Open Carry, not just a right but a responsibility

I live in a small town in the Columbia River Gorge. I do not ever leave my house with out my .45 in an open carry condition. I go to the big cities (both Vancouver and Portland areas) once or perhaps twice a week. I ride my motorcycle sixteen thousand miles a year. Mostly in Oregon and Washington. I always open carry. I am the only one I see open carry anywhere. I come here to open carry dot org and read the posts. I feel that about one percent you out there may really open carry while the rest have a weak kneed NRA approach to the second amendment. I have broached this vain of dialog before with a little less avidity and have always gotten a plethora of excuses why those of you who can don’t open carry. Fact is ladies and gentlemen open carry is no longer just a right it is a responsibility. First responsibility, the bad guys and the demented need to see that there are those of us, who are ready and willing to shoot back, not just helpless victims. Second responsibility, we need to anesthetize the public so they don’t jerk when they see someone open carrying a handgun. We need responsible folk to be ambassadors of open carry, not the simple minded that wonder around loitering, swaggering there hip with camera ready hoping to be harassed. This helps no one and accomplishes nothing.
If you don’t have the knarlies to open carry your weapon then why come here to this site? Stick with Vanity Fair.
I’m sure this will p*** a few of you off. Quite frankly I don’t care. What I care about is turning this liberal wagon around and this is one of the things I do. What are you willing to do?

Guy

purlrider said:

I live in a small town in the Columbia River Gorge. I do not ever leave my house with out my .45 in an open carry condition. I go to the big cities (both Vancouver and Portland areas) once or perhaps twice a week. I ride my motorcycle sixteen thousand miles a year. Mostly in Oregon and Washington. I always open carry. I am the only one I see open carry anywhere. I come here to open carry dot org and read the posts. I feel that about one percent you out there may really open carry while the rest have a weak kneed NRA approach to the second amendment. I have broached this vain of dialog before with a little less avidity and have always gotten a plethora of excuses why those of you who can don’t open carry. Fact is ladies and gentlemen open carry is no longer just a right it is a responsibility. Responsibility one, we need to anesthetize the public so they don’t jerk when they see someone open carrying a handgun. Responsibility two, the demented need to see that there are those of us who are ready and willing to shoot back, not just be helpless victims. We need responsible folk to be ambassadors of open carry, not the simple minded that wonder around swaggering there hip and camera ready hoping to be harassed. That helps no one.
If you don’t have the knarlies to open carry your weapon then why come here to this site? Stick with Vanity Fair.
I’m sure this will p*** a few of you off. Quite frankly I don’t care. What I care about is turning this liberal wagon around and this is one of the things I do. What are you willing to do?

Guy

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sup guy-

i think it's more than 1 percent. maybe 3.5%. ha.

i'm right there with you...being in florida, i can't open carry.....but when i visit any of the other 43(now 44) states that don't prohibit it, i open carry. unless i'm wearing gym shorts. which in an open carry state, i try not to do.

i don't do it for "attention", nor do i carry a voice or video recorder around with me at the ready. (well, my phone is both but..)

i have read stories on here where people were minding their business open carrying, not for attention, and have been harassed.

Everywhere I go that is not prohibited I OC, with the exception of work where I have to cover it up.
I have seen 2 people besides myself in nearing 10 years that were OC in my area.
I will carry on, keep spreading the word, and push for change.

Pat

I OC about 90% of the time, thank you very much. I think you'll find that most people in this forum that live in OC states OC at least 50% of the time.

purlrider said:

I come here to open carry dot org and read the posts. I feel that about one percent you out there may really open carry while the rest have a weak kneed NRA approach to the second amendment.

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Ok, you sound like a troll. Here's my OC experience:

Before I'd ever heard of opencarry.org, I'd seen plenty of people OCing, some when I lived in Spokane, WA, often while hiking, backpacking, and hunting in Washington and Idaho, but occasionally in and around the various towns, as well. When I was first stationed at Fairchild AFB (Spokane), I'd been CCing for more than a year, and I continued to CC throughout my time in Washington and elsewhere.

Shortly after I retired here in Colorado Springs, I applied for and received my CHP (concealed handgun permit), and began carrying in earnest. One of the gents at the gun show said OC was legal, so I looked for websites on OC in Colorado and found this website. That was in September of 2009, and I lurked there for about four months.

It wasn't for a couple of months after I joined here, in January 2010, that I got up enough nerve to OC in public. Hiking? No problem. Walking into a grocery store? I was being cautious so as not to break any laws.

Less than a month later, I attended my first OC meet and great, and we had seven or eight attendees. Since then I've attended a dozen such meetings, of more than thirty different attendees. Around town and separate from the meetings, I've encountered at least a dozen OCers.

That's my experience, so I'm sorry, but from my humble carry beginnings in the Inland Northwest to my time here in Colorado, I've encountered dozens of OCers.

Fact is ladies and gentlemen open carry is no longer just a right it is a responsibility. First responsibility, the bad guys and the demented need to see that there are those of us, who are ready and willing to shoot back, not just helpless victims.

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While I agree with in part, it remains an option.

Second responsibility, we need to anesthetize the public so they don’t jerk when they see someone open carrying a handgun.

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That's why this forum was created, and why we spend so much time here encouraging others to OC. How did you miss that? Again, however, it's an option, not a responsibility, though I admire your enthusiasm.

We need responsible folk to be ambassadors of open carry, not the simple minded that wonder around loitering, swaggering there hip with camera ready hoping to be harassed. This helps no one and accomplishes nothing.

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OC "activists" who troll for LEO interactions are not ambassadors. I think we agree on this point.

If you don’t have the knarlies to open carry your weapon then why come here to this site? Stick with Vanity Fair.
I’m sure this will p*** a few of you off. Quite frankly I don’t care. What I care about is turning this liberal wagon around and this is one of the things I do. What are you willing to do?

Guy

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I'm not sure where your animosity comes from, Guy, but it's undeserved, especially on this forum. What I've observed over the last twenty-two years has been very different than what you've reported in your thread.

The post read to me just like a post from a 1%er on a biker forum, where if you don't live and breathe on your bike 99% of the time, you're not a "real biker".

OP seems to believe that if you don't open carry 100% of the time, you're not a "real open carrier".

I'm not a fan of elitism.

Fortunately, I don't carry to please the OP or anyone else. I carry for myself and those I care about. As such, I'll carry how I want, when I want, and where I want as dictated by circumstance and situation. If that means I'm not a "real open carrier", so be it. I'm not a "real biker", either.

We need responsible folk to be ambassadors of open carry, not the simple minded that wonder around loitering, swaggering there hip with camera ready hoping to be harassed. This helps no one and accomplishes nothing.

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I disagree, the "simple minded", as you call them, are exactly what "we" need. It is "the simple minded that wander around loitering, swaggering there hip with camera ready hoping to be harassed" that affect change in those LEAs that have displayed a pattern of infringing the rights of the citizenry. "Anesthetizing" our fellow citizens is a benefit of "educating" LE to not infringe upon the rights of LACs who are OCing.

If the cops know the law, follow the law, and are held accountable when they violate the law, I don't give a rip what you or anyone else thinks about how I lawfully exercise one of my rights. Mind numbed citizens do not educate LE, we OCers do and sometimes it takes a judge to assist in our educating LE. In my experience, limited as it may be, my fellow citizens don't give a rip about me and my OCed firearm. The only folks who give a rip are ignernt cops.

I open carry 90% of the time where I can legally, CC the other 10%. I have seen 2 other open carriers in my area, one of them is my son.