Open Carry In a Mall

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Personally any time I strap on a sidearm and it's openly carried I think it makes me a bigger target than a concealed weapon.

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Let me guess... you're not in a wheelchair or are a seventy seven year old man with a cane, are you? What makes you think that all of the physically fit, alert, strong men wouldn't be taken down first anyway, simply because, armed or not, they're still the most able of all victims to resist?

And, I'm not making this personal, Mjolnir, so please don't misunderstand. You just raised these questions for me, is all.

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Mjolnir wrote:

Beau wrote:

If a person was oc'ing I doubt he would have noticed when he started firing. He was looking for targets not guns on belts.

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Don't you think a sidearm out in the open makes you a target??

Personally any time I strap on a sidearm and it's openly carried I think it makes me a bigger target than a concealed weapon.

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I absolutely do not think OC'ing makes you a bigger target.

Think about it. How many robbers or muggers, rapists etc.. do youthink plan on committing murder when they commit a crime? I think at least 90% of criminals want to get in, get whatever they came for and get out. Not start a shootout. So if they were to see someone openly carrying it's most likely that they will turn around and head the other way. Find an easier target.

Now I'm not saying that being made a target simply by OC'ing is not possible. Just not likely.

As for the situation of being in the presence of a mass shooting I think it highly unlikely to be targeted for OC'ing. A person who opens fire in public may be checking for threats but I doubt they would notice the average person with a gun on their hip. Most people don't notice under normal circumstances. If anything they are looking for uniforms and badges. Something easily detectable.

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I think any disadvantage of OC, over time and across possible scenarios, balances out with the deterent factor in other possible scenarios. As I have stated before, I think that there are times that CC is more appropriate/advantageous than OC and vise versa, and times the choice is neutral.

I do not think that in a mass shooting situation that it is likely that OC v CC is going to make a difference generally speaking, although specifics of a certain situation may dictate a preference. I do think that there is a likelihood that an armed citizen in many of the mass shooting situations of the last decade would have mitigated casualties.

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i think that is correct. any gunman is going to be focused too much on the following events to notice someone OCing nearby. in a mall there is a lot of cover to obscure a firearm openly carried. plus a CC firearm is OC shortly thereafter.
whether concealed or open, a member of the public carrying a firearm should be able to make a difference.