M-Taliesin
Regular Member
Howdy Folks!
There are plenty of folks who will speak of problems associated with OC. Cops claim you'll be the very first target of a bad guy if trouble erupts. Most new OC'ers have a natural feeling of apprehension, if not outright fear, that they'll be hassled by other citizens or LEOs when they commence to OC'ing. Quite a few will ask about what to wear, how to wear it, what kind of gun to carry, what sort of holster to carry it in, and a whole range of what folks might consider problems.
To help clear some questions away, I'd like to observe what actual problems tend to manifest when an individual makes the decision to open carry.
First problem: OC'ing is a radical act, in the eyes of the general public. Yet, when we go out there, we get very little, if any, reaction at all.
Next, we tend to relate stories of open carry experiences that tend to sound pretty similar in nature: "Gee, I went out OC'ing, and nothing happened."
While we all love to hear of OC experiences that go well, after you've carried OC for as long as some on this forum, just posting "Gee, I went OC'ing and nothing happened" becomes somewhat redundant. Eventually, we get so comfortable with OC'ing that it loses uniqueness. It is just another day of non-eventful OC'ing.
LEO encounters: We all have met LEO's while OC'ing, and in most instances, nothing happens. It can be entertaining to read about a newcomer who has his first OC encounter, and his (or her) surprise that the LEO's don't pay much mind to the OC'er at all. In fact, it is almost downright disappointing. After all, we study up, learn about the encounters of others, prepare ourselves with the laws of our state, role play our anticipated responses in an LEO encounter, try to figure how we'll react to questions they may pose and by the time we actually meet an LEO, all they do is ask "What sort of pistol do you carry?" What's up with that sort of snotty question. We're all set to argue our civil liberties, our constitutional rights, what Article 2, sections 3 and 13 have to say about our right to bear arms, and all they want to know is what sort of pistol we're carrying? Where's the conflict? Where's the witty reparte'? Instead of demanding their RAS for being anywhere near our personal space, or demanding to speak with their supervisor, we end up telling them "It's an XDm .40 cal compact." That's just not what we prepared for. How dare they be civil to us when we're ready to grapple on the playing field of our constitutional liberties. They could at least ask something we might argue about. But Noooooooo. They gotta go around like ruffians respecting our rights! Is there no justice in this universe?
Let's be ruthlessly honest here: OC'ing is a whole lot like exhibitionism. Except that one is legal and the other isn't. Despite the famous line "This is my weapon, this is my gun. This one's for fighting, this one's for fun!", we (like exhibitionists) look for reactions from people on the streets. Just as an exhibitionist, we end up a little bewildered that nobody seems to notice. Maybe size does matter. Time to get a bigger gun!!! Many posts we see on the forum take the form of the "Nobody seemed to notice" variety, and you can almost see disappointment between the lines in such posts.
Honestly, when it comes to posting our experiences, it helps to have a little conflict to chat up! Or at least an encounter where we educated another citizen about open carry. But when we carry every day, all day long, and get no feedback from LEO's or the general public, it just doesn't spin a very good yarn.
Sure, we'll see posts now and again where an individual OC'er might have been asked to leave the gun in the car, or leave the local Walmart on the heels of an encounter with a night manager who suffers cranial-rectal juxtapositional syndrome, and we'll all get righteously indignant for a day or two... at least until the OP has a talk with the general manager or the corporate offices and everything turns out just peachy. Again, where is the existential conflict that makes for a good story? Where is the struggle for our rights when citizens simply won't challenge us on them? Where are the legions of OC'ers to shout Huzzah when an OC'er wins the hearts and minds of those around him by standing his constitutional ground?
The gloves must come off. We need more cops to abuse our rights so we have fodder to write about. We need more night managers who don't know the corporate policy when they throw us out of their store so we have something to relate on the forum. We need citizens to, in all good order, manifest shock or fear and run screaming in some direction away from us so we can share that experience with folks on the OCDO Colorado forum. Where are all those folks taking umbrage at our OCing? Where are the stalwart hearts who are supposed to challenge our right to carry our sidearms on the streets or shops where we are seen every day?
I personally am hoping to have an LEO experience go south one day just so I have material to write posts expressing my general annoyance and outrage at their infringement of my 2a rights.
Guess I'll need to travel out of state, because Colorado is just too darn accepting of our rights to make for great posts!
