Hello everyone,
First off here is a little bit about myself. My name is Andy, I'm 23 years old and as my username hints at I moved to this great state a few months ago from Kaliforniastan. I grew up around firearms my entire life and have also traveled quite a bit, which really makes me appreciate all the freedoms we have in this country, mainly Arizona. I've had firearms save my life in a couple situations, however it was with a shotgun on one occasion and an pump action :banghead: (California, enough said haha) AK-47 on another. So I'll leave those stories for another post since it didn't really involve OC.
Well I've had about four notable experiences so far while open carrying.
1. The first day and place I open carried, a Walmart in Mesa, AZ. I figured this state is pretty used to seeing people open carry, but I was still really nervous. Especially coming from California where I've heard so many horror stories about swat teams showing up and open carries getting mazed/arrested. So I was just about finished get everything I need and I was headed to the front of the store to check out when I turned a corner and saw a couple Walmart employees walking towards me followed by 4 cops wearing tactical looking gear/uniforms. Not what I usually see police/sherifs wearing here. My heart immediately sunk into my chest and I was thinking "Oh no... Not on my first outing' However they ended up walking right past me, only one of the officers appeared to notice (even though I'm sure they all did) and he just looked me up and down real quick and nodded.
2. I was in line at a Wildflower Bread Company, off the 60 and Val Vista in Mesa. As I was walking up to the counter to order, there was an employee walking behind me that was just talking to the cashier in front of me. The girl at the counter (cashier) says
Cashier: "Your making me so nervous"
I figured she was talking to the employee that just walked behind, like maybe she was training and maybe he (the other employee) was a manager perhaps. I didn't even consider she could be talking about the small hunk of metal on my hip.
Me: *** silence **** (I still didn't realize she was talking to me)
Casher: "Do you always carry THAT around with you?"
Me: "Oh, haha... Yes I do actually (And now that I knew what she was talking about, something I had read on this forum just came to mind and slipped out of my mouth without even thinking about it.) I used to carry a cop around with me but it was killing my back"
Cashier: ***silence****
Cashier: Yeah I just moved here and I was walking around my neighborhood and I saw a girl with one in her waistband and I was so terrified I ran home screaming and yelling for my mom and I called 911. I just wanted to cry.
Me: Let me guess, you just moved here from California?
Cashier: Oh my god! How'd you know?
Me: ***Huge grin****
Me: Well open carry used to be legal in California, but they just made it illegal recently.
Cashier: Well it's good they did, but I think it's good it's legal here, the people seem different.
Me: "Can I order now?"
I didn't really feel like debating with this girl especially with a line forming behind me and her not even seeming to care. Thinking back I'd like to have handled the conversation better but I hadn't really thought out what I'd say in such a situation. Didn't really think the situation would arise actually in this state.
3. I was headed into Costco, sadly I didn't know they were such Nazi's with their firearms policy. I hadn't been into Costco in a long time, since I lived in California actually. So I figured it was time to stock up on all the bulk products they sell. I double checked the entrance making sure there were no signs and walked into the side where they handle returns because my membership was expired so I was going to renew it. So I wait in line for 15 minutes. Finally getting to a register, I explain I just need to renew my membership, blah blah blah...
I finish up with all that, get my new Costco card and then start walking into the store to start shopping when I hear "Sir, sir, SIR!!!"" I look behind me and this lady is running towards me.
Employee: "I'm sorry sir but we have a no firearms policy here, you'll need to go store your weapon in your vehicle"
Me: ***sigh*** I'm sorry I didn't see a sign on my way in, and I even double checked and no one else said anything to me. Even the guy that I just renewed my membership with"
Employee: Well I'm sorry but we just took the sign down last week"
(After reading the forums here I now know it's a no no to mention signs but I didn't realize that at the time)
Me: Well can I at least cancel my membership before I leave so I don't have to walk back and forth, I'll just never set foot in another Costco"
Employee: You can come back in just as long as you store your weapon in your vehicle"
Me: "No thank you, I'll take my money elsewhere"
So I ended up waiting in line yet again, got a refund and left. I'll never set foot inside another Costco ever again.
4. Just today I was walking into Walmart and an older gentlemen that was walking past me asked how much it cost to get a permit to carry that, he patted at his "bare" hip while asking the question. I just smiled and said, "Well your in luck, here in Arizona you don't need a permit to open carry or even conceal carry, you just can't open carry into any bars or restaurants that serve alcohol unless you conceal and have a permit for that particular situation. But really as long as you don't have a criminal record you can carry pretty freely here. You should definitely research the laws yourself before hand though" He seemed pretty excited at the news and just thanked me for the information.
So those have been my experiences so far, just wanted to share them with you guys. Sorry if this has been kind of a long first post, oh and by the way I carry a Glock 17 in a Blackhawk SERPA III Duty Holster.
