Hello and some thoughts.....

[Shienhausser]

Greetings everyone,


I'm a 29 year old man, born and raised in New York and have lived in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma since then. I grew up in a house with no firearms but had several positive experiences in NY with childhood friend's families going to the range (military). I reconnected with shooting in general upon moving to Texas. Talking with my mother & father actively in NY these days it is ever more apparent how delusional that state's government has gotten and I am trying to convince them to move.


I am a firm believer in the constitution and the 2nd amendment, and am glad that I live where I do now. I met my beautiful girlfriend in OK and don't plan on leaving any time soon (she is also an avid shooter). I'm currently acquiring my CLEET license to do private investigation work and I'm excited what the future holds.

Open carry coming to Oklahoma has been wonderful and I have had no negative experiences nor have I felt uncomfortable doing so. In fact I feel myself wanting to be a better person because of it. What I mean is being more polite, outward and helpful to people. We are the ambassadors and the face of the 2nd amendment when open carrying and I feel a responsibility to portray us in a good light. Through situational awareness and training we can all become not only better shooters but better people and I truly feel that our new ability to exercise our god given rights even more (in OK at least) needs to be utilized and appreciated. Open carry is extremely comfortable and feels just right once you have the right thought patterns. Relationships with law enforcement and your community do wondrous things to help our cause as even only since Nov 2012 (OK law changed for open carry), I have noticed a great positive reaction from businesses and individuals I encounter who are able to understand the concept. several 7-11 stores here have taken their no gun signs down in the last year and I have even been (jokingly) invited to hang out at restaurants and stores on weekends and Fridays because the owners appreciate what we do. We are not vigilantes or police but we can take a positive attitude and image and make the most unexpected people appreciate us exercising our right to carry openly and concealed. Truly amazing. There will be of course exceptions to this and people who are not educated about the whys and hows but we must stay polite and respectful even to those who would see us disarmed.


Just wanted to introduce myself and share my feelings about open carry.

Anyone else agree?

 

[Rusty Young Man]

Welcome to OCDO and greetings from sunny, dry Arizona Shienhausser!

First off (as in, "before I forget"): you should consider mentioning the state of Arizona as a potential candidate for your parents' new home state should they decide to move to a Freedom-loving state. Great climate, not too cold, and you should just see the landscapes!

Second: you seem to have a mentality I can agree with (we aren't police or vigilantes, we should try to portray OC in a good light, we should remain polite even if we're confronted by a ranting anti).

Hope you stick around for some great conversation.

 

[JHART]

That is such a great mindset to have. I couldn't agree more. Sounds like you are extremely comfortable open carrying.I too open carry. I have been for 6 months now. I am not as comfortable doing it as I used to be tho. I have had negative encounters and negative comments made behind my back while standing in line to pay for something. Have also been stopped in my tracks and givin hell for open carrying. Have noticed some staredowns also. Have been at a park and had a mother grab her kid and leave while mumbling that its not safe here with that guy. I have to admit that these negative encounters have shaken my confidence,and actually have made me consider to conceal carry only.

 

[kinggabby]

Greetings everyone,


I'm a 29 year old man, born and raised in New York and have lived in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma since then. I grew up in a house with no firearms but had several positive experiences in NY with childhood friend's families going to the range (military). I reconnected with shooting in general upon moving to Texas. Talking with my mother & father actively in NY these days it is ever more apparent how delusional that state's government has gotten and I am trying to convince them to move.


I am a firm believer in the constitution and the 2nd amendment, and am glad that I live where I do now. I met my beautiful girlfriend in OK and don't plan on leaving any time soon (she is also an avid shooter). I'm currently acquiring my CLEET license to do private investigation work and I'm excited what the future holds.

