On your next stroll around Burke Lake you may see a gun-toting walker.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by normie

Nicely stated. Open carry made me a little nervous when I first moved here, but when I thought about it a little I came to the same conclusions. And I came to realize that the state I moved from, which was much more restrictive, also had higher crime problems. As stpickrell says, if this becomes a problem then I will reconsider my position, but for now it's not a problem.

Usually its the opposite:
VPC - Press Release - (05/06/2009) - States with Higher Gun Ownership and Weak Gun Laws Lead Nation in Gun Death

"the five states with the highest per capita gun death rates were Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi, and Nevada. Each of these states had a per capita gun death rate far exceeding the national per capita gun death rate of 10.32 per 100,000 for 2006. Each state has lax gun laws and higher gun ownership rates. By contrast, states with strong gun laws and low rates of gun ownership had far lower rates of firearm-related death. Ranking last in the nation for gun death was Hawaii, followed by Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York."

[robbobobbo]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Usually its the opposite:
VPC - Press Release - (05/06/2009) - States with Higher Gun Ownership and Weak Gun Laws Lead Nation in Gun Death

"the five states with the highest per capita gun death rates were Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi, and Nevada. Each of these states had a per capita gun death rate far exceeding the national per capita gun death rate of 10.32 per 100,000 for 2006. Each state has lax gun laws and higher gun ownership rates. By contrast, states with strong gun laws and low rates of gun ownership had far lower rates of firearm-related death. Ranking last in the nation for gun death was Hawaii, followed by Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York."

But normie said crime rate of the state she moved from, not gun-related death rate.

FWIW, I don't think easier access to guns is what makes the difference in crime rate when comparing a high-crime locality with gun restrictions to the far-flung NOVA burbs. NOVA is rather safe, with or without an armed citizenry, IMO.

[Caladium]

To me, the bottom line is this is a freedom that is not being abused. I like the idea of giving as much freedom as possible. If it becomes abused, then we'll talk. Until that time, however, I don't like the idea of restricting freedom because of a WORRY that it MIGHT be abused or because it's a problem in some other state.

And to repeat an earlier point, even though we have this freedom, you rarely see anyone carrying a gun. To be honest, the only time I've seen guns here was at a shooting range.

ps. ONE IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW Virginia has open carry, but DC does not. DO NOT take a gun from Virginia and carry it into DC. That's a huge mistake and will cost you big time.