I recently was having this argument with my sister who Conceal Carries. She basically was saying that because you have a gun openly on your waste, you are going to be an immediate threat for criminals meaning you will be shot.
I make it a point to not carry my waste around with me, and flush it before leaving the house.
My assumption was that the majority of people who do armed robberies do not actually want to have to shoot somebody... a murder charge is a murder charge.?
The only thing I would
assume about someone
brandishing a firearm (unless we're inside a gun store), is that they are a potential threat. I agree that the "majority" of armed robbers display the weapon as an intimidation factor, hoping to gain compliance from their victim(s) without having to put the weapon to it's intended use - firing a projectile. However... there are
those few who are not just
ready to shoot somebody, but are looking for
any opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, neither of these armed robbers wears a uniform - or even a white hat - so you can tell one from the other. If the BG is pointing a gun and is
not ready to shoot it, he has a latent death wish. OC'ing in the first case is less dangerous than in the second. Even the BG's know that you take out the most serious threat(s) first, and if the second BG above is at all observant of his surroundings, the OC'er
could be in trouble.
An example of this being my friend, who has had multiple guns pulled on him in side his house of people purchasing from him, and he just sits there all chill and mocks them like they wont shoot... 100% of the people didn't shoot and just left.?
Is your "friend" a dope dealer? Mocking someone that is pointing a gun at you probably isn't the smartest thing to do. Get a whacko pointing that gun, and you will only succeed in pi**ing him/her off... perhaps to the point of "bustin' a cap in yo a$$".
Back to open carrying... Doesn't it make sense that if a random criminal thinking about commiting a crime sees you open carrying a gun, he is going to think twice about commiting the crime against you? Why add an extra risk to the scenario? If I were in the criminal shoes I would not engage the man who definitely has a firearm, but rather wait for somebody who has the chance of not carrying any gun.?
Your question, "Doesn't it make sense that if a random criminal thinking about commiting a crime sees you open carrying a gun, he is going to think twice about commiting the crime against you?" has obvious merit. Anybody with any intelligence would probably pass you by for a less threatening prospect. Most small-time criminals are opportunistic, and they do not carefully plan out street crimes (as would a bank robber or international jewel thief). Keep in mind though, that those with half a brain (or even less) are smart enough to keep the element of surprise on their side (on the other hand, the "element of surprise" is equally on the side of the CC'er, but the CC'er is also faced with an average
additional presentation delay time of approx .75 sec - even Bob Munden).
Which argument is right? My sister is thinking that because you have a visible gun then to any criminal whether they commited they crime yet or not, is just going to shoot you because you are a threat to them, under the premis that the criminal is stupid/crazy. This is wrong right??
A
visible gun is a
visible threat, and if the BG(s) intention is to shoot someone, the OC'er will probably be his primary target. Personally, I believe the odds of finding oneself facing that kind of homicidal intent are relatively small. If you should experience such an encounter personally, please let us know how it came out...
if you can. I don't believe either you or your sister are
totally wrong.
I just want some input on this wonderful forum. Do you think Open Carrying makes you less of a target for violent crime, or more of a target?
My "bottom line" (in case you missed it) is that it all depends on the BG's intent (and without "Spidey-senses", guessing his/her intent is a crapshoot). There's about 20 questions that have to be answered within that millisecond before you commit one way or the other. The
most important question is,
how will you react when faced with such a scenario, and
will your reaction be legally defensible. Pax...