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View Poll Results: Would or Do you Open Carry in Public?
Yes 174 41.93%
No 114 27.47%
It depends 127 30.60%
Voters: 415. You may not vote on this poll

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Old August 20, 2008, 05:37 PM   #151
spacemanspiff
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Yup, I open carry to exercise my rights.

Its the only exercise my fat behind has been getting lately.
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Old August 20, 2008, 05:55 PM   #152
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if i went up north where its more acceptable yes, around town id just scare the s*** out of tourists
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Old August 20, 2008, 06:10 PM   #153
dm1333
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I voted yes. I open carry when fishing, biking, ATV'ing, cross country skiing, etc.
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Old August 20, 2008, 07:39 PM   #154
kennybs plbg
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Quote:
in NY. NO firearms allowed in a bank, concealed or otherwise.
This statement is false. The only restricted area's in NY are the courts, federal buildings, and school property without permission.

kenny b
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Old August 21, 2008, 03:03 PM   #155
JesseL
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Borch
I work in corrections for the local sheriff's office and I have my CCW. My CCW class was taught by a department firearms instructor and one of the things that he talked about was open carry and I happen to agree with him on this. The general public has been forbidden or restricted in their carrying of firearms for over 100 years and as such the general public is not accustomed to seeing openly displayed firearms that are not on the duty belt of a uniformed LEO.
The general public here in Arizona has never been forbidden in their carrying of firearms (with the exception of some unpleasantness in Tombstone a while back). Open carry passes without notice.

I'm happy to do my part in seeing that we never end up with a struggle to regain the rights we abandoned, the way Minnesota evidently has.
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Old August 21, 2008, 09:06 PM   #156
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Yes indeed. Especially in summer. My choices are between a gun that will fit in my Jagwear belt pouch (Kimber Ultra Carry, Bersa .380, or, believe it or not, XD-9) or the m37 snubbie IWB. For a long time I tried to carry IWB with the Kimber and others; it is uncomfortable, and in a Houston summer, the holster gets soaked with sweat by midmorning.

I'd like to say I'd do it on principle, but the fact is, I want to be able to carry the gun I want in a comfortable OWB holster without having to worry about a stray gust of wind landing me with a brandishing charge.

And I'm not worried about hysterics among the public. Most reactions will probably be to ignore it altogether.

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Old August 21, 2008, 10:26 PM   #157
mvpel
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I carry openly in order to vindicate my fundamental human right of armed self-defense.

Might I get aggressive attention from police officers? Might I annoy passerby? Maybe so, but so did the Black people who sat down in "Whites Only" restaurants.



If those heroic, courageous people could face down fire hoses and attack dogs to stake a claim to fundamental human rights, then I can take a few hairy eyeballs and a bit of aggressive police attention because of my openly carried sidearm in order to stake a claim to fundamental human rights.

Jim Crow wasn't ended by folks who kept on sitting in the back of the bus, it was ended by people who stood up and demanded, fought for, and sued for their rights.
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Old August 21, 2008, 10:55 PM   #158
tedwhite
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I'm a former LEO. I carry concealed. I don't normally open carry because I'm not interested in attracting attention to myself.

If I'm going to the range, or out in the desert banging around in a jeep or pickup, or generally out in the middle of nowhere hiking, then I'll open carry my 1911 or my Glock 17. I live on the Arizona/Mexico border, so especially down there.

What I won't carry on the border is an AK47 or a black rifle. Too easy to end up a case of mistaken identity.
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Old August 21, 2008, 11:04 PM   #159
Stagger Lee
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What it really boils down to is that people who are not uniformed police officers but want to carry a gun openly in public--and I'm not talking about hiking but wearing the gun in town around others--are just trying to show everyone how big and bad they are because they have a gun. That's all it is.

It's not about Rights at all, even though they'll say that it is because they don't want to tell the truth. It's only about little men trying to feel big by intimidating other people. It's more of a cry for attention than anything else.
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Old August 21, 2008, 11:26 PM   #160
Frank Ettin
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When I may legally do so, I will carry conceal (except perhaps in rare circumstance -- like being out in the woods). I don't think it's anyone's business but mine that I'm armed.
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Old August 21, 2008, 11:41 PM   #161
tedwhite
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I agree with Stagger Lee: It's about "Look at me, I'm wearing my gun today! And I'm exercising my rights to do so!"

