how many people actually open carry?

[Guest Jon]

I'm sorry if this has been posted before I did search open carry and did not find anything so....

I was wondering how many of you actually open carry. I have mixed feelings on the subject my self.

I feel like I should be able to open carry as a law abiding individual. On the other hand I know how ignorant some people can be and the drama it may bring.

So tell me why you do/do not open carry. Maybe some stories on your experiences with open carry.

[Punisher84]

It's an older poll, but if you do an advanced search for open carry in "titles only" you'll find plenty.

http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/handgun-carry-self-defense/186-concealed-open-carry.html

[enfield]

I have open-carried and I will again, but I'm 99%+ concealed.

[DRM]

I voted for both options, however I CC the vast majority of the time. Out of 365 days in a year, I would guess I OC *maybe* a dozen days total.

Since I normally pocket carry, on days when I will be doing farm work, etc. and it might fall out of my pocket, or CC would be a sweaty mess - It's OC time.

[Guest clownsdd]

I oc around the yard and house, but for the most part cc I voted both also.

[Guest NashvegasMatt]

i feel like we have this conversation about every 4 days

[Guest Red5]

When i am camping, hiking, etc in one of our state parks (thanks TN legislators) I will occasionally OC, otherwise, it's concealed.

This will be my answer in 4 days also.

[Guest gw2and4]

I have open-carried and I will again, but I'm 99%+ concealed.

This.

Sent from my iPhone 4

[tnhawk]

It's easier to conceal than deal with the problems of open carry. I'd pefer to not have a thug aware that I'm armed.

[Guest 270win]

If i am in the outdoors on WMA land hunting or walking around and am carrying a full sized handgun for protection, I'll open carry. Same thing with going to the range and I happen to stop and get gas. I don't really care if someone sees my gun on my belt at a gas station while I stand by my car pumping gas.

Other than the above situations I am concealing a snub on me in public. I can't meet with clients or other business people with a gun out in the open and I honestly don't want them knowing I have a gun on me.

[RobertNashville]

I voted concealed because 99.99% of the time that's how I carry but I have open carried on a few occasions.

I do wonder, however, why does this make any difference to anybody????

Not trying to be mean to anyone but other than pure curiosity (and I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with being curious), I truly don't see the point of this question that seems to come up in one form or another all the time. It sort of reminds me of the "automatic" vs. "manual" debates on most sport car forums I belong to...they never end!

[Kegger]

I tend to OC more nowadays since deciding to carry a light on my gun and shoving the whole package IWB is incredibly uncomfortable being as small as I am.

[Punisher84]

I voted concealed because 99.99% of the time that's how I carry but I have open carried on a few occasions.

I do wonder, however, why does this make any difference to anybody????

Not trying to be mean to anyone but other than pure curiosity (and I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with being curious), I truly don't see the point of this question that seems to come up in one form or another all the time. It sort of reminds me of the "automatic" vs. "manual" debates on most sport car forums I belong to...they never end!

I guess every "hobby", if you will, has to have an age old debate. I swear somewhere there is a book they give to new posters with rules about how to ask questions that have already been asked a million times, then someone comes back later, steals the book and wipes our memories so that we're constantly like "WTF?!"

[Erik88]

I voted concealed because 99.99% of the time that's how I carry but I have open carried on a few occasions.

I do wonder, however, why does this make any difference to anybody????

Not trying to be mean to anyone but other than pure curiosity (and I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with being curious), I truly don't see the point of this question that seems to come up in one form or another all the time. It sort of reminds me of the "automatic" vs. "manual" debates on most sport car forums I belong to...they never end!

no one is forcing you to participate in the thread. You already made your point about OC very clear in the other thread where you went on and on and on....It doesn't matter if you don't "see the point of this question"

move along now..

[Guest Jon]

I voted concealed because 99.99% of the time that's how I carry but I have open carried on a few occasions.

I do wonder, however, why does this make any difference to anybody????

Not trying to be mean to anyone but other than pure curiosity (and I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with being curious), I truly don't see the point of this question that seems to come up in one form or another all the time. It sort of reminds me of the "automatic" vs. "manual" debates on most sport car forums I belong to...they never end!

Don't worry about being mean haha I'm thick skined. The reason for me asking the question is that I'm about to obtain my hcp and I'm trying to decide how I will be carrying. If I plan on oc the majority of the time I am going to put more money into an open carry holster and vice versa. I will have both because I do see the need to conceal in some situations but I am leaning toward open carry at the moment.

I was really just curious to here some "war" stories as to any positive or negative experiences with oc. If I'm going to have to deal with people calling the police on me for carrying my weapon everytime I go out ill probably conceal.

