imported post
I had been CCing about 3 months before my first OC expereince. I had just got a new Blackhawk Serpa holster, and since it was the summertime, it just wasn't practical to try and wear it concealed. I strapped it on for a trip to everyone's favorite OC "proving ground" (WalMart), and went grocery shopping. I will admit, I was pretty nervous, and was a little worried someone would call the cops. Bu tI had REALLY been studying the law, and knew my NC Statutes for CC and OC pretty much forwards and backwards, and could recite many of the relevent statutes from memory. Plus I had loaded texts for several relevent statutes (particularly the GAttTotP wording) on my iPhone...
Nobody said anything, and I was instantly hooked. After that initial "rush", OC got easier each time I went out. Now, I prefer OC to CC (more comfortable, more practical, more Constitutional!) and OC most of the time, except when the weather gets cold or rainy.
I'm sure that WalMart probably isn't thrilled to know that it is essentially the "default test run site" for new OCers, but it sure seems that a LOT of OC newbies make their first few runs there.
Since then, I've OCed in 5 states (NC, VA, PA, WV, OH), and not had a single problem. I've OCed in Cabelas in WV, all sorts of places (retail and restaurants) in VA, all over Eastern and Central NC, all along the PA Turnpike and in parts of Southwestern PA, and a few places in OH. Every time I go into some place I've never carried before, I get a little rush, because I don't know how the staff might react, but if all goes well, I'll just file a "positive report" here on the forum, and continue to go back. If I ever get hassled by an establishment, I politely leave, and then post a "negative report" here. I've sort of become one of THE "OC Recon Guys" for the Eastern part of NC. It's a dirty job, but SOMEONE's got to do it...
Open Carry is much more comfortable, gives me an opportunity to "spread the word" about OC and 2A issues in general, and has led me to meet some interesting, like-minded people. Plus OC is a deterrent to crime. At the time when I first started OCing, I was working a late-night shift on the edge of a dicey neighborhood. I figured if the local thug-life saw me OCing now and then when I wasn't on the job, they'd think twice before trying anything stupid while I WAS working, because they wouldn't know if I was packing or not.
Now I carry in some mode pretty much 24/7--OC about 75% of the time, and CC the rest, depending on clothing requirements, and where I'll be going. But this winter has been unseasonably COLD, so I've been CCing a lot lately because I have to wear by big parka to stay warm, and I don't have (or particularly care for) a drop-leg holster.
Of course, when I visit my family in the People's Republic of Maryland, I don't carry at all. My "Situational Awareness" runs on hyperdrive when I'm in MD, because in that serf-state, all I have at my disposal for self-defense is pepper spray and my feet and hands. I REALLY wish my daughters would move across the river to the Free State of VA and abandon the "Constitution-Free Zone". The idea of my granddaughter growing up in the nanny-state gulag of MD just breaks my heart... :banghead: