Open Carry Experiences

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hey everyone. sounds like you all have had some oc experiences that have gone quite well. i have just joined this site and have been mulling around a bit and haven't really noticed much coming out of the woodbridge area. i just moved down there from alexandria and am a little hesitant about oc'ing around there. i've only been in the area for just over a year, got my ccw in virginia beach, so i'm still trying to get comfortable. if anyone has any experiences in the woodbridge/lakeridge area please let me know, i'd like to see what i'm up against. thankseveryone and keep those 2nd rights alive!

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Open carried today at the D.M.V. on Mill rd. in Alexandria for about 2 hrs. They will only allow altd. number of people inside at one time so I was standing in line outside for half an hour before the armed rent-a-cop escorted me inside. In this liberal, anti-gun area of Virginia, I fully expected to get the once over. Not a word,any bad looks or comments of any kind. A total non event. I was wearing 5.11 khakis and polo shirt so I probably looked like off duty F.B.I. or something. This is fun!I think I want todo it again sometime.

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Welcome, Vincent. I have to go to the exact same place before the end of the month. That's great to hear. Been there before. I have a meeting with the "Vision Test". I'm older than dirt, in fact John Mosby, the "Grey Ghost" burned the Railroad Bridge, just down the street from there during the WBTS. I've been here too long!

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High DoubleR, I also went to renew my license which has no restrictions or vision correction requirement on it, yet. I started wearing glasses after renewing my last one. After waiting 2 hours I walked up to the window and was told I would have to take an eye test. I asked to speak with a manager and I questioned why I had to take the eye test in person but not if I renewed by mail or online. She said it was just policy. I tuned around, walked out and went straight to the Post Office. I really don't want the vision correction requirement if I can get away without it, in case I happen to forget my glasses, even though I wear them all the time.

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Vincent wrote:

High DoubleR, I also went to renew my license which has no restrictions or vision correction requirement on it, yet. I started wearing glasses after renewing my last one. After waiting 2 hours I walked up to the window and was told I would have to take an eye test. I asked to speak with a manager and I questioned why I had to take the eye test in person but not if I renewed by mail or online. She said it was just policy. I tuned around, walked out and went straight to the Post Office. I really don't want the vision correction requirement if I can get away without it, in case I happen to forget my glasses, even though I wear them all the time.

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That right there is the American way. . . always find a way around idiocies of the system.

Welcome aboard!

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"I tuned around, walked out and went straight to the Post Office."
+1 - Vincent

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Tonight I open carried at Hair Cuttery on King Street and got a haircut (no comments/problems), then I open carried at Costco in Arlington (no comments/problems), then I stopped at Rite Aid on Duke Street in Alexandria. I asked the clerk where to find something, when he showed me, he asked, "So are you a cop?" I answered,"Nope." I could tell he was still looking at me, he than asked, "So do you have a concealed permit or something?" I then said, "Oh, you don't need one in Virginia. As long as the gun is not hidden from common observation and is recognizeable as a firearm...it is legal to open carry." This blew his mind, he said something about how that would never fly in Maryland, I agreed. Just then a girl I work with and am pretty good friends with came over to the aisle because she recognized my voice. She is not really anti, just not a big fan of guns. She stood there and talked to me for about 2-3 minutes before she even noticed. She kind of teased me, by saying, "You're scary." But she was just kidding, we talked for another minute or so, told each other to have a good weekend and headed our separate ways. It was all in all a great night of open carry. My first encounter!!

OH, I almost forgot, the clerk who asked if I was a cop...as I was paying, he asked if my Glock was a 19. I told him that it was a 23. He said, yeah they are great guns...really tough...I agreed, then he told me that he has a Glock 27. I now feel bad, I should have asked him if he lived in MD and told him about Montgomery County Citizens for Concealed Carry and VCDL (since he works in VA at least he could come to a meeting)...I will remember to mention it next time I see him. Sorry for the long post. Stay safe all and God Bless!!!

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This morning I open carried while me and the wife walked our dog (Boston Terrier)through our neihborhood (Rose Hill) on the way to the 7-11. About a mile each way. As the dog is a great conversation starter, we stopped and talked with many people along the way. While waiting outside I spoke with several more folks while my wife went in for coffee and a newspaper.Interestingly, the one and only person who noticed was a mentally challenged 40 yr. old man. We had a pleasant conversation but while we spoke he was focused on the gunlike a laser beam as if he was talking to IT. We talked about the dog and the heat but he never mentioned anything about the gun. Just struck me as a little strange.

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Vincent - I live right around the corner from Rose Hill in Kingstowne, off S. Van Dorn near Ruby Tuesday. We'll have to get get together some time - maybe at a public meeting with Supervisor Kaufmann or Delegate Sickles.

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Sounds great Mike. BTW, I'veOC'd at that Ruby Tuesdays' several times w/ absolutely no problems whatsoever. One time I did overhear a man tell his party I had a gun. Nothing came of it though. Excellent burgers. Ilike the mushroom/swiss w/ mayonaise.