What rights are you not exercising when you carry concealed?
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Old August 22, 2008, 12:24 AM   #162
Desertscout1
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I open carry about 18 hours a day, 365 days year. When I feel the need to carry concealed, I do. But it's not often. It's not a big deal in my neck of the woods. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people OC in several western states. Some of you look at it as flaunting your gun but it is simply a way of life here and most don't notice. I have at LEAST 40-50 customers that OC in my store and probably 10 times that many that carry concealed.
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Old August 22, 2008, 06:24 AM   #163
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I'd open carry if I could. Allows for a faster draw, unimpeded by clothing and I needn't worry about sweat soaking the gun. It'd also allow me to carry a full size 1911 without having it jutting in to my belly.
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Old August 22, 2008, 06:24 AM   #164
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If you've got it, flaunt it!

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Old August 22, 2008, 07:00 AM   #165
w_houle
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i have open carried, I can't say I was comfortable doing it. It draws a lot more attention to me, a lot of questions about legality, and cops wanting to run a background check on me and my pistol a lot. On the positive side it's about $400 cheaper to open carry and I don't have to renew every four years.
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Old August 22, 2008, 07:06 AM   #166
mvpel
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You know what, Stagger Lee & Ted White, you're just like the "go along to get along" Black folks who spent decades quietly sitting in the back of the bus and using the back door. You're like the disgruntled Black folks who denounced civil rights activists as "uppity."

Open carry is REQUIRED BY LAW in all but two states ... unless you get permission from the government to do otherwise. Open carry is REQUIRED BY LAW in Virginia, even if you have a permission slip, in most restaurants. Open carry in Ohio is precisely what forced the legislature to reform that state's abusive concealed carry licensing system. Open carry was specifically referenced in the Heller majority opinion (pp. 39, 40, 41, 57).

So, Stagger Lee & TedWhite, you're certainly entitled to your imaginary notions about other people's motivations, and entitled to vomit them forth here, but don't expect any of the people you insult - people who are actively working to vindicate your rights - to respect you for it.
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Old August 22, 2008, 08:09 AM   #167
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Seems like a bothersome way to attract undue attention. No thanks, that's what CCW is for.
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Old August 22, 2008, 08:15 AM   #168
redhart
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concealed

I agree with BILLYSPARKS, having it concealed can give you the element of surprise also.and it draws no attention to you.
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Old August 22, 2008, 08:50 AM   #169
dm1333
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Open carry when I am out and about doing things and it is -20 is not a matter of "look at me, exercising my rights" it is a matter of what is the best method of carry for that day and those conditions. When concealed carry is a better choice I carry concealed.

When I retire from the Coast Guard and move inland it will be to places like New Mexico or Arizona where open carry is not an issue.
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Old August 22, 2008, 08:56 AM   #170
shortwave
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As with anything else there`s a time and place for everything therefore I voted "depends". I`ve only open carried a few times in my life but you can bet if my pants are on I`m carrying(the few times I open carried was cause pants were`nt on) IMHO judging someone badly for open carry is as bad as an anti-gunner judging someone who carries period. It is our 2nd amendment right.
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Old August 22, 2008, 09:55 AM   #171
rburch
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Now that I have my permit I tend to conceal.

Before I had one I would OC from time to time, but I live in Blacksburg Virginia, and a couple of Aprils ago OC became a little less acceptable around here.

I don't carry my Kel-tec everywhere I go, but the only place I don't take my Cold Steel knife is the courthouse. (Please no Knife to a Gunfight jokes)

In anycase I pretty much OC only when away from town, but I'd prefer that the option to do so remained an option.

And FYI, Tombstone wasn't the only western town that forbid the carrying of guns in the town.
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Old August 22, 2008, 12:53 PM   #172
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Quote:
So, Stagger Lee & TedWhite, you're certainly entitled to your imaginary notions about other people's motivations, and entitled to vomit them forth here, but don't expect any of the people you insult - people who are actively working to vindicate your rights - to respect you for it.
There are plenty of folks here besides Stagger and Ted who feel the same way

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Old August 22, 2008, 01:01 PM   #173
Desertscout1
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Quote:
There are plenty of folks here besides Stagger and Ted who feel the same way
There are plenty that don't too.
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Old August 22, 2008, 01:02 PM   #174
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Quote:
Quote:
There are plenty of folks here besides Stagger and Ted who feel the same way
There are plenty that don't too.
But from my experiences, I would bet there are way more that do agree with him.

Seems like most people, even on gun boards, that say they would open carry would only do so in certain circumstances...such as hiking, camping, etc. It can also make sense if you live somewhere off the beaten path or in a ranching community where wldlife is still abundant, but if you feel so threatened just going to town that you need to carry openly to warn off two legged predators then you might want to see someone about that.
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Old August 22, 2008, 01:16 PM   #175
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My first impression of many of these posts is that they are just plain idiotic and totally presumptuous. But I guess it's because some here think they really know what everyone else thinks and some others are simply afraid of what people MIGHT think. Still others probably live in places where wearing a gun alarms people and makes them look at you. Pity.
If I lived in one of those places, I would move.
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