Open carry coming to Oklahoma has been wonderful and I have had no negative experiences nor have I felt uncomfortable doing so. In fact I feel myself wanting to be a better person because of it. What I mean is being more polite, outward and helpful to people. We are the ambassadors and the face of the 2nd amendment when open carrying and I feel a responsibility to portray us in a good light. Through situational awareness and training we can all become not only better shooters but better people and I truly feel that our new ability to exercise our god given rights even more (in OK at least) needs to be utilized and appreciated. Open carry is extremely comfortable and feels just right once you have the right thought patterns. Relationships with law enforcement and your community do wondrous things to help our cause as even only since Nov 2012 (OK law changed for open carry), I have noticed a great positive reaction from businesses and individuals I encounter who are able to understand the concept. several 7-11 stores here have taken their no gun signs down in the last year and I have even been (jokingly) invited to hang out at restaurants and stores on weekends and Fridays because the owners appreciate what we do. We are not vigilantes or police but we can take a positive attitude and image and make the most unexpected people appreciate us exercising our right to carry openly and concealed. Truly amazing. There will be of course exceptions to this and people who are not educated about the whys and hows but we must stay polite and respectful even to those who would see us disarmed.


Just wanted to introduce myself and share my feelings about open carry.

Anyone else agree?

First of all welcome to OCDO and welcome to the Great State of Oklahoma. I do hang out at a local C-Store on the weekend nights . ( have trouble sleeping ) .I am going on my third year of carrying 1st was CC because OC was not legal yet. I open carry everywhere I am allowed. And even have a couple that allow me to carry ( concealed even though they are posted) I do my best to answer any questions when it comes to firearms. I do get some looks from LEO and have been ID checked 1/2 dozen times. And one encounter I felt needed to be reported. But most just walk past me. And a few have even told me they like it when when they see people open carrying a firearm.

 

[kinggabby]

That is such a great mindset to have. I couldn't agree more. Sounds like you are extremely comfortable open carrying.I too open carry. I have been for 6 months now. I am not as comfortable doing it as I used to be tho. I have had negative encounters and negative comments made behind my back while standing in line to pay for something. Have also been stopped in my tracks and givin hell for open carrying. Have noticed some staredowns also. Have been at a park and had a mother grab her kid and leave while mumbling that its not safe here with that guy. I have to admit that these negative encounters have shaken my confidence,and actually have made me consider to conceal carry only.

I can understand where your coming from. I have had a few negative comments and have had some steer clear of me ( sometimes I prefer ). But for the most part of it people either don't notice or are very friendly to me. The more people ( LEO's included) see us open carry the more people will accept us. They need to see regular people can carry guns. It is not just LEO and security. I know I get people ask if i am security or a cop ( some cops think I am security until I say otherwise ). My nephew is Autistic and he was afraid when i first started to carry open. I used to cover up when he was around to keep him calm. I told my sister and brother in law that I was not going to cover up anymore because if I did he would never get used to it. It took some time but he came up to me one day and said " Uncle Dave I was afraid of guns but I am not afraid of your gun". Now if an Autistic child can get used to it then people in general can get used to it.

 

[BB62]

...We are the ambassadors and the face of the 2nd amendment when open carrying and I feel a responsibility to portray us in a good light...

Absolutely!

Welcome.

 

[JHART]

I can understand where your coming from. I have had a few negative comments and have had some steer clear of me ( sometimes I prefer ). But for the most part of it people either don't notice or are very friendly to me. The more people ( LEO's included) see us open carry the more people will accept us. They need to see regular people can carry guns. It is not just LEO and security. I know I get people ask if i am security or a cop ( some cops think I am security until I say otherwise ). My nephew is Autistic and he was afraid when i first started to carry open. I used to cover up when he was around to keep him calm. I told my sister and brother in law that I was not going to cover up anymore because if I did he would never get used to it. It took some time but he came up to me one day and said " Uncle Dave I was afraid of guns but I am not afraid of your gun". Now if an Autistic child can get used to it then people in general can get used to it.

I think people might get used to it if they see it enough,but from my experience in Tulsa it is a very rare thing to see.Just out of curiosity I occasionally ask cashiers how often they see it at various retail and eating establishments. The most common answer is never see it or seen it once or twice. Me and a coworker were talking guns and ammo and was overheard by a non enthusiast. He jumped in and said " I saw the weirdest thing the other day. I saw a guy carry a gun on his hip right into Kohls Dept. store." I asked him how it made him feel. He said " I really didn't feel anything, but it was very bizarre to see that." I suppose this is what I'm struggling with. The fact that I am in a very high minority (open carriers) and that it is looked upon as strange, bizarre, and in some cases people get downright scared or angry.