Quote:
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Originally Posted by sakeneko
I figure one of the big reasons for carrying openly is so that people can ask questions and learn that there's nothing to be afraid of when somebody is just carrying a gun.
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Posted this in another thread, I like this reason. The more people see "MAN WITH A GUN!!" doing the normal things that we do, buying groceries and chatting with the cashier, getting gas, buying some tools from the hardware store, mowing the lawn, walking the dog, fishing off the boardwalk, etc etc, the more people will begin to realize that people with guns are not criminals. Especially people with holstered guns (when is the last time you saw a criminal draw from his $100 Galco Holster?). Then the people that ask about it realize that you are a normal person, just like them, and not the raving redneck lunatic serial killing bent on avenging Hitler that the media makes you out to be. That metaphorically plants the metaphorical seed.
Bu just like those CCW badge guys, some OC'ers are, as the internet would say, doing it wrong. How? OC'ing dressed in (and these are overblown, prejudiced stereotypes that I have never heard of or seen, just making a point) ripped jean shorts and a wife beater with flip flops and a Budweiser baseball hat over your mullet while talking about "dem dammed obama's tryin to take mah gernz". Even if he is trying to take our guns, walking around talking about it while still being able to carry out in the open loses credibility with the general public. Or OC'ing dressed in a black hoodie (the the hoodie up over your face covered in black makeup) with a pentagram on it, black ripped jeans covered in zippers and straps, and walking around with your shoulders slumped, head down, and your hands in your pockets. Being obnoxious about the gun, touching it, pointing at and laughing at the people that notice, asking people if they like your gun, saying crap like "don't make me use it" in a "joking" fashion (it's never joking). Now, if you are dressed nicely (I'm not saying to the tees, just that you tried), have an open stance, smile at people, and are polite, it looks metaphorically shines a much better metaphorical light onto the gun community.
I'm not saying that people who OC in ripped jean shorts, wife beaters, black hoodies with devil symbols, and black goth pants shouldn't be OCing. They have the same right to carry and I will still fight for that right. I'm just saying that if the goal is to further gun rights and the gun community as a whole, that people who would OC with that demeanor need to reconsider.