imported post
Some good points here. Wish she were in a more OC-friendly location. Hearing phrases like "find any way possible to arrest for OC" straight from the horses (asses)mouths is troubling. Fact remains that it's easy to learn the laws you need to know to OC, and as long as you abide by those laws, you'll be fine. At worst, you might be briefly detained. I have to say, tho, that it warms my heart knowing that there are folks so young with such a desire to excercise their rights, especially when faced with dealing with officers who are very anti-OC. Hats off to you.
I've been OCing for a while now and still often have to adjust the gun on my hip. It's normally just a slight hoist, but you have to be sure not to grab it by the grip to adjust it. That would probably really freak some people out. Myself, I adjust mine from the muzzle. Just a miniscule pointer.
As for becoming more comfortable OCing, it only comes with experience. From my experience and the experiences of many others here, it's best to take graduated steps into the OC world. I started by OCing just into my two local gas stations. Then to an OC picnic. Then the gas stations and Meijers. Then gas stations, Meijers, and Subway. Then.... you get the drift. It wasn't long before I felt pretty comfortable OCing everywhere. I've been lucky, tho, and haven't had a real negative encounter.
Another thing that I found comforting when still new at OC was taking notes! Seriously, when I planned on OCing into a place where I thought I'd be likely to have an encounter, I kept a tri-fold (or 2) in my pocket, readily available. Also, having a CPL, I've Oc'd into a couple of supposed "pistol-free zones". In places like that, where I thought an encounter would be highly probable, I printed out or wrote down relevent laws/AG opinions and kept them on me. I thought it would help cover my ass and at least bring to a LEOs attention that 1) my activities were legal, and 2) I know the law(s) or at least know how to look them up. The thought of a person knowing the law(s) perhaps better than himself tends to make a LEO think twice about his actions and behavior and take a look into whether he's acting legally.
Start small and take progressive steps. Good luck and carry on.
