Saying that, mentioning the foolishness of civilians openly
carrying firearms must be discussed and debated. The debate about the law here is long over
for me. Open carry or any carry is the
law of the land. The debate about the
wisdom of open carrying in an urban setting must continue.
Just because you can carry openly should you?
I say that open carry is incredibly problematic and will put
you in prison or worse! Let’s begin with
the worse. If you’re carrying a gun for
personal and family security doing that openly, deprives you of the element
surprise needed to survive a violent event. Even worse, experienced violent criminals can
be counted upon to attempt to strong-arm you for your weapon. The tactical
disadvantages of open carry are huge.
Other challenges are laid out like mines in a minefield. I’ve seen the fallout of open carry first
hand. Here are just some scenarios:
A gun rights hater sees you with your gun and calls
911. The story this jerk tells is
exaggerated in many different ways because the caller wants to see the police
confront you and your gun. The 911 caller
will say, “the guy appears drugged up or drunk” or “The guy looks mean and angry
and has his hand on the gun!” or “The guy is paying quick draw in the street!”
The police can be counted on to treat the call like it is valid and the potential
for disaster here is enormous.
Then there is the town troublemaker who will see your weapon
and will try to aggravate you and instigate to the point where something stupid
happens.
Last but not least is the malicious person that you may or
may not know. He or she wants to see you
in jail and calls 911 saying, “there’s a guy with a gun and he pointed at me
and threatened to shoot me!” The police
arrive and see you carrying the gun as described. With a complainant that continues with this
lie the police have absolute probable cause to arrest you for a felony crime of
Aggravated Assault.
They will arrest you, seize your gun and you will spend the
next year of your life fighting the lie in court. Between the huge cost for bail and lawyers,
even if you win in court you lose. Yes, I’ve
seen innocent people sent to prison for as much as seven years this way.
If you are arrested for Aggravated Assault there is an 80%
chance you will be convicted. Innocence is really irrelevant in today’s American
courtrooms.
If you are discreet and keep your weapon concealed you can
avoid so many real booby traps that can kill you or ruin your life. Why would you take the unnecessary risks of
open carry?
Saying all of that there are places where open carry is not
a problem Events like those put on by SASS (Single Action Shooting Society) or
for filmmaking.
I simply ask you to think before you place yourself in
harm’s way by openly carrying.
Comments
When a crime occurs, anyone who can interfere with the act must be stopped. That visible firearm makes you a priority target -- the criminal must deal with you first, and hopefully by surprise before you can react.
And, once down, as Paul notes your valuable firearm is then available to the criminal.
If you carry, do so legally concealed but first learn the legal requirements that must later be demonstrated to the court for your actions, get training from knowledgeable sources on concealment, drawing and firing, and then practice, practice, practice. "Hitting the target" is not an easy thing to do.
Finally, carry your attorney's telephone number in your wallet and set aside a few tens of thousands of dollars to defend yourself.
Yes there are evil people out there, the criminals who would rob, and the liars who would lie.
Clearly there are many who lack the fortitude and determination to risk their lives for the betterment of society.
Much like a young child is afraid of swimming in the water, many people are afraid of firearms in the hands of civilians. Both can be overcome with familiarization.
Open carry is an opportunity to familiarize people with decent law abiding gun owners, and reduce the fear that they may have.
Our Second amendment rights will not be won dueling with criminals, and having the upper hand in a gunfight. It will be won by winning over the minds of the fearful.
My open carry is an opportunity to educate, and I have spent the last 15 years doing so in Arizona. Many people have asked questions of me and have walked away more enlightened for the positive interaction.
I do not disagree with most your assessment of the dangers except for one. Most criminals are cowards, as is demonstrated by the plethora of attacks at locations where people are disarmed. How many police stations do mass murderers attack?
It is my opinion that most criminals, when they see me and others carrying openly, quite common here in Kingman, Az., will go elsewhere.
Any other risks; I am willing to take for the betterment of our society.
If we got back to being a society that practiced our rights more, it would be perfectly sensible to open carry. The more we exercise our liberty the better it becomes.
Even in the old Wild West (contrary to the myths propagated by Hollywood and started by Ned Buntline and his dime novels), people rarely openly carried sidearms, a practice that generally was forbidden in practically all Western cow-towns and throughout all municipalities throughout our nation.
As a uniformed PO I was occasionally confronted by honest citizens who were alarmed by the mere sight of my holstered sidearm. I always tried to assure them that they were safe in my presence. Carrying concealed, off duty or as I still do since retirement, I have never had a problem as people don't know that I am armed. I would never open carry, I think to do so is simply an invitation to disaster.
The lady in the photo could be quickly disarmed by a surprise attack and now a bad guy without a gun will have a gun and may hurt quite a few innocents before being dealt with by good guys with guns.
It alarms people? GOOD. These are the people that we should want to leave the country. These are the people that will not hesitate to use the violence of the state to take away your God-given rights so it's well passed time we stopped caring about them. At all.
Stop worrying about offending them. Stop compromising with them. Generally do whatever they don't like. And if the state enforcers are on their side, they can go too.
So that would include Cops yes?