Open Carry in Prince William County

[Nelson_Muntz]

Haven't posted in a while, but had a nice contact today. Shopping in the Manassas Petsmart with the wife. Me open, she concealed. Struck up a conversation on dogs 'n birds with another nice couple.

Later in the parking lot as we were pulling away, the other couple were approaching their car which was parked next to ours. He asked me if I had ever had any 'grief' by anybody for carrying 'that on my hip'. I told him no, not ever. He then lifted his shirt and showed me his concealed piece. I gave him a VCDL wallet card.

 

[SouthernBoy]

Haven't posted in a while, but had a nice contact today. Shopping in the Manassas Petsmart with the wife. Me open, she concealed. Struck up a conversation on dogs 'n birds with another nice couple.

Later in the parking lot as we were pulling away, the other couple were approaching their car which was parked next to ours. He asked me if I had ever had any 'grief' by anybody for carrying 'that on my hip'. I told him no, not ever. He then lifted his shirt and showed me his concealed piece. I gave him a VCDL wallet card.

I had a vaguely similar experience to this around two years ago at the Advance Auto on 234. A man in the line next to the line I was in saw my little friend, then hiked up his shirt to show me his CC revolver saying, "You 'oughta cover that up like I do". His remark was not delivered in a mean spirited way but with a smile and a friendly nod. Later in the parking lot, he asked me all sorts of questions for about 20 minutes regarding both open and concealed carry as he was new to this. He said he decided to carry when a robber ordered him to the floor in a bank in the Maniport Shopping Center and stuck a shotgun in his face. That was the morning when three banks were robbed in less than an hour along 234.

 

[SouthernBoy]

At least he got a second chance to take his safety into his own hands.

Yes he did. Can you imagine being in that situation? He told me, "never again".

 

[Don Barnett]

But to Carry the Argument to a Logical Conclusion...

I had a vaguely similar experience to this around two years ago at the Advance Auto on 234. A man in the line next to the line I was in saw my little friend, then hiked up his shirt to show me his CC revolver saying, "You 'oughta cover that up like I do". His remark was not delivered in a mean spirited way but with a smile and a friendly nod. Later in the parking lot, he asked me all sorts of questions for about 20 minutes regarding both open and concealed carry as he was new to this. He said he decided to carry when a robber ordered him to the floor in a bank in the Maniport Shopping Center and stuck a shotgun in his face. That was the morning when three banks were robbed in less than an hour along 234.

I patrons are carrying concealed then a perpetrator may think that there are no armed victims.

If a person walked into a bank intent on robbing it, and saw armed patrons, he may think twice about it.

 

[OC-Glock19]

So,

Has nobody open carried in PW county since last September?

 

[vabi]

well, not pwc but in front royal

thursday met a new fiend that didnt want to open carry alone for the first time...so broke him in at applebees...

 

[Nelson_Muntz]

Wow, haven't posted in here for awhile. Anyone know if the Manassas Mall is still OC unfriendly?

Wife (concealed) and I (OC) entered in through the Macy's. Browsed the jewelry counter for a while with the salesperson. Exited and went to Zales. Conducted some warranty business and browsed for our upcoming anniversary. Exited there and went to the Piercing Pagoda near the food court so the wife could get a third row pierced.

While there, two mall cops came by swinging their keys and mostly staying out of my sight, but with their backs to us trying to overhear our business with the salesperson. After about 10 minutes one disappeared, the other slunk around the corner of the Fashion Time to watch me through the storefront window. I acknowledged his presence with a direct look in his direction and went back to our business. 10 minutes later as we exited towards Macy's for a jewelry purchase there was no sign of the mall cops.

No confrontation, no discussion. It's good to be a free man.

 

[Claytron]

I patrons are carrying concealed then a perpetrator may think that there are no armed victims.

If a person walked into a bank intent on robbing it, and saw armed patrons, he may think twice about it.

or seeing how he has a weapon drawn and is about to commit a serious felony, he may just shoot you dead where you stand.

Of course seeing as how a bank robber has never shot an OCer in a bank and then immediately confessed to the police in his own words that he did in fact shoot the man because he had the gun, everyone on this forum will pretend its an impossible scenario and not even worth thinking about.

 

[xd shooter]

I wouldn't say it's an impossible scenario, actually fairly probable.

Although the BG's may instead assume that I'm there for the same reason and offer me some of the "take"....

 

[SouthernBoy]

Wow, haven't posted in here for awhile. Anyone know if the Manassas Mall is still OC unfriendly?

