Now, my last post was meant to be sarcasm and humor and not to be construed as a complete argument. I’ve already gotten wind that feathers have been ruffled, and it’s interesting to see that when I apply my snark to certain people, I’m lauded for it, but against others I’m called names you don’t use in front of drunken sailors in fear of harming their delicate sensibilities.
Open Carry is a sore spot for me. I’m trying to get it legalized here in Florida while some in other states seem to be perfectly happy to make that as difficult as possible, and they’re supposed to be playing on my team. Some do this by pulling of stunts that have a high chance of FAIL, some by their constant harping on said stunts.
Let’s break down the issue here.
With the exception of very few, I don’t think people who disagree with Open Carry are anti gunners. Some of the arguments against open carry, however, are based on the same logical train of thought that anti’s have used to try to get guns banned. I’m not bringing this up to insult you by equating you with them, rather exposing what I perceive as a flaw in your logic that happens to be the same flaw the anti’s try to use to their advantage.
Next, I am not saying, nor have I ever inferred, that Open Carry is the One True Way and that there are no issues with it whatsoever and that nothing bad can ever become of it. I’m not a zealot, I recognize the weaknesses in my own positions and adapt as necessary. When I have proof positive that I am wrong on a subject, I will gladly change my mind. I am fighting for freedom for Floridians (who I have a better chance at affecting, but hope that what we do here can positively affect other states as well) to be allowed to make the choice as to how they wish to bear their arms.
For some people, concealed carry is a better option. For others, there is nothing wrong with openly carrying them. I see us getting in arguments conflating the effectiveness of OC as an activism tool with the physical benefits of doing so.
We will waste an unheard of amount of pixels over the whole ‘OC is or is not a good way to win the hearts and minds of people’ argument. If you want to win people’s hearts and minds, I suggest a surgical saw and a jar to put them in.
The reasons to openly carry or not can be broken down into two, distinct concepts – Social and Tactical (Lord, I hate that word).
Socially is where Open Carry has the most negative impact. Many people just do not like guns. Hell, my wife of all people is still not too thrilled to be around so many. In a social situation, a visible firearm may put some people off. I portend that most people won’t even notice them and the issue isn’t until you interact with someone one on one. However, this is a totally legitimate reason to decide to not openly carry. Everyone’s comfort level threshold is completely different from everyone else’s.
As someone who blogs under his real name and is known to everyone as a gun guy, my threshold for interaction is a lot different than most of yours. I respect your choice as to how you carry, honestly. I don’t belittle anyone who decides to conceal.
The other portion of the social is the ‘hearts and minds’ thing. I personally believe carrying a pistol where God and everyone else can see it is not a big deal. Even those who aren’t as friendly to guns as we are tend to see pistols as what they are – underpowered penis compensators tools. No, seriously, most non gun people, if they see them at all, will make assumptions based on how you are acting. If you’re dressed decently, they will more than likely think you a police officer or detective. If you’re slummed out in your best cut off shorts and “Jesus Built My Hotrod” t-shirt, they will eye you more suspiciously. Hence why I argue it is in our best interest to NOT try to call attention to ourselves any more than we would if we weren’t armed.
There’s a lot of room for the argument here, and I’m not only willing to listen, I want to listen. I can’t be an effective activist if I just blow off people’s concerns.
The other side of this coin is that of tactics. And this is the one part where I won’t budge on my position until you show me that it’s actually less safe with proof. Heck, one or two stories per month of open carriers being directly targeted for their weapons would give me pause. Maybe I’m not seeing it. Maybe my Google alerts aren’t picking up on the right keywords. But I don’t care how many times Massad Ayoob says “This could happen”, until it actually does happen, I just don’t see any logical reason to believe it’s an issue.
Here’s my train of thought (and feel free to point out the logical inconsistencies)
Criminals attack easier targets for the most part. Those who attack hardened targets are not the kind you can generally prepare for anyway, and are rarer than hen’s teeth as it is. From the stories I’ve read the vast majority of police who lose their pistol to the criminal do so in a struggle to capture said perp. I don’t see very many stories of people sucker punching cops and taking their guns. Notice I said “not many” and not “I ain’t seen none of them stories”.
Now, criminals attack people for their watches and jewelry because they see them, but most muggers aren’t concerned about getting killed by the 24k gold diamond pendent they’re trying to snatch.
We say concealed carry benefits everyone because criminals are wary about attacking someone who is armed. If that is true, then why would open carry provide less of a deterrent? Cops provide deterrent because of their arms. In England, I see stories all the time of bobbies getting roughed up because the hooligans know they’re not armed. So just a uniform isn’t enough. Generally, I think most people assume uniform = gun and this is why security companies sell lots of their services. They provide a person and a uniform and hope that’s enough threat. I’d never take a security job without armament.
There’s also the point to be made that you have easier access to your firearm. If a criminal has decided to attack you and you failed the interview (because he or she had no clue about your claws), you still have to get whatever concealment your have out of the way. We’re not all Jim Zubiena. Even Caleb will tell you the time he had to draw, it felt like it took forever to get his pistol out of his pocket. Having it right there is an advantage.
I posit that the disadvantages to Open Carry are primarily social in nature. It can make others uncomfortable, those who OC and do stupid things run the possibility of winning stupid prizes for the rest of us, and there is a legitimate concern that you may make a negative impression on people. Plenty of room for discussion with me on those.
However, the tactical argument against OC isn’t as strong. Sure, I get the whole “If I’m there when someone robs the store, my pistol is in the fight already.” I’ll grant you that one if you can tell me how many robberies you’ve been a part of. When you get to the ‘dozens of this year’ limit, then I’ll start believing it’s a real problem more than one that’s blown out of proportion.
So, let’s have discussions on the merits of OC from a social perspective. We can even discuss the tactical differences. But let’s not combine the two because they are different beasts. Also, this goes for me and the pro-OC guys & gals just as well, we shouldn’t try to use the social to justify the tactical or vice versa. They’re separate.
In the end, I want you to be able to wear your Deagle on a chest rig if you want, or pocket your P3AT in your cargo shorts. The choice is yours and shouldn’t be made by politicians, bureaucrats, or committees. And as gun owners, I wish we’d spend the same amount of effort we do chastising each other for differences in how we handle things into pestering our misrepresentatives to get the laws changed.
I apologize if I’ve come across as snotty to some of you (not all of you. Some of you bastards deserve it!). I do myself no benefit by being too gruff with those I need to keep on my side. I just hope perspective can be had and that while there are jerks in the OC movement, there are jerks in every movement and you shouldn’t base your support on a vocal few. Heck, go visit AR15.com and you’ll see a high signal-to-noise ratio of general gun related asshattery than you will on this blog!
Thanks for your time, and thanks for putting up with me.
-Robb
Open carry did not stop this attempt.
There are some kinds of stupid that can't be cured.
why don't you post an open carry manifesto concerning what you want. Do you recognize any limits? any regions excluded from your efforts? Do you expect to open carry in Chicago or New York city?
Dude - it was a funny post. I enjoyed it. People need to lighten up.
And this is the one part where I won’t budge on my position until you show me that it’s actually less safe with proof.
...most non gun people...will make assumptions based on how you are acting.
If you’re slummed out in your best cut off shorts and “Jesus Built My Hotrod” t-shirt, they will eye you more suspiciously.
Hence why I argue it is in our best interest to NOT try to call attention to ourselves any more than we would if we weren’t armed.
...until it actually does happen, I just don’t see any logical reason to believe it’s an issue.