Sharp as a Marble - Anecdotal antidote

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Anecdotal antidote

Open Carry

Before you get up in arms about this, remember this story.

The dude who got robbed while OC'ing doesn't prove that OC'ers are targeted for their decision to openly carry any more than that one story proved open carry prevents Waffle House robberies.

OC still needs to be the default and should be 100% legal everywhere. As a Floridian, my clothing options always include the possibility of accidental exposure / printing. With OC, this wouldn't be an issue.

I have no issue with people who think Open Carrying is a bad idea. There are legitimate reasons against it. Who I do have an issue with are those presumably on our side* who work hard to paint it as an extremist view and do their damndest to see the practice derided, a position that is no different than hunters who don't want AR's to become popular because it might interfere with their ability to obtain their precious, bolt-action Bambi Zappers.

*The link to Say Uncle does not imply he is part of that group, as he most emphatically is not.

posted @ 6/10/2010 3:23:47 PM

Incoming Links

bound to happen eventually | walls of the city on 6/10/2010 9:04:40 PM

OCer Robbed Of His Own Gun | Where Angels Fear To Tread on 6/11/2010 12:17:58 AM

Comments

Linoge says:

on 6/10/2010 8:59:00 PM

And that is pretty much it, ain't it? Good idea, bad idea, whatever, it is still a choice that we should be free to make, where-ever we are... just like we should have the choice to carry a firearm, or not, as we see fit.

Funny how some folks are good with the latter, but not so much with the former.

Stuart the Viking says:

on 6/11/2010 8:53:41 AM

I agree that OC in Florida would be nice to have, but I don't see it happening any time soon.

I am also in Florida and CC most of the time. I don't worry so much about printing, but I do share your worries about accidental OC like if my shirt tail gets stuck on the butt of my pistol and I don't notice. This happened to me once. An older lady saw it the instant I got out of my car before I was able to check that I was all in place. She squeeked... LITTERALLY... "SQUEEK!". I just said sorry, pulled my shirt tail back in place and went with my business and nothing came of it (luckily) but I know it could have been a bigger deal had she called the police.

I also wish that Florida law would be more reasonable in other ways. Like the whole guns in bars/guns in resturants. I kid with my mother all the time when we go into a resturant that also has a bar in it. As long as we stay on the food side, I am legal. As soon as I step foot on the "bar" side apparently my gun might jump out of it's holster and shoot people all by itself. Funny that.

One last question. How do you handle the going into places where your gun is forbidden. Leaving the gun in the car is pretty much the only option but when I come out I want to be able to carry it concealed again and I worry that it is obvious to anybody watching what I am doing when I re-concealing the gun on my person. I have always wondered how other people handle this.

s

Robb Allen says:

on 6/11/2010 9:17:29 AM

I'm not as concerned about the bar thing. It's stupid, but then again so are all gun laws aimed at making the law abiding criminals while not deterring shit, but that one is the least hassling of the group.

Florida, for all its faults, doesn't have a lot of confusing 'off limits' places. We have no legally binding signage, permits are easy to obtain (another annoyance, to be sure), you can own anything you want, etc.

The Open Carry thing is a thorn in my side though because of what you stated above. I've had the accidental OC before as well.

As for what I do when I can't carry in some place... I usually chant my mantra of "out of sight, out of mind". If I really cannot carry, I either avoid going there in the first place or just place the pistol in the glove compartment. Since I use a CTAC holster, the entire thing comes out, lessening the chances of an ND.

Stan says:

on 6/11/2010 12:32:38 PM

Not OC'ing because someone might target you for your gun is like not driving a Porsche because you might get carjacked. If you fundamentally alter your life just to suit the criminals then they've pretty much already won.

markofafreeman says:

on 6/11/2010 1:13:11 PM

As soon as one of said group insulted those of us who participated in the Restore the Constitution rally in VA on April 19, and continued to justify his derision when I called him on it, I stopped reading him entirely. Not that me reading him or not makes much difference to him, but if anyone 'on our side' is hurting the cause of freedom, it's him and his attitude.

Stuart the Viking says:

on 6/11/2010 1:21:54 PM

I don't avoid the places where it is illegal to carry. It's a free country and I'll be damned if I let control freak politicians who are squeemish about firearms tell me where I can and can't go. The pistol just stays in the car is all. I'm a pretty big guy so I usually don't have any issues anyway (criminals are mostly cowards and pick easier targets). What bothers me is, I go to some pretty harsh places and I dred the day that I return to my car to find the window smashed in and my gun missing along with my sterio. That is my biggest problem with places that are illegal to carry. I'm looking for a locking drawer that I can mount under my drivers seat, but I haven't found one that will fit yet.

I also get really annoyed with the whole guns and schools thing. Even one of the most liberal gun-scared persons I know, in a fit of honesty, had to admit that if there was an active shooter at his child's school and he was given the magic choice of me being there with my gun, he would choose for me to be there in spite of the fact that he supports the school gun bans. That sort of hypocracy would bother me. Apparently he's more comfortable with it.

s

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