Wife (concealed) and I (OC) entered in through the Macy's. Browsed the jewelry counter for a while with the salesperson. Exited and went to Zales. Conducted some warranty business and browsed for our upcoming anniversary. Exited there and went to the Piercing Pagoda near the food court so the wife could get a third row pierced.

While there, two mall cops came by swinging their keys and mostly staying out of my sight, but with their backs to us trying to overhear our business with the salesperson. After about 10 minutes one disappeared, the other slunk around the corner of the Fashion Time to watch me through the storefront window. I acknowledged his presence with a direct look in his direction and went back to our business. 10 minutes later as we exited towards Macy's for a jewelry purchase there was no sign of the mall cops.

No confrontation, no discussion. It's good to be a free man.

Well hey there friend, thought you had fallen off the edge of the earth there for a bit.

I have been to Manassas Mall quite a few times over the last half year, but my target stores have been Sears and Walmart. Neither of those stores have any signs posted of which I am aware and as far as I know, the entrances to the general mall are still posted. I've been meaning to see if the entrances to the general mall from Sears or the Walmart are also posted but I just haven't done that. As long as Sears and Walmart are not posted, as members of that complex, I will continue to carry into the both of them. No one's ever said anything to me one way or the other.

 

[SouthernBoy]

Has nobody open carried in PW county since last September?

Most of the PWC carry postings have been going into the Open Carry in NOVA thread for some time now. And while technically, the western fringe of PWC is not part of Northern Virginia in the geographical sense, we all know it is in the demographic sense.

 

[promizkeeper]

It's been a while since I posted here. Since my mother in law passed away last July, I have been doing a lot of going back and forth between here and Tennessee. Mostly OC on the way down and back, but mostly CC round about Tenn. Just OCed this afternoon to the Safeway on the Parkway. No incidents to date. Got a new main carry piece, a Taurus PT1911AR. Fired about 250 rounds through it so far, shoots great! Did replace the mags with Chip McCormick Power Mags, 3 eight rounders, and 1 ten rounder. Just had to get one to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1911.

 

[PWC_Glock]

OC to Lowes in Gainsville

Tonight I went to Lowes in Gainsville as I was walking into the store I heard the female member of a couple say "he has a gun". I did not make out the exact words but the male responded something like it is legal. No issues from the Lowes staff when I picked up the items I needed.

 

[SouthernBoy]

I've OC'd in the Gainesville Lowe's many times, as recently as six days ago and will going in there again this week. Never had a problem or anything unusual or out of the ordinary there.

Last Monday one of their employees, an older gentleman, started to engage me in some political discussion and it was quite clear he was not on the same page as am I. He favors governmental regulations and controls, and would bet the nanny state mentality rings in his brain. I frankly don't think it was very smart of him to do this with a patron.

 

[user]

Sort of tangentially related: I had occasion to go to Foster's Grille the other day in Haymarket; I was waiting outside for the person I was meeting, and while enjoying the relatively wonderful 88-degree weather, saw a man go in with what looked to be his daughter.

The girl was probably a sophomore in high school, and was commenting on the "Guns Save Lives" magnet on the back of my car as they approached the door. She was saying something about how absurd and illogical that statement was.

I couldn't help butting in, and said, "That all depends on who's attacking you and how."

Her father cracked up at that, gave me a wink and a nod, and they went inside.

 

[SouthernBoy]

Sort of tangentially related: I had occasion to go to Foster's Grille the other day in Haymarket; I was waiting outside for the person I was meeting, and while enjoying the relatively wonderful 88-degree weather, saw a man go in with what looked to be his daughter.

The girl was probably a sophomore in high school, and was commenting on the "Guns Save Lives" magnet on the back of my car as they approached the door. She was saying something about how absurd and illogical that statement was.

I couldn't help butting in, and said, "That all depends on who's attacking you and how."

Her father cracked up at that, gave me a wink and a nod, and they went inside.

'Morning, user.

I long ago came to the conclusion that the second dumbest thing in the world is a high school student because they think they know everything. The dumbest thing in the world is a college student because they know they know everything. Logical thought rarely precedes or follows the utterings of these young folks.

 

[PWC_Glock]

Just a thread bump

Just bumping this up a bit...

It appears that open carry in PWC is not much of a big deal since the last report was made on 08-21-2011, 11:22 AM and never had anything but a positive issue to report.

 

[zoom6zoom]

That, plus a lot of the posts just get lumped into the NoVA thread.

 

[peter nap]

That, plus a lot of the posts just get lumped into the NoVA thread.

Yep, it's all north of the Ni!

 

[Bob1]

Yep, it's all north of the Ni!

Hey Peter, as I told you previously, we're merely the "least Southernmost part of Virginia."