petrophase
Campaign Veteran
My fiance and I just go back from spending the last four days camping in the Wyoming Bighorns. We had a good experience and a not so good experience.
We both OC'd our revolvers (Ruger SP101 and LCR) while hiking and fishing in the Cloud Peak Wilderness on Thursday. We interacted with quite a few people, including Forest Service staff and many, many tourists. We met a couple from Ohio and their three small children along the trail and again in the parking lot at the trail head. They were curious about our sidearms. We explained to them the lawfulness of OC in WY and in our home state of South Dakota. They were surprised and pleased. The mother said that "she was glad to see people carrying." We were able to carry without hassle, and were also able to educate. This was the good experience.
That afternoon we went down the mountain to Buffalo, WY, to shop and eat. My fiance is new to OC and still nervous about doing so in 'in town,' so, in order to calm her fears, I stupidly called the Buffalo Police non-emergency line to inquire about the lawfulness of OC. The woman on the other end begrudgingly acknowledged its lawfulness, while using wording and a tone of voice that screamed "it's legