Jeff Hayes
Regular Member
I think this dichotomy between LGOC and "our" OC (pistol OC) is based more in the "how" and "who" than in the "where, when, and why" it is carried.
Case in point: saying that merely OCing a long gun will scare the antis is like the argument we hear from the CC-only bunch ("don't OC because the antis will come ban my carry method as well").
I think the real problem lies in how the gun (pistol or long) is carried: safe or unsafe, tastefully or recklessly. We've seen and read about people who've OCed pistols in an unsafe manner, and the same mistakes committed by that OCer can be applied to LGOC: lack of sling (holster), use of inadequate sling (inadequate holster) that does not hold the gun in place, sweeping people, hands coming to grip the gun, playing with the safety, etc.
If anything, responsible LGOCers could show the on-the-fence crowd that all of their fears are unfounded. After all, the people with those scary-looking, baby-killing, puppy-kicking guns with extended assault clips didn't kill anyone, and if they have polite interactions with the LGOCers, they come away with a better image of the gun community in general. After all, we are trying to normalize OC, so having the masses see LGOC might help speed up having our pistol carry seem completely normal.
Also, "we" want to normalize OC and the LGOCers (and some of "us") want to normalize our respective carry methods, so it helps to dress tastefully (trying to steer away from racist/violent slogans on t-shirts, etc). At that point, the "who" of carry come in: don't try to look like Rambo or a mall ninja, just go about your daily business in your normal fashion (unless you're a mall ninja, then just try to emulate what you see people wear on clothing commercials:lol.
Baby steps, long gun OC has not been common for 200 years give or take doingit now is going to cause shock and will be used against our rights. Lets get people used to HGOC and move on after that is established. The anti gun folks have done a great job of eating an elephant one bite at a time we are trying to swallow our elephant whole and we are going to choke.