fire suppressor
Regular Member
I had a great day yesterday I got out and open carried in a part of the state I never have before. I started the day on my motorcycle and rove out to Gig Harbor and made a stop at the good to go office to get a few stickers. I held out as long as I could but when you do the math their pass is the cheapest way to pay for the toll. Walking into the office I had my motorcycle coat on but open with my XD open on my hip. I am going to call this a partial open carry because while my coat may have technically have covered up the gun I know at parts of my time there the coat was open enough for everyone to see it. I spent about 30 minutes in the office and created a new account and got two stickers one for the Jeep and one for the bike. By the time I walked out of the office the sun had come out and it had heated up so I took my coat of and placed it in a saddle bag. From this point unless started the entire rest of the day was open carry in a tshirt. After that I went to a gas station across the street to gas up, clean my windshield and place the sticker on the bike. When I was putting gas in the bike there was a man on the other side of the pump in a big Comcast utility truck. He made a point to walk over and start a conversation. He was very polite and curious, he started by asking if Washington was a open carry state and then told me he has been hearing more and more about it. He sat and talked for a while longer than it took for either to get gas. I did not have any pamphlets to give him but our conversation went well and he thanked me for open carrying and told me he is glad Washington allows it.
After that I headed back on the road initially I wanted to go to Mt Rainer but got hungry around Convington so I stopped to eat. I do not know my way around the city so I can not be very specific but I took a exit off of 18 and stopped at a panda express near a Walmart. When I walked into panda express I was the only customer in the store, I made my order sat down and ate. As I ate other customers came in and when I left I did notice a few teenagers eying me. They looked curious but I did not interact with them and they did not interact with me. I checked my GPS and noticed I was close to Kent where I good friend of mine lives who I have not seen in too long. So at this point I gave up on Rainer for the day and took off to Kent. I did notice a few looks from people as they got off a public buss but no one went screaming down the road. About part way to Kent, and again sorry I can not give exact locations I found a gun store called Bear Arms. I stopped to check it out they are a combination gun and teddy bear with a open carry policy on the font door. Basically it said as long as your gun is in the holster they do not care. They had a nice basic selection of handguns, shotguns and riles but inventory was low. I made small talk with the two people working the store and they seemed nice, I could not find anything I needed as I left I passed a group of people walking in and got compliments on open carrying.
I got to Kent a little early my friend was still at work so I drive around Kent for a little bit. I found a REI (love that place) and stopped. I was a little nervous to open carry in REI I have no idea what their gun policy is or if they even have one. I spent a good amount of time browsing the store with absolutely no problems at all. I bought a cheap cell phone aka GPS mount for my motorcycle. It is a little bulky but it was cheap and it works. After REI I met up with my friend we had dinner at Kent station and it was here I took my gun off and put it in his car. I did not have any adult beverages but we did eat in the bar portion of a restaurant so the gun had to come off. By the time we where done catching up it was dark. I walked back to his car and put my gun on and then walked around Kent station just to see what was there. After my stroll I jumped back on the bike and headed home.
All and all it was a great day. I got to go on a motorcycle ride, checked out a new gun store, found a REI and met up with a old friend. I have really enjoyed open carrying on my motorcycle it forces you to open carry more. I am not afraid to open carry but sometimes like at REI if I am unsure of the policy I normally might cover it up or leave it in the car. I do not have that option on the bike so it has been good to get me out of my normal open carry comfort zone
After that I headed back on the road initially I wanted to go to Mt Rainer but got hungry around Convington so I stopped to eat. I do not know my way around the city so I can not be very specific but I took a exit off of 18 and stopped at a panda express near a Walmart. When I walked into panda express I was the only customer in the store, I made my order sat down and ate. As I ate other customers came in and when I left I did notice a few teenagers eying me. They looked curious but I did not interact with them and they did not interact with me. I checked my GPS and noticed I was close to Kent where I good friend of mine lives who I have not seen in too long. So at this point I gave up on Rainer for the day and took off to Kent. I did notice a few looks from people as they got off a public buss but no one went screaming down the road. About part way to Kent, and again sorry I can not give exact locations I found a gun store called Bear Arms. I stopped to check it out they are a combination gun and teddy bear with a open carry policy on the font door. Basically it said as long as your gun is in the holster they do not care. They had a nice basic selection of handguns, shotguns and riles but inventory was low. I made small talk with the two people working the store and they seemed nice, I could not find anything I needed as I left I passed a group of people walking in and got compliments on open carrying.
I got to Kent a little early my friend was still at work so I drive around Kent for a little bit. I found a REI (love that place) and stopped. I was a little nervous to open carry in REI I have no idea what their gun policy is or if they even have one. I spent a good amount of time browsing the store with absolutely no problems at all. I bought a cheap cell phone aka GPS mount for my motorcycle. It is a little bulky but it was cheap and it works. After REI I met up with my friend we had dinner at Kent station and it was here I took my gun off and put it in his car. I did not have any adult beverages but we did eat in the bar portion of a restaurant so the gun had to come off. By the time we where done catching up it was dark. I walked back to his car and put my gun on and then walked around Kent station just to see what was there. After my stroll I jumped back on the bike and headed home.
All and all it was a great day. I got to go on a motorcycle ride, checked out a new gun store, found a REI and met up with a old friend. I have really enjoyed open carrying on my motorcycle it forces you to open carry more. I am not afraid to open carry but sometimes like at REI if I am unsure of the policy I normally might cover it up or leave it in the car. I do not have that option on the bike so it has been good to get me out of my normal open carry comfort zone
