Recently there was a legal issue brought up in a local municipality that dealt with "open carry", that is, the carrying of firearms for defense openly and exposed for all to see instead of concealed under clothing. I won't dive into the legal aspects or the arguments made, as that's not what this post is about. What I want to cover is an often overlooked reason why I think concealed carry is a MUCH better idea than open carry. No, I don't think it should be illegal, but I don't think you should do it.
There are quite a few excellent sites out there that talk about which is better, tactics wise, so I also will not be talking about that aspect.
Dead, bleeding deer
Let's talk about hunting for a second. There are three types of people out there: Those who are pro-hunting, those who are anti-hunting and those who don't have really strong feelings about it one way or the other. There is a large chunk of people in the first block, a small but EXTREMELY VOCAL chunk in the second, and an enormous number in the third.
It is this third group of people you need to be careful around. Why? Because it might just take one instance of a hunter being an asshole or not paying attention to push someone from this third group into the second group.
Here's an example: When you transport your deer home, it is always good to make sure you have it covered up and have the tail gate closed so people don't see it there. (There are also very good sanitary reasons for this, but that's a different topic.) Now as you are driving home on county and perhaps city roads, a minivan with a soccer mom and her kids slowly passes you. Her kids look out the side window and see Bambi's dad in a jumble in the back of your truck, tongue hanging out and still dripping blood. The kids point "Mommy! Mommy! Look!" and suddenly BAM! you just possibly pushed someone who was in group three into group two.
It is a purely gut, emotional reaction in this case.
So how does this tie in with carrying a weapon?
I think a much overlooked reason to carry concealed is sensitivity to other people, i.e., the same reason we hunters cover our harvests on our way home. I have encountered two people in my local area that were carrying openly that I was certain were not police. One was a rather unassuming guy just walking downtown. The other was a rather loud, obnoxious asshole my wife and I watched at the grocery store for a while.
As I said, this guy was obviously not a cop. And he attracted attention in the same way that loud obnoxious assholes usually do. What kind of impressions did he give to people around him? This is important because when it comes to carrying weapons, the same three groups of people exist. How many people might he have pushed from group three to group two?
But the guy was an asshole anyway!
Yes, very true. But lots of non-shooters get weirded out around firearms anyway and they have been fed a steady diet of anti-gun propaganda for YEARS. Don't run the risk of affirming a stereotype.
Look, we pro-gun people have been fighting the lies and bullshit from the antis for... Good Lord, as long as I can remember. We are battling for the hearts and minds of that third group. AND WE ARE WINNING! The wind is at our back. Perhaps in the future people won't be weirded out when they see guns on people. BUT... until that time, we need to be careful. We need to always be on our best behavior, be friendly, be good neighbors, give good first impressions and be sensitive of people who may not be in our camp. (Actually, this is good advice at all times, period.)
As I said, there are MUCH better reasons for carrying concealed instead of openly (see the writings of Massad Ayoob and Jeff Cooper for starters). This is just an extra point I felt hadn't been addressed. Do I think open carry should be legal? Yes, yes I do. But even if legal, I still would urge you to carry concealed.
There are quite a few excellent sites out there that talk about which is better, tactics wise, so I also will not be talking about that aspect.
Dead, bleeding deer
Let's talk about hunting for a second. There are three types of people out there: Those who are pro-hunting, those who are anti-hunting and those who don't have really strong feelings about it one way or the other. There is a large chunk of people in the first block, a small but EXTREMELY VOCAL chunk in the second, and an enormous number in the third.
It is this third group of people you need to be careful around. Why? Because it might just take one instance of a hunter being an asshole or not paying attention to push someone from this third group into the second group.
Here's an example: When you transport your deer home, it is always good to make sure you have it covered up and have the tail gate closed so people don't see it there. (There are also very good sanitary reasons for this, but that's a different topic.) Now as you are driving home on county and perhaps city roads, a minivan with a soccer mom and her kids slowly passes you. Her kids look out the side window and see Bambi's dad in a jumble in the back of your truck, tongue hanging out and still dripping blood. The kids point "Mommy! Mommy! Look!" and suddenly BAM! you just possibly pushed someone who was in group three into group two.
It is a purely gut, emotional reaction in this case.
So how does this tie in with carrying a weapon?
I think a much overlooked reason to carry concealed is sensitivity to other people, i.e., the same reason we hunters cover our harvests on our way home. I have encountered two people in my local area that were carrying openly that I was certain were not police. One was a rather unassuming guy just walking downtown. The other was a rather loud, obnoxious asshole my wife and I watched at the grocery store for a while.
As I said, this guy was obviously not a cop. And he attracted attention in the same way that loud obnoxious assholes usually do. What kind of impressions did he give to people around him? This is important because when it comes to carrying weapons, the same three groups of people exist. How many people might he have pushed from group three to group two?
But the guy was an asshole anyway!
Yes, very true. But lots of non-shooters get weirded out around firearms anyway and they have been fed a steady diet of anti-gun propaganda for YEARS. Don't run the risk of affirming a stereotype.
Look, we pro-gun people have been fighting the lies and bullshit from the antis for... Good Lord, as long as I can remember. We are battling for the hearts and minds of that third group. AND WE ARE WINNING! The wind is at our back. Perhaps in the future people won't be weirded out when they see guns on people. BUT... until that time, we need to be careful. We need to always be on our best behavior, be friendly, be good neighbors, give good first impressions and be sensitive of people who may not be in our camp. (Actually, this is good advice at all times, period.)
As I said, there are MUCH better reasons for carrying concealed instead of openly (see the writings of Massad Ayoob and Jeff Cooper for starters). This is just an extra point I felt hadn't been addressed. Do I think open carry should be legal? Yes, yes I do. But even if legal, I still would urge you to carry concealed.
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