Trying to get someoen to start oc'ing

imported post

I was talking to a buddy of mine at work today about OC. All he had to say about it was OC is a bunch of crap the police think you are a criminal if you OC. He then tells me if they stop you while OC'ing they will throw a bag of marijuana in your car and take away your guns for life. I was shocked when i heard this i said to him wow you really dont know anything about OC do you. I tried to give him some info but he was not hearing it. He does not believe in CC either but he owns several pistols and a few other guns.

imported post

The easiest way I have found to get them to look at it rationally is to invite them to walk with you while you oc and let them see what doesn't happen. I even let them pick the place they would like to see me "get away" with doing it.
With most attitudes like this, it will take time and you may never convert them or their ideas of exercising their rights of freedom.

JMO

imported post

WARCHILD wrote:

The easiest way I have found to get them to look at it rationally is to invite them to walk with you while you oc and let them see what doesn't happen. I even let them pick the place they would like to see me "get away" with doing it.
With most attitudes like this, it will take time and you may never convert them or their ideas of exercising their rights of freedom.

JMO

Click to expand...

This is EXACTLY how I started OCing.

I was shocked at places we weren't hassled at, that I started doing it myself occasionally. I still CC more than OC, but I OC a hell of a lot more than I used to, which before a year ago, was none.

imported post

Recoil88 wrote:

I was talking to a buddy of mine at work today about OC. All he had to say about it was OC is a bunch of crap the police think you are a criminal if you OC. He then tells me if they stop you while OC'ing they will throw a bag of marijuana in your car and take away your guns for life. I was shocked when i heard this i said to him wow you really dont know anything about OC do you. I tried to give him some info but he was not hearing it. He does not believe in CC either but he owns several pistols and a few other guns.

Click to expand...

I have a friend of many years who owns guns, has a carry permit, but rarely carries concealed and never openly and refuses to be around me in public because I open carry.

He knows I've been open carrying for years. He knows it is legal to open carry. He has heard everything there is to say about open carry. He even knows my wonderful lady Yooperlady open carries. But...........

He is afraid of the attention he would get if he did it himself. He is afraid he would get arrested. He is afraid people will look at him. He is afraid people will ask him questions. He thinks that if no one knows he has a gun then he will be safe from the bad guys. He thinks he has "power" because he can surprise the bad guy with his concealed gun.

Basically... he is afraid to do anything that would jeopardize his "fitting in" and "being liked". And he doesn't have the courage to do anything that would make him "different".

And he will never change.

I still talk with him about open carry... but ya can't grow balls on a chicken.

imported post

Bikenut,

Invite him to some of our picnics if you can. Tell him he has the option to carry however he wants, and if he's not comfortable OCing, then just tell him to conceal.

The more he's exposed to OC, the more he'll realize it's not a huge deal imo. I used to only OC at picnics, but slowly as my friends started OCing, I realized that if I pulled the 'I'm not gonna hang out with you if you OC' stuff, then I wouldn't have any friends left to hang out with cause they all OC'd. :lol:

imported post

malignity wrote:

Bikenut,

Invite him to some of our picnics if you can. Tell him he has the option to carry however he wants, and if he's not comfortable OCing, then just tell him to conceal.

The more he's exposed to OC, the more he'll realize it's not a huge deal imo. I used to only OC at picnics, but slowly as my friends started OCing, I realized that if I pulled the 'I'm not gonna hang out with you if you OC' stuff, then I wouldn't have any friends left to hang out with cause they all OC'd. :lol:

Click to expand...

I have invited my friend to OC gatherings... and to walk with me in car shows, including the one in his own home town, but his reply is an adamant "No way! I won't be seen with you carrying a gun! People will get scared! I see no reason to scare people!".

Classic case of him projecting his own fears onto others. He is the one who is scared.... scared of being "different".

Picnics and other OC gatherings sometimes helps folks get started. Unfortunately there are some folks that just will not confront their fears and refuse to even expose themselves to anything that shows their fears to be groundless.

And, sad to say, my friend is one of those...... "Don't confuse me with facts!" kind of guys.

We were talking just the other day and he said bad guys will grab my gun and shoot me with it. I said that has, as yet, never happened in the entire country... including Arizona where open carry has been the norm since it became a State. His reply?

"Well it only stands to reason that it had to happen somewhere!"

To him the word "reason" means... because he thinks it should have happened then it must have happened.... whether it really did or not.

Even though OC gatherings help many folks get started ... and are a very good thing.... those who are too afraid are even afraid of discovering that the only thing they really are afraid of is.... their own fear.

I said earlier that ya can't grow balls on a chicken... and it is impossible to do so. But that chicken can come up with endless arguments to justify it's lack of balls.... and even try to make balls look like a bad thing.

Friends have failings... and I have my own... but real friends don't dump a friend because of a failing so, even though my friend is a chicken about OC, he will remain my friend.

Edited to add:

Sometimes we just have to acknowledge that a person is not going to OC no matter what we do.

imported post

But on a better note i have given my brother a tri fold and have been talking to hima bout oc the past few days. He really seems interested in it, i told him about my first time oc'ing the other day and that it was a good one. So all he has to do is get himself a holster i told him and we can oc together around town.