imported post
It is a shame that the OCer did have a bad attitude. I do have a thory behind this, however, based on personal experience. While I OC regularly (daily) and encourage responsible people to OC as well, that doesn't mean I am automatically comfortable seeing strangers carrying guns as well. While I certainly am glad to see another individual exercising his/her 2nd Amendment rights, I am no more "comfortable" with them than I would be with anyone else in public carrying or not. I don't know who they are, if they are legally carrying or not (although if it is OC it is likely to be legal carry), I don't know their mental state or how normal this person is. Additionally, when I'm in public I rarely have time for side conversations. I have errands to run and things to get done and simply don't have time to doddle. When it occurs that someone is curious about my firearm, I will give them a brief explanation (as not to be rude) but I am not going to suddenly try to be friends with them. Even though I carry a gun, I also keep an eye on anyone else carrying a gun as well. Again, you don't know if they are really on your side or not, if they are normal or if something suspicious is going on (at least until you take a further look).
I have run into many people who I don't even know suddenly get "cool" with me and want me to take out my sidearm and show it to them. I don't do this with strangers and if it is with someone I know I don't do it in a crowd of people where it could cause a problem. I have also run into a number of OC/CC people who decide to suddenly take out their guns and show them to me and other people including with the barrel pointed in an unsafe direction including at me. One guy in the parking lot of a restaurant was showing me how "cool" he was with his gun, took it out and showed it to me with the barrel pointed at my face. When I sternly told him not to point the gun at me, he said he was sorry and assured me the "safety" was on and then kept the gun pointed at the traffic going down the street for the duration of the "show and tell." So to make a long story short, when you see someone OCing or you know they are CCing, there really isn't a need to discuss anything because both of you are already exercising your Constitutional rights. You would be preaching to the choir as it is the non-carrying or CC-only people you would need to reach. As stated above in this paragraph, getting too "chummy" with an armed stranger can invite trouble. I don't want to get "accidently" shot by some idiot who thinks he knows about firearms and I don't want the cops to get called because he is pointing his gun at people in a restaurant saying "it's not loaded." A lot of people carry guns and just like drivers, a lot of them need a hell of a lot of training. Enough said.