[Punisher84]

no one is forcing you to participate in the thread. You already made your point about OC very clear in the other thread where you went on and on and on....It doesn't matter if you don't "see the point of this question"

move along now..

Robert can come to his own defense, but seriously man I found the SAME F'ING POLL in a 2 second search. This is like short term memory loss people debating around here.

[RobertNashville]

no one is forcing you to participate in the thread. You already made your point about OC very clear in the other thread where you went on and on and on....It doesn't matter if you don't "see the point of this question"

move along now..

Actually, I didn't make my point clear at all if you think what I said in the other thread had anything to do with the subject of open carry. That's what certain people tried to turn it into but was NOT what I was talking about ATALL.

[Punisher84]

Don't worry about being mean haha I'm thick skined. The reason for me asking the question is that I'm about to obtain my hcp and I'm trying to decide how I will be carrying. If I plan on oc the majority of the time I am going to put more money into an open carry holster and vice versa. I will have both because I do see the need to conceal in some situations but I am leaning toward open carry at the moment.

I was really just curious to here some "war" stories as to any positive or negative experiences with oc. If I'm going to have to deal with people calling the police on me for carrying my weapon everytime I go out ill probably conceal.

Only YOU are going to decide what you are comfortable with. Most stories you can imagine you will get told here. Half this board thinks OC is God's chosen method and the other half think if you don't conceal you are going to get stabbed in the back and your gun taken while you are standing at the 7-11. Then there are a few in the middle who just do whatever.

Buy you a holster, put your gun in it, and go about your normal business one day. If you feel like you're walking around naked, cover it up. If you don't, rock out with your Glock out.

[Erik88]

Actually, I didn't make my point clear at all if you think what I said in the other thread had anything to do with the subject of open carry. That's what certain people tried to turn it into but was NOT what I was talking about ATALL.

the OP just told us why he asked the question. Let the thread run it's course.

[mikegideon]

I have open-carried and I will again, but I'm 99%+ concealed.

This

[RobertNashville]

Don't worry about being mean haha I'm thick skined. The reason for me asking the question is that I'm about to obtain my hcp and I'm trying to decide how I will be carrying. If I plan on oc the majority of the time I am going to put more money into an open carry holster and vice versa. I will have both because I do see the need to conceal in some situations but I am leaning toward open carry at the moment.

I was really just curious to here some "war" stories as to any positive or negative experiences with oc. If I'm going to have to deal with people calling the police on me for carrying my weapon everytime I go out ill probably conceal.

Understood and thanks for clarifying.

Before I get into my reasons for why I carry, I don't know if OC or CC has all that much to do with what holster you might want. I have both IWB and OWB holsters but how concealed or not concealed they are has almost everything to do with whether I have a garment that covers the weapon or not.

I would suggest that whether you do or don't open carry should depend on where you plan to carry...some places/groups of people, etc. are simply more comfortable with the idea of seeing someone with a holstered gun on his hip than are other people...I can almost guarantee you that if you open carry in some places, even though it's perfectly to do so, it will be far more likely that someone is going to freak out/get pissed/call the police/complain to the nearest authority store manger, etc. Other places open carrying won't raise an eyebrow.

I almost never open carry for 2 simple reasons.

1. I don't really want people, especially possible "bad guys" (for pretty obvious reasons) to know I'm armed.

2. I think the potential "bad effect" it can have on people's perception outweighs the potential "good effect"; at least most of the time.

In general, if people don't know I'm armed, I don't need to be concerned about how they'll react (such as what happened not long ago when a person who was open carrying was made to leave a theater that was not posted against carrying just because someone didn't like the fact that he was there and armed).

Despite what some (apparently super-sensitive) folks here want to think, I have no problem with anyone who wants/does open carry. Do what you want and what you feel comfortable with.

[Guest Jon]

Qwertyuiop

Edited February 3, 2011 by Jon
lets just see

[RobertNashville]

the OP just told us why he asked the question.

Yes...after I asked the question in my post and which I've now responded to.

Let the thread run it's course.

Even assuming I didn't want it to "run its course", which would be an incorrect assumption; what power do you believe I have that would make it possible for me to stop it from doing so???

[Guest BenderBendingRodriguez]

It seems to me that concealed carrying gives you more options. It's fairly easy to decide whether or not to get involved in a situation when you're carrying concealed. Especially if it comes to defense of third parties. Open carry seems like it has more potential for you to be dragged into something you might otherwise be able to avoid.

[Erik88]

Even assuming I didn't want it to "run its course", which would be an incorrect assumption; what power do you believe I have that would make it possible for me to stop it from doing so???

....