M-Taliesin
Regular Member
Howdy Folks!
I feel that we have an onus upon us to spread the word to our fellow law abiding citizens that open carry is legal in Colorado. I open carry every single day, despite the fact that I have a CCW permit. I simply prefer to OC, and have a notion that concealed carry is only appropriate in a nudist park! (Once you get beyond that disturbing image, let's move along!)
So we had a nice Meet and Greet in Colorado Springs on Wednesday evening. We had a good turn out, and some really excellent chow. I headed back to the Denver area metromess and was enjoying the 2008 Jeep Liberty that I've had now for almost 2 weeks. Just after I cleared the Springs, I noticed a light on my dashboard that I've never seen before. After pondering it awhile, I figured it was trying to tell me I had a low tire. I stopped at Baptist Road to put air in it, and of course, it started raining. In fact, it was pouring as I set about to determine which of the 4 tires was needing air. I checked each one, one after another. Of course it was the 4th one I checked that turned out to be low. Couldn't have been the first one I looked at. No.... that'd have been entirely too easy!
Once that chore was accomplished, I stepped inside and a truck driver from Georgia looked at me and said "You're packing a gun?" To which I replied, "Yeah... of course!" The man eyed me with some consternation etched across his leathery features and said "You can carry a gun like that, out in the open?" I pulled off my leather jacket and set it aside to drip dry. "Yes. Colorado is a free state. We can open carry anywhere and at any time, with remarkably few exceptions. Like the People's Republic of Denver!" The clerk behind the counter chimed in with "Yeah, you can carry openly when you have a permit." I looked up in surprise and responded "No. You don't need a permit to carry openly. The permit is for concealed carry. Open carry requires no blessings from the state." The truck driver from Georgia said "I gotta move to Colorado!"
So I headed back to the Jeep... and of course it had stopped raining by then... and headed north. I decided to stop at an Aurora King Soopers to fetch a few victuals before cruising home. I made my circuit through the store and came to checkout. Because of the hour, all the check stands were closed. I headed to the self serve checkout lanes and they too were all closed with one exception. Standing there, ringing up his own groceries, was an Aurora cop in uniform. He paid me no mind as he continued scanning his goods. The next checklane was opened, and I went to scan my own goodies through so I could bag stuff up. He now was standing directly beside me and the sidearm was on the same side as him. He could not have missed seeing it. But he said nothing at all about it.
But as I left, I had a nice conversation about open carry with a fellow that was sweeping up in the parking lot. He didn't know that open carry is legal here either. I gave him some information and went on home to dry out and call it a day.
So I feel I did my part to spread the word.
I feel it is important to educate our fellow citizens about open carry. The simple matter is, the more law abiding citizens that choose to exercise our right to open carry, the less enthusiastic anybody will be in trying to take that right away. So long as we are few, and lack unity, the easier to pick us off one man at a time. I believe many folks who would carry do not because they simply do not know it is their right. And as has been said by smarter folks than me... a right unused is a right easily abused.
Blessings,
M-Taliesin
I feel that we have an onus upon us to spread the word to our fellow law abiding citizens that open carry is legal in Colorado. I open carry every single day, despite the fact that I have a CCW permit. I simply prefer to OC, and have a notion that concealed carry is only appropriate in a nudist park! (Once you get beyond that disturbing image, let's move along!)
So we had a nice Meet and Greet in Colorado Springs on Wednesday evening. We had a good turn out, and some really excellent chow. I headed back to the Denver area metromess and was enjoying the 2008 Jeep Liberty that I've had now for almost 2 weeks. Just after I cleared the Springs, I noticed a light on my dashboard that I've never seen before. After pondering it awhile, I figured it was trying to tell me I had a low tire. I stopped at Baptist Road to put air in it, and of course, it started raining. In fact, it was pouring as I set about to determine which of the 4 tires was needing air. I checked each one, one after another. Of course it was the 4th one I checked that turned out to be low. Couldn't have been the first one I looked at. No.... that'd have been entirely too easy!
Once that chore was accomplished, I stepped inside and a truck driver from Georgia looked at me and said "You're packing a gun?" To which I replied, "Yeah... of course!" The man eyed me with some consternation etched across his leathery features and said "You can carry a gun like that, out in the open?" I pulled off my leather jacket and set it aside to drip dry. "Yes. Colorado is a free state. We can open carry anywhere and at any time, with remarkably few exceptions. Like the People's Republic of Denver!" The clerk behind the counter chimed in with "Yeah, you can carry openly when you have a permit." I looked up in surprise and responded "No. You don't need a permit to carry openly. The permit is for concealed carry. Open carry requires no blessings from the state." The truck driver from Georgia said "I gotta move to Colorado!"
So I headed back to the Jeep... and of course it had stopped raining by then... and headed north. I decided to stop at an Aurora King Soopers to fetch a few victuals before cruising home. I made my circuit through the store and came to checkout. Because of the hour, all the check stands were closed. I headed to the self serve checkout lanes and they too were all closed with one exception. Standing there, ringing up his own groceries, was an Aurora cop in uniform. He paid me no mind as he continued scanning his goods. The next checklane was opened, and I went to scan my own goodies through so I could bag stuff up. He now was standing directly beside me and the sidearm was on the same side as him. He could not have missed seeing it. But he said nothing at all about it.
But as I left, I had a nice conversation about open carry with a fellow that was sweeping up in the parking lot. He didn't know that open carry is legal here either. I gave him some information and went on home to dry out and call it a day.
So I feel I did my part to spread the word.
I feel it is important to educate our fellow citizens about open carry. The simple matter is, the more law abiding citizens that choose to exercise our right to open carry, the less enthusiastic anybody will be in trying to take that right away. So long as we are few, and lack unity, the easier to pick us off one man at a time. I believe many folks who would carry do not because they simply do not know it is their right. And as has been said by smarter folks than me... a right unused is a right easily abused.
Blessings,
M-Taliesin