hello seasoned open carriers!

imported post

hey everyone, i am looking to start open carrying as a California resident. i am a law abiding citizen, i have no felonies or even misdemeanors, my background check is clean as a whistle, so of course i should legally be allowed to open carry my firearm. but this is what i am worried about, i am 22 years old and covered in tattoos, so sadly to alot of the general public and law enforcement, i look like a thug, which is heartbreaking, but true. in your honest opinion, what do you think about me open carrying, and what should i do so i can be allowed to exercise my right.

thanks for the help everyone
-matt edge

imported post

Matt,

Welcome to the forum. First might I suggest that the forum is divided into forums for each state. Your questions will be answered more quickly and with greater accuracy if you post California specific questions there.

As for "carrying while tattooed", as far as I know this is not a crime in any of the fifty states. But you are correct in assuming that the combination of a sidearm and a lot of tats might draw unwanted attention. I am not really the best person to ask about this because I do not have any tattoos, but others will be along soon to respond in that area. My thought would be that you might try long sleeve shirts to offset your concerns while carrying.

Regards

imported post

Hi Matt, and welcome.

Ask yourself a couple of questions...and I'm not making light of your concerns.

1) If you were a cop, would you harrass you, with OR without a gun in a holster?

2) Are you harrassed on a regular basis by other people and LEOs?

Hopefully the answers to these is NO.

3) How many "thugs", as you put it, do you see open carrying their guns around?

It, IMO, comes down to your attitude and how you present yourself to others. Just something to think about.

imported post

MarlboroLts5150 wrote:

Hi Matt, and welcome.

Ask yourself a couple of questions...and I'm not making light of your concerns.

1) If you were a cop, would you harrass you, with OR without a gun in a holster?

2) Are you harrassed on a regular basis by other people and LEOs?

Hopefully the answers to these is NO.

3) How many "thugs", as you put it, do you see open carrying their guns around?

It, IMO, comes down to your attitude and how you present yourself to others. Just something to think about.

Click to expand...

well, if i was a cop, i wouldn't harrass me, but i think another cop would.
no i am never harrased by anyone, but i can tell by the way some people look at me, what they might be thinking
and i don't think i've ever seen an open carrier

imported post

Though not covered in tattoos, I'm about your age.

The fact is that UOC is legal (in Cali)and so are tattoos. I'd say go for it all the way, after all, you're not breaking the law so the worst that could happen is you getbothered a bit by an over zealous officer or confrontational sheeple. Do what you have to at first to keep your nerves down. A collared longsleeve will go a long ways toward covering some tats and making you look less menacing to the sheeple with stereotyping issues.

You will be surprised how few people notice the pistol at all and how few of the ones who notice say anything. Let us know how it goes.

imported post

For you people in California who must OC unloaded. Can you carry a loaded magazine at the same time? Please pardon my question, but it just makes no sense at all for your state to require your sidearm to be unloaded - you'd be better off with a hammer.

imported post

SouthernBoy wrote:

For you people in California who must OC unloaded. Can you carry a loaded magazine at the same time? Please pardon my question, but it just makes no sense at all for your state to require your sidearm to be unloaded - you'd be better off with a hammer.

Click to expand...

<sarcasm>
What doesn't make sense with this "common sense" law?

Everyone knows that by requiring the chamber be empty, and removing the magazine from the gun, noone could possibly load the magazine and rack the slide in time to commit some armed robbery, prior to the police responding to the scene.

Also, the time it takes to load the magazine and rack the slide, is sufficient for someone to "cool off" from some heated argument that would otherwise have lead to a quick draw shooting. This isn't the old West! Having a gun that is more useful than a hammer when you need it, will only lead to blood running in the streets!
</sarcasm>

The only semi-legitimate reason I can see for having an unloaded carry only law, is avoiding having someone pull your gun on you. This type of reasoning comes from those politicians who don't understand the time required to pull, aim, and fire against an attacker bent on taking the life of the innocent, takes far longer than most would like. This is what a safety is for. By adding such irrelevant restrictions on law abiding victims, they only add more risk that the gun will be confiscated by the criminal, and that it will be used on the victim.

Yes, the law seems more likely to do the opposite of what it was intended for. Is anyone really that surprised?

imported post

Granted...loaded carry is ideal, but UOC is better than NO CARRY at all. I wouldn't mind UOC one bit here in Hawaii, better than not having it at all. Can't wait to leave this twisted state.

imported post

I would rather have it in any capacity than not have it at all. We are working to change this as well.

"For those who do not know why we have to carry unloaded, that bit of the CA Penal code (12031) came from the racially motovated Mulford act of 1968. Black men, fed up with Police abuses and beatings, started to carry loaded and openly. They also organized a group meet at the state legislature building, armed, in protest. There was no violence. Soon after the legislators called for law to be made." http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum12/34368-2.html