First off here is a little bit about myself. My name is Andy, I'm 23 years old and as my username hints at I moved to this great state a few months ago from Kaliforniastan. I grew up around firearms my entire life and have also traveled quite a bit, which really makes me appreciate all the freedoms we have in this country, mainly Arizona. I've had firearms save my life in a couple situations, however it was with a shotgun on one occasion and an pump action :banghead: (California, enough said haha) AK-47 on another. So I'll leave those stories for another post since it didn't really involve OC.
Well I've had about four notable experiences so far while open carrying.
1. The first day and place I open carried, a Walmart in Mesa, AZ. I figured this state is pretty used to seeing people open carry, but I was still really nervous. Especially coming from California where I've heard so many horror stories about swat teams showing up and open carries getting mazed/arrested. So I was just about finished get everything I need and I was headed to the front of the store to check out when I turned a corner and saw a couple Walmart employees walking towards me followed by 4 cops wearing tactical looking gear/uniforms. Not what I usually see police/sherifs wearing here. My heart immediately sunk into my chest and I was thinking "Oh no... Not on my first outing' However they ended up walking right past me, only one of the officers appeared to notice (even though I'm sure they all did) and he just looked me up and down real quick and nodded.
2. I was in line at a Wildflower Bread Company, off the 60 and Val Vista in Mesa. As I was walking up to the counter to order, there was an employee walking behind me that was just talking to the cashier in front of me. The girl at the counter (cashier) says
Cashier: "Your making me so nervous"
I figured she was talking to the employee that just walked behind, like maybe she was training and maybe he (the other employee) was a manager perhaps. I didn't even consider she could be talking about the small hunk of metal on my hip.
Me: *** silence **** (I still didn't realize she was talking to me)
Casher: "Do you always carry THAT around with you?"
Me: "Oh, haha... Yes I do actually (And now that I knew what she was talking about, something I had read on this forum just came to mind and slipped out of my mouth without even thinking about it.) I used to carry a cop around with me but it was killing my back"
Cashier: ***silence****
Cashier: Yeah I just moved here and I was walking around my neighborhood and I saw a girl with one in her waistband and I was so terrified I ran home screaming and yelling for my mom and I called 911. I just wanted to cry.
Me: Let me guess, you just moved here from California?
Cashier: Oh my god! How'd you know?
Me: ***Huge grin****
Me: Well open carry used to be legal in California, but they just made it illegal recently.
Cashier: Well it's good they did, but I think it's good it's legal here, the people seem different.
Me: "Can I order now?"
I didn't really feel like debating with this girl especially with a line forming behind me and her not even seeming to care. Thinking back I'd like to have handled the conversation better but I hadn't really thought out what I'd say in such a situation. Didn't really think the situation would arise actually in this state.
3. I was headed into Costco, sadly I didn't know they were such Nazi's with their firearms policy. I hadn't been into Costco in a long time, since I lived in California actually. So I figured it was time to stock up on all the bulk products they sell. I double checked the entrance making sure there were no signs and walked into the side where they handle returns because my membership was expired so I was going to renew it. So I wait in line for 15 minutes. Finally getting to a register, I explain I just need to renew my membership, blah blah blah...
I finish up with all that, get my new Costco card and then start walking into the store to start shopping when I hear "Sir, sir, SIR!!!"" I look behind me and this lady is running towards me.
Employee: "I'm sorry sir but we have a no firearms policy here, you'll need to go store your weapon in your vehicle"
Me: ***sigh*** I'm sorry I didn't see a sign on my way in, and I even double checked and no one else said anything to me. Even the guy that I just renewed my membership with"
Employee: Well I'm sorry but we just took the sign down last week"
(After reading the forums here I now know it's a no no to mention signs but I didn't realize that at the time)
Me: Well can I at least cancel my membership before I leave so I don't have to walk back and forth, I'll just never set foot in another Costco"
Employee: You can come back in just as long as you store your weapon in your vehicle"
Me: "No thank you, I'll take my money elsewhere"
So I ended up waiting in line yet again, got a refund and left. I'll never set foot inside another Costco ever again.
4. Just today I was walking into Walmart and an older gentlemen that was walking past me asked how much it cost to get a permit to carry that, he patted at his "bare" hip while asking the question. I just smiled and said, "Well your in luck, here in Arizona you don't need a permit to open carry or even conceal carry, you just can't open carry into any bars or restaurants that serve alcohol unless you conceal and have a permit for that particular situation. But really as long as you don't have a criminal record you can carry pretty freely here. You should definitely research the laws yourself before hand though" He seemed pretty excited at the news and just thanked me for the information.
So those have been my experiences so far, just wanted to share them with you guys. Sorry if this has been kind of a long first post, oh and by the way I carry a Glock 17 in a Blackhawk SERPA III Duty Holster.
