Hi all,
Well just watching the news tonight reinforces why I carry. For the longest time ive been afraid to open carry because I hardly see anyone in the Greeley area open carry and thanks to this forum I now know I'm not alone out there and I just want to say thank you to all of you and hopefully in the future I can attend a meet up and hopefully encourage more people to open carry in my area.
Howdy Amigo!
Welcome to the herd, where the OCDO brand is growing constantly.
We host a few of them meet & greets during the year, and the next one will likely be closer to the metro area.
I'd love to have you join us at the next one we have, as we enjoy getting together to talk about open carry, get to know one another, and of course, dine on some fine fare.
Consider the fact that 99% of Coloradoans haven't the faintest idea that open carry is legal, and the fact that you don't see many folks open carrying isn't terribly surprising. But trust me when I say that we are out here. We are currently considering ways to bring open carry to more folks by doing events that call attention to this right. We're talking about ways to help educate the general public about open carry, and the sort of people who do so on a daily basis. A bit of media attention would help considerably. This particular discussion was the highlight of our most recent meet and greet, and we are still trying to figure out ways to reach more Colorado law abiding citizens to embrace their right to openly carry the means of defense in this troublesome time when crime is fairly rampant. We haven't yet settled on anything, but are talking about things we might do to help spread the word.
One thing we all agreed on was that being snarky when people ask about why we're armed isn't going to win any converts. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, as my grandmother often said. Glib replies or snide remarks won't work very well and only serve to stoke the fires of suspicioin that many citizens have. There are sterotypes to overcome, and the best way to do that is for each of us to consider ourselves ambassadors of open carry. As with any ambassador, we need to be respectful of others, employ tact when asked out carrying, and provide solid information to people who do not know they have this right.
Sorry, didn't mean to launch into a rambling discourse here, but I can completely understand where you're coming from. It wasn't that long ago that I started open carrying, and it seemed like I was the only one doing that in Aurora. Those meet and greets help to get us beyond the "everbody is staring at me" misconception that most of us deal with when we start doing so. It's a great opportunity to share experiences, discuss our opinions, and answer questions. So don't be timid about asking whatever comes to mind. Somebody around here will have an answer to darn near anything.
Again, welcome to the OCDO forum, and I'd love to meet up with you whenever I visit Greeley next. Maybe we could drop by a Starbucks or other place to hang out and get to know each other better.
In closing, I'd just like to say that I carry everywhere I go, at all times, with my pistol worn on my hip. I haven't had any negative encounters, but have enjoyed many opportunities to discuss open carry and our RKBA! We live in a terrific state, and I have yet to meet anybody in the open carry movement that I haven't enjoyed meeting and consider many my friends!
Blessings,
M-Taliesin