I am actually nervous about open carrying. The whole idea of the attention that i would get, and dealing with LEO's makes me nervous.
Howdy Amigo!
As I tell everybody who feels that same sense of apprehension starting out on their first adventures into OC'ing, and will share with you here, is that the nervousness you feel is absolutely normal, maybe even reasonable. That's why I offer to help ease folks through the transition by taking them on an outing to see how things are in the real world regarding OC.
To emphasize: The stuff we worry about most, never seems to happen.
We conjure up all manner of things in our minds that just don't seem to manifest when we start OC'ing.
Can things happen? Surely, they can and do. Are they likely? No, not so much.
That being said, spending an afternoon running around with somebody who has been OC'ing for awhile and knows things about it can be truly helpful.
While an LEO encounter is highly unlikely, it can and eventually will happen. With the last fellow I took on an outing, it just so happened that somebody called in a MWAG to the local cop shop while we were out. My companion was able to see how an experienced OC'er interacted with the police, and how the police responded to the situation. What I'm pretty sure my companion viewed as an evolving confrontation when the police arrived was transformed into a total 'non-event' by the casual and friendly interaction between carriers and cops. He was able to observe how easily we can got along. What looked like a negative episode quickly became a friendly banter replete with handshakes and some off the wall jokes that made for a positive experience for all concerned. Whatever apprehension my partner felt were quickly dispelled by how we interacted. The stuff we worry most about never seems to happen. All of which does not mean you should not be prepared for anything, just that the worst case scenario tends to be rare as hens teeth.
Anyhow, I have a whole bunch of stuff on my plate this week, but am always happy to make time to help another OC'er get started and comfortable with this whole new sort of experience.
Again, welcome to the herd!
Blessings,
M-Taliesin