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I was wondering how many of you open carry in public places like stores, churches, etc etc? What type of reactions do you get from the public if any? What type of response do you get from police if any? Open carry is legal without a permit in my state but I never see anyone doing it that I can recall. I've considered doing it myself but am a little afraid some hyper vigilant ignoramous could cause trouble for me.
IMO unless you are out in the woods/wilderness then Open carry where you suggest is just for show offs.
If that's your intent and it make you feel good then go for it.
The only time I OC is when I'm on my way to or from the range. I have my CFP (aka CCW), and that's how I prefer to carry. I've never liked attracting attention to myself, and OCing does tend to attract attention.
So whether I'm at the grocery store, the dog park, a casino, a restaurant or wherever, I'll just blend in, and nobody will ever know I'm carrying. Unless they make a very bad decision, that is.
We don't have OC in Texas, but I've been in others that do, and have done so, mainly when on my Harley. Haven't even gotten a second look - to be honest, most folks aren't observant enough to even notice.
same type of response when mr pants down 9mm flashed one at me, intimidation anger or the desire to respond in kind. but please be advised there are not talking about introducting guns to schools, mr pants down 9mm is already sneaking them in frequently courtesy the bully program.
Washington state has an open carry law. but there is a public nusance part to it as well. The pants down 9mm guy I think I saw one of them. some skinny little twerp that had some punk issues. He had two shoulder holsters carrying 45s, 1911 style. went into a pizza place played tough guy when asked to leave, etc. All that said its funny how people react to anybody wearing a "uniform" then its ok to carry those scary guns.
I could but I don't. I prefer to keep my firearms concealed; why advertise? I've seen other people open carry and my thought was they would be the first people shot if a crime were to happen.
In my state, we have open carry and I used to see it quite often. But now, we can conceal and do not need a permit, so you don't see it very often.
As far as seeing a negative reaction, only once. There was a conference of the Wyoming Gun Owners at the Holiday Inn and as you can imagine, people were openly carrying. The President of the WGO was stopped outside by police, and questioned. One of the tourists in the Holiday Inn had called 911 when they saw a gun. However, typical of a tourist, they reported that the guy was waving the gun around at everybody. Of course, he wasn't. As far as the reaction from the Police, the whole time they were questioning the man, they never asked him to remove the gun and place it on the hood. He kept the gun, through the whole thing, in his holster. The other interesting this was, the guy explained everything to the Police and told them that he had told the Holiday Inn what the conference was about and did they have any problem with it. The Manager said No, it was fine. However, because of Police or whatever, when the man said the manager had no problem, they walked inside to talk to the Manager. She changed her story and said, "No, we don't allow guns in our establishment." Needless to say, the Wyoming Gun Owners will never have a conference at the Sheridan Holiday Inn again. Once it hit the papers, they lost a lot of Gun Owner customers.
Although you don't see it often, during hunting season you do see a lot of it. Most people that hunt around here, also carry a pistol and they do not remove it if they come in to town to do a little shopping or grab a meal.
I carry my Glock OC on neighborhood walks. Mainly because of big cats and dogs.
When hiking in bear country a have a .44 Mag and pepper spray. When I camp I have a .44 mag in the tent.
No one has ever given me a 2nd look.
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