Visiting Colorado and Denver areas - why I found Denver a non OC

This post is from a California resident where I took a week off and visited the great state of Colorado. :banana:

I loved my trip this past week to CO and took my 10mm with a retention holster for OC.
Never had done OC before - I am used to the concealed carry in states that allow non resident CCW reciprocity...

Didn't understand why Denver would not allow OC until I was actually there!

I found out that counties outside of Denver allowed OC with the exception of Open Spaces in Jeffco, Breckenridge, and Denver city/county.

What I now know about Denver county and the city of Denver for not allowing OC is the mixture of these variables:
- Tourists - primarily in downtown would be more alarmed with OC folks IMO
- Alcohol - almost every block in downtown had a liquor store, tavern, pub, bar, or sports bar. Never have I seen so many alcohol places all crammed in the city!

I found myself feeling perfectly safe in Denver while touring the city - it's just like Los Angeles - multi cultural, mixture of different economic status, and congested.

While traveling in parts outside of Denver, areas that I felt I did not need to carry but did so:
Lakewood, Arvada, Wheatridge, Golden, Clear Creek County, and other areas of Colorado.

I enjoyed the visit as a tourist and appreciated being able to OC in most of the state.
Almost everyone I encountered was friendly and helpful to a tourist. More helpful than California folks....

As a summary, I would like to see Colorado accept non resident CCW reciprocity.
It's just my opinion but I just prefer to spend my tourist dollars in CC states I vacationed in such as:
Arizona, Utah, Virginia, Florida, Kansas and Alaska.

4sallypat,

Glad you had at least SOME fun OCing in The Great State of Colorado...

Remember though, we don't carry (whether OC or CC) when we think we MIGHT need a gun (good part of town or bad part of town is irrelevant), we carry ALL THE TIME as you never know! But that's not (or should be) just a "Colorado thing" only! ;-)

Never leave home without it! -- American Express


"As a summary, I would like to see Colorado accept non resident CCW reciprocity." -- 4sallypat

Perhaps that can be presented to someone in our CO State Legislature to sponsor such a bill. Presently, however, first I'd like to see the bill going for a repeal of the useless/feel-good high-capacity (15+) magazine ban be successful. After all, I need to get those 6 Tapco 20-rd mags for my 2 SKSs -- 3 in OD Green and 3 in Dark Earth colors -- to match their respectively-colored SKSs!

[Sorry...please excuse my uncontrolled outburst of selfishness...]

But seriously, remember Rule # 2 re: gun ownership/carrying: Always be CC (Color-Coordinated) at all times, especially if OCing! ;-)


Anyway, what you bring up -- as a foreign visitor/tourista from the PRK (People's Republik of Kalifornia) -- could be looked into.

...nothing like that seen here though (for now) re: what's coming up for early 2015 bills in-progress or submitted for Colorado State Legislature action:

http://www.rmgo.org/political/gun-laws/billwatch/413-2015-billwatch-2

I never feel unsafe where ever I go ... but you never know when the gov't will act.

Criminals v. gov't ? More concerned with gov't agents violating my rights v. criminals.

Why? Because I have had to use my guns to defend myself against gov't agents more than I have criminals.

4sallypat said:

What I now know about Denver county and the city of Denver for not allowing OC is the mixture of these variables:
- Tourists - primarily in downtown would be more alarmed with OC folks IMO
- Alcohol - almost every block in downtown had a liquor store, tavern, pub, bar, or sports bar. Never have I seen so many alcohol places all crammed in the city!

Click to expand...

If my memory serves from the official ruling, the primary factor for determining an OC ban was the population density. It far exceeds anywhere else in the state (typical of most capitals). The idea was that any misses at all were just too large a threat.

Never mind that all that has no bearing after a justified shooter pulls his gun out of a concealed location. But that's why Denver tried to ban any form of carry, which the court told them to piss off (I'm paraphrasing). So the justification made little sense, but it stuck.

jackrockblc said:

If my memory serves from the official ruling, the primary factor for determining an OC ban was the population density. It far exceeds anywhere else in the state (typical of most capitals). The idea was that any misses at all were just too large a threat.

<snip>.

Click to expand...

LOL and in the country there's no buildings to stop the flight path of a bullet..yada yada yada .. the arguments that they make are garbage, toss it op and see what sticks (nothing really)

Yet there ARE OCers in Denver -- the cops -- and THEY could cause collateral damage also in such a "high-density population area" so why aren't THEY carrying concealed instead...if OC is considered too dangerous? ;-)

Besides (and as we all know) the armed citizen causes MUCH LESS "collateral damage" than the cops cause, and, are better SHOTS than cops are. So WHO needs to be carrying concealed -- if that's "safer?" Yeah, the cops. Not us!

What a LAME reason Denver gave for banning OC. I hope we can get that changed!

But FIRST I'd like to see the high-cap (15+) magazine ban repealed as I still need my 6 Tapco SKS magazines. :-(

4sallypat said:

What I now know about Denver county and the city of Denver for not allowing OC is the mixture of these variables:
- Tourists - primarily in downtown would be more alarmed with OC folks IMO
- Alcohol - almost every block in downtown had a liquor store, tavern, pub, bar, or sports bar. Never have I seen so many alcohol places all crammed in the city!

.

Click to expand...

Sorry but thats just a DUMB thing to say or think. Here in Vegas we have more booze and more tourists than Denver. No one runs screaming from us as we walk downtown or on the strip. And no one goes drunkenly shooting up the place.

I imagine tourists half expect to see someone wearing cowboy hat, boots, a bolo tie and a loud western shirt and two sixguns in leather holsters hanging from a bigass leather belt.

What they see instead when I show up at the convenience-store-plus-RV-campground is a balding guy wearing present-day clothing, no hat, and, in summer when I'm not wearing a jacket (or more) to keep from freezing solid, an only slightly-old-school semi-auto in black, in a black holster. If they notice it at all, since I wear dark colors anyway. The women who work there look rather fetching in their cowgirl hats but (alas) no firearm in evidence. (Of course armed women would break the stereotype. Though my attitude on that is "screw the stereotype.")

Vegassteve said:

Sorry but thats just a DUMB thing to say or think. Here in Vegas we have more booze and more tourists than Denver. No one runs screaming from us as we walk downtown or on the strip. And no one goes drunkenly shooting up the place.

Click to expand...

Not a dumb observation at all.
Then why does Las Vegas restrict guns for non resident CCW permit holders ???