I find a lot of gun Owners, especially Concealed Carriers from Florida talk first and think later when it comes to Open Carrry. I'm guilty of this myself. I used to Conceal Carry. But 4 experiences in which I needed to draw, and one in which I pointed my weapon at someone, changed my mind.
I realized that "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" applies to Carrying of a Firearm in the same way it applies to everything else. I realized that 'feeling' safe is not the same as being safe.
Concealed Carry, as such, cannot prevent crimes. One is forced to wait until a crime is already in process, then try to knock it back. Open Carry is about not letting it get that far.
Most Conceal Carriers don't think it through. As I said, I was one of them and learned the hard way. It's difficult and slow to draw from deep cover. When the bad guy has the element of surprise, as they always do, a Concealed Gun is something you simply can't get to. Bad Guys aren't stupid. Even with a wallet holster, they know not to let you reach into your own pockets. It's too late.
Open Carry prevents it from ever getting to that point. The argument that the OCer will be the first to be taken out flies in the face of logic. Concealed Carriers know that Criminals don't want Armed Targets. Then try to claim that "If they don't know who has a gun, then they choose a different line of work." Not knowing never prevented a criminal from doing anything. How much prevention would there be if they actually knew for a fact that 5 people in the store had a gun, because they could see it?
Yes, crime has gone down a little. But statistically, it is attributable to other changes. If you still look like a soft target, then the situation will escalate until you appear to NOT be a soft target; draw. If the firearm is Openly Carried, it doesn't come to that. You never look like a soft target. Nobody has to draw, nobody has to point, nobody has to fire. A gun in a holster is a far cry better than a gun with 3 rounds fired and the associated costs.
Please cite for me even one incident of an Open Carrier being singled-out and attacked first. Just one. It defies your own logic. If Criminals are cowards looking for a soft target, why would they then choose the hardest target in the room? We both know it doesn't make sense. It also doesn't happen. I fell for it myself. Propaganda is subtle and powerful.
The key is often "When I pulled out my gun, he changed his mind!" Will you get that chance drawing from cover? The only element of surprise a Concealed Carrier will get is when s/he realizes the joke is on him/her. The bad guy always has the element of surprise, not you. Besides, what good is the element of surprise to a defensive position? Surprise is an offensive concept, and only useful to the ambusher. It may make you 'feel' safe, but 'feel-good gun laws' are for Democrats.
Lets not even discuss "Concealed Carry Purses." They are called "purse snatchers" for a reason...
I don't expect to change your opinion. But these facts will grow as splinters in your mind. Open Carry is about prevention. Concealed Carry is about waiting until it's too late. Concealed Carry is better than nothing, but nothing is all it is better than. I let my permit expire due to the degree of uselessness in practical, real-world scenarios. The only 'surprise' a Concealed Carrier has, is the realization that a gun that can't be seen and can't be reached is not helpful. Why let it get that far?
I have not covered many other details of the positive differences that Open carry has over Concealed Carry. I don't take you for an idiot. Just someone who, like me, fell for the long standing attitude of being an Only One that exists in Florida. Florida invented Concealed Carry Permits. The feeling of being 'special' in the eyes of the State has been here longer than anywhere else. We have no Right to Carry, we have a Privilege to Carry. I hope, someday, for this to be changed as well.
I look forward to any constructive response or conversation you may have to offer.
I need my magic 1mm thick t-shirt to make me superman. That thin cloth keeps away the big bad man. Bad man gonna jump you without it! Your full sized gun is bigger than my CC one. It makes me scared too! Come spend money in my store.:banghead:
