Statesman
Regular Member
imported post
It's July 4th. Who can argue it's not the best time of the year to OC in public, at a gathering, in front of the new courthouse in downtown Lexington? TEA PARTY@!
Dressed up in Khakis and a dress shirt, I grabbed my Flip video camera (just in case), and strapped on my Kimber today for my first real OC experience. Surprisingly, I wasn't all that nervous. Maybe it was because of the nature of the July 4th holiday. It also seems concealing for some time allows you to become accustomed to carrying, period. I drove downtown, and parked along Winchester Rd on Midland Place, and walked a mile or so to the courthouse plaza, via Midland Ave and East Short Street. I probably wasn't in the best part of town, but I figured with the holidays and all, and my Kimber, I wasn't likely to get mugged.
Police were absolutely everywhere blocking off traffic to streets for July 4th. On the way to the event, I passed at least one LEO in a cruser; and nothing was said. I passed dozens of people, and some on horseback. Again, nothing said. Noone ran away screaming, or caused a scene.
I arrived downtown in the courthouse plaza to find lots of people surrounding the Taxed Enough Already (TEA) Campaign, complete with Leland Conway from 630 AM (WLAP). Lots of appropriate signs given the times we are in. I was where I was supposed to be, among potential friends whom I felt I'd like to get to know on any given day. Still, given the gun friendly crowd, I received plenty of stares, but nobody said a word. I think the camera guy front and center of the crowd stared at me with a strange twisted look on his face, for what seemed like five minutes. Maybe he had gas? Oh well! The event coordinators shot several t-shirts into the air towards the crowd. I would have gotten one if I had kept walking forward just several feet (dangit!).
I fully expected to at least get approached by LEO, but it didn't come to pass. There were several LEO on the peripheral of the crowd, enjoying the show, but they seemed to move on after a few minutes. Although I did not see the person, I was told there was at least one other OCing at the event, and at least one other I know that was CCing.
After the event was over, I looked around for petitions to sign to tell our tyrant ridden congress they are a bunch of irresponsible power hungry:cuss: scumbags, but to my dismay, the rain seemed to make the tables hosting the petitions disappear. Must be some new cheap paper that doesn't hold up well, odd.
Only one person said anything to me about my side arm during the event. When I began the one mile journey to my car, I turned a corner, and a man in his early 20s asked me: "Is that a .380?" I replied that it was a .45, and he was a bit surprised since it was so compact. We walked along East Short St for almost a half mile talking about Kimbers, open carry, and this site, before he had to part ways. We did pass a cruiser with a police officer doing something important in the middle of the street. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention, but we were openly discussing firearms as we walked past. I was expecting to get stopped, but again, it didn't happen. I also stopped by a gas station to pick up an Ale 8. The cashier and customer that was there didn't seem to notice.
I don't know if this is the usual OC experience in Lexington, but if it is, I think I am going to be open carrying much more. The sounds of fireworks are still popping outside, and I'm wondering if Lexington will still be having their annual fireworks event with the economy being in the dumps.
It's July 4th. Who can argue it's not the best time of the year to OC in public, at a gathering, in front of the new courthouse in downtown Lexington? TEA PARTY@!
Dressed up in Khakis and a dress shirt, I grabbed my Flip video camera (just in case), and strapped on my Kimber today for my first real OC experience. Surprisingly, I wasn't all that nervous. Maybe it was because of the nature of the July 4th holiday. It also seems concealing for some time allows you to become accustomed to carrying, period. I drove downtown, and parked along Winchester Rd on Midland Place, and walked a mile or so to the courthouse plaza, via Midland Ave and East Short Street. I probably wasn't in the best part of town, but I figured with the holidays and all, and my Kimber, I wasn't likely to get mugged.
Police were absolutely everywhere blocking off traffic to streets for July 4th. On the way to the event, I passed at least one LEO in a cruser; and nothing was said. I passed dozens of people, and some on horseback. Again, nothing said. Noone ran away screaming, or caused a scene.
I arrived downtown in the courthouse plaza to find lots of people surrounding the Taxed Enough Already (TEA) Campaign, complete with Leland Conway from 630 AM (WLAP). Lots of appropriate signs given the times we are in. I was where I was supposed to be, among potential friends whom I felt I'd like to get to know on any given day. Still, given the gun friendly crowd, I received plenty of stares, but nobody said a word. I think the camera guy front and center of the crowd stared at me with a strange twisted look on his face, for what seemed like five minutes. Maybe he had gas? Oh well! The event coordinators shot several t-shirts into the air towards the crowd. I would have gotten one if I had kept walking forward just several feet (dangit!).
I fully expected to at least get approached by LEO, but it didn't come to pass. There were several LEO on the peripheral of the crowd, enjoying the show, but they seemed to move on after a few minutes. Although I did not see the person, I was told there was at least one other OCing at the event, and at least one other I know that was CCing.
After the event was over, I looked around for petitions to sign to tell our tyrant ridden congress they are a bunch of irresponsible power hungry:cuss: scumbags, but to my dismay, the rain seemed to make the tables hosting the petitions disappear. Must be some new cheap paper that doesn't hold up well, odd.
Only one person said anything to me about my side arm during the event. When I began the one mile journey to my car, I turned a corner, and a man in his early 20s asked me: "Is that a .380?" I replied that it was a .45, and he was a bit surprised since it was so compact. We walked along East Short St for almost a half mile talking about Kimbers, open carry, and this site, before he had to part ways. We did pass a cruiser with a police officer doing something important in the middle of the street. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention, but we were openly discussing firearms as we walked past. I was expecting to get stopped, but again, it didn't happen. I also stopped by a gas station to pick up an Ale 8. The cashier and customer that was there didn't seem to notice.
I don't know if this is the usual OC experience in Lexington, but if it is, I think I am going to be open carrying much more. The sounds of fireworks are still popping outside, and I'm wondering if Lexington will still be having their annual fireworks event with the economy being in the dumps.