Feldercarb!
Howdy Folks!
I find it a bit curious that the OP is a firearms instructor who boasts impressive credentials, but evidently believes open carriers are crazy. I find it curious because he doesn't seem to consider contrary argument as being lucid and sane.
For starters, the whole subject of getting a CCW permit is costly. Here in Colorado, you must first take a CCW class that will cost you around $100 on average. Then you've got to apply to the local Sheriff's office or chief of police (in some jurisdictions). You'll cough up another $152 for your permit... assuming you get it within the time required by statute, you're waiting up to 90 days.
Think about that one for a moment. 90 days to receive your concealed carry permit. 90 days to remain unarmed and unprepared to protect yourself, your family or your neighbors while out and about. 90 days to be defenseless when that hood busts into the 7-11 and shoots you first because you can't do anything about it. 90 days while at the mercy of that felon at Wallmart who chooses to commit some nefarious act of violence. It is my personal opinion that you'd be crazy (in today's society) not to be armed at all when in public, out in the world, where the bad guys are.
The notion that an openly carried weapon will simply make you the first target of a robbery attempt at the 7-11 is ludicrious beyond description. The suggestion being some punk that wants to rob the place (committing armed robbery being one thing) will blissfully add an attempted murder rap to his problems rather than simply waiting for you to leave the place so he can rob it. Hello? Is this thing on??? Ever consider that perhaps your visible display of a firearm might cause the punk to reconsider his options and cause him to abandon the crime altogether? Hello??? Is it me, or is that argument rather silly?
Next comes the basic fact that I am a free American. I have rights under the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution of the State of Colorado, and Colorado revised statutes. I have the right, supported by all these basic fundaments of law, to keep and BEAR arms. That means I am free to carry my sidearm for my protection. That right, however, can be sold off to get a CCW *permit*. Now I have a privelege instead of a right. I must pay somebody for their permission to exercise my inalienable rights as a citizen. They'll trade me a little I.D. card to carry, showing the world I've sold my rights and voluntarily accepted a tax to conceal my gun. That's what it really is. A tax on those who lawfully exercise a privelege rather than exert their Constitutional rights.
I won't even bother to address the nonsensical business about situational awareness and gun grabs by miscreants. Since I have yet to see one single shred of evidence that any open carrier ever had his weapon grabbed by a bad guy, there's really no issue to argue here.
Finally, most punks out there are basically cowardly. They look for soft targets. They don't want complications while engaged in criminal activity. They want easy victims. I'd think a certified CCW instructor would already know this simple fact, but evidently it hasn't dawned on him. So let's consider the behavior of the average criminal. Most police agencies will gladly share their information on how to avoid becoming a victim. All you gotta do is ask for it. Among the first things they'll explain is that the best way to become a victim is to appear "an easy mark". They look for those who appear least able to fight back or make a fuss. They look for those who seem unaware of their surroundings and other people around them. "I never saw him coming" is a phrase too often used by victims. Criminals dearly love victims who aren't paying attention. It indicates they aren't too tough for them to take by surprise, make a clean hit and make good their getaway with the money, purse, etc. They aren't really interested in getting into a gunfight. They see an armed citizen, prepared to fight back, and that's just more trouble than most are willing to deal with. They'll pass the OC'er in favor of an easier target. You don't need to be a rocket surgeon to figure this out. Just ask any cop on the street.
Finally, the original post would seem to suggest that most cops are crazy, because they openly carry their sidearms. Hello???? Now why on earth would cops do that? Could it be that the presence of their sidearm, in full view of the public, sends a visible message to criminals in our midst that certain people are not to be trifled with? Is it therefore reasonable to conclude that a citizen does not send a similar message?
I've already gone much farther than I intended at the outset. It is difficult for me to believe that a certified CCW instructor would preach such ludicrous ideas. If he doesn't wish to open carry, that's his right. But don't even begin to intimate that my right to do so is any less valid; much less insinuate that I might be crazy. I am not bashing the OP, because I don't know him from Adam. But his suggestion that open carriers might be crazy is inappropriate and insulting. Especially on a board devoted to open carry.
What really seems crazy to me is to heed bad advice presented with an overtly glib attitude toward a matter of such serious implication.
Blessings,
M-Taliesin
