I thankful for that.

this is why I married Amy....mean and bigger then me to hide behind
I couldn't agree more though.

LOL, yeah but you like the beatings! She knows just where to strike so you're not embarrased in from of your man-friends

[TheBig1]

I think it sucks to live in a country where social issues make decent people carry a gun. I've never wished I carried and I thankful for that.

this is why I married Amy....mean and bigger then me to hide behind
I couldn't agree more though.

LOL, yeah but you like the beatings! She knows just where to strike so you're not embarrased in from of your man-friends

Don, it's called a phonebook.
Or simply body shots.

[Buszone]

I don't express to anyone whether I'm packin or not its no ones business only my choice to choose. My family has spilled its blood to defend our constitutional God given rights! The 2nd amendment protects all others especially the 1st! That's why our founding fathers put it in place to protect our ability to speak and be free I'm to old to care anymore about being politically correct.

[grouse]

I too am a lifelong gun owner and own a bunch of guns including a handgun. Open carry must be legal here in Missouri because I have seen people do it (just last week at Walmart). I cringe at the thought, it seems to make a bad statement about all of us who own guns. I don't have a concealed carry permit but I wouldn't hesitate to carry my pistol (concealed) if I felt I needed to (unlikely).

Should I ever find myself in a situation where there would be a shooter in a crowd, I would certainly want to have a weapon to defend my family and myself. I am not, however, convinced that lots of "good" guys with guns would necessarily make things better. Let's say there are 500 people in a room including 5 "good" guys with guns, and a "bad" guy opens fire. How will the "good" guys differentiate between who is good or bad while they are under stress (they could mistakenly shoot each other) and what will keep them from missing their intended target (again, in great stress) and shooting an innocent person. It could make a horrible situation even worse. I'm not really sure that more guns will improve things.

[Coon Gravy]

I think it sucks to live in a country where social issues make decent people carry a gun. I've never wished I carried and I thankful for that.

I agree it does suck, and I think things would be better if we all took the Big Lebowski approach to life but that's a pipe dream. Also I always forget that Excalibur is out of Canada and most of the good people on the forum are from the North. So just to clarify from my original post...

These are flip-flops.


Not to be confused with your version...

[Allan]

Coon Gravy,

That is one of the funniest things I have seen all year!!!
Love it!

[Coon Gravy]

I really don't go into my posts intending to make them a joke (or anyone else's for that matter). I just somehow always end up there... hopefully taken in the "poke at a sibling" manner as is always intended.