Blessings,
M-Taliesin
There are plenty of folks who will speak of problems associated with OC. Cops claim you'll be the very first target of a bad guy if trouble erupts. Most new OC'ers have a natural feeling of apprehension, if not outright fear, that they'll be hassled by other citizens or LEOs when they commence to OC'ing. Quite a few will ask about what to wear, how to wear it, what kind of gun to carry, what sort of holster to carry it in, and a whole range of what folks might consider problems.
To help clear some questions away, I'd like to observe what actual problems tend to manifest when an individual makes the decision to open carry.
First problem: OC'ing is a radical act, in the eyes of the general public. Yet, when we go out there, we get very little, if any, reaction at all.
Next, we tend to relate stories of open carry experiences that tend to sound pretty similar in nature: "Gee, I went out OC'ing, and nothing happened."
While we all love to hear of OC experiences that go well, after you've carried OC for as long as some on this forum, just posting "Gee, I went OC'ing and nothing happened" becomes somewhat redundant. Eventually, we get so comfortable with OC'ing that it loses uniqueness. It is just another day of non-eventful OC'ing.
LEO encounters: We all have met LEO's while OC'ing, and in most instances, nothing happens. It can be entertaining to read about a newcomer who has his first OC encounter, and his (or her) surprise that the LEO's don't pay much mind to the OC'er at all. In fact, it is almost downright disappointing. After all, we study up, learn about the encounters of others, prepare ourselves with the laws of our state, role play our anticipated responses in an LEO encounter, try to figure how we'll react to questions they may pose and by the time we actually meet an LEO, all they do is ask "What sort of pistol do you carry?" What's up with that sort of snotty question. We're all set to argue our civil liberties, our constitutional rights, what Article 2, sections 3 and 13 have to say about our right to bear arms, and all they want to know is what sort of pistol we're carrying? Where's the conflict? Where's the witty reparte'? Instead of demanding their RAS for being anywhere near our personal space, or demanding to speak with their supervisor, we end up telling them "It's an XDm .40 cal compact." That's just not what we prepared for. How dare they be civil to us when we're ready to grapple on the playing field of our constitutional liberties. They could at least ask something we might argue about. But Noooooooo. They gotta go around like ruffians respecting our rights! Is there no justice in this universe?
Let's be ruthlessly honest here: OC'ing is a whole lot like exhibitionism. Except that one is legal and the other isn't. Despite the famous line "This is my weapon, this is my gun. This one's for fighting, this one's for fun!", we (like exhibitionists) look for reactions from people on the streets. Just as an exhibitionist, we end up a little bewildered that nobody seems to notice. Maybe size does matter. Time to get a bigger gun!!! Many posts we see on the forum take the form of the "Nobody seemed to notice" variety, and you can almost see disappointment between the lines in such posts.
Honestly, when it comes to posting our experiences, it helps to have a little conflict to chat up! Or at least an encounter where we educated another citizen about open carry. But when we carry every day, all day long, and get no feedback from LEO's or the general public, it just doesn't spin a very good yarn.
Sure, we'll see posts now and again where an individual OC'er might have been asked to leave the gun in the car, or leave the local Walmart on the heels of an encounter with a night manager who suffers cranial-rectal juxtapositional syndrome, and we'll all get righteously indignant for a day or two... at least until the OP has a talk with the general manager or the corporate offices and everything turns out just peachy. Again, where is the existential conflict that makes for a good story? Where is the struggle for our rights when citizens simply won't challenge us on them? Where are the legions of OC'ers to shout Huzzah when an OC'er wins the hearts and minds of those around him by standing his constitutional ground?
The gloves must come off. We need more cops to abuse our rights so we have fodder to write about. We need more night managers who don't know the corporate policy when they throw us out of their store so we have something to relate on the forum. We need citizens to, in all good order, manifest shock or fear and run screaming in some direction away from us so we can share that experience with folks on the OCDO Colorado forum. Where are all those folks taking umbrage at our OCing? Where are the stalwart hearts who are supposed to challenge our right to carry our sidearms on the streets or shops where we are seen every day?
I personally am hoping to have an LEO experience go south one day just so I have material to write posts expressing my general annoyance and outrage at their infringement of my 2a rights.
Guess I'll need to travel out of state, because Colorado is just too darn accepting of our rights to make for great posts!
Blessings,
M-Taliesin