it was pretty quiet most of the time, but
during a spiel about the dangers of OC,
he asks what does a BG think about you when he sees you OCing at the 7-11 he was going to rob???
he was going to say, that you would be the first target.
BUT before he had a chance to say it,,, i yelled, DETERRENT!!!!
I don't think either scenario is clearly the case. I don't know and I don't think anyone else does either. And I can see both points.
In any case, the virtues of open carry boil down to two things for me:
(1) The main point is that it is none of anyone's business how you carry, or how you express a right, and the idea that somehow a concealed gun "makes the guns go away" by being out-of-sight, out-of-mind, is an infantile point of view which shouldn't be catered to. Open or concealed, I attach neither malice nor virtue to either. I don't think it is unreasonable to carry either way.
(2) Somewhat related to #1, open carry broadcasts positive intent, as I doubt that criminals with specific intent to commit a crime ever carry openly. I have always thought it unfair to deride concealed carriers as being "furtive and guilty," because I think there are basic tactical reasons to do so, not to mention privacy reasons as well. However, most who do commit crimes *seem* to carry concealed from videotape I've seen. That is to say, not everyone who carries concealed is a criminal obviously, but almost all criminals carry concealed.
Growing up, in the days before I had ever held a gun or been around gun people, I would periodically see someone open carry. Even having grown up in the northeastern suburbs, it never occurred to me to be frightened of that, on the basis of, "Well if he was doing something wrong, he wouldn't be displaying it in the open." For some reason most of the time, open carriers were fathers with their sons in near proximity. So I grew up thinking of open carry in that context.
As to the point of whether or not open carry makes you a target or a deterrent, I suspect that is going to depend very much on the mineral makeup of the criminal. I can see it going both ways depending. In any case, it's not one of the better arguments for open carry in my opinion, because I think it is deeply contentious.
The best argument by far is, "it really isn't any of your business." Because it isn't. If open carry could make that impression on me as a child (and there were no guns, nor interest in guns in my house), certainly in time it can make this impression on other Americans as well.
I will say in fairness that those who insist that open carry makes you a target haven't proven their case either, at least not to my satisfaction. I mostly carry concealed, personally, but I have a hard time believing with thousands of businesses to rob, a criminal is going to rob the one with the conspicuously armed guy. Far less hassle to turn around, walk out, and pick another venue.
I'm sure there's the exception to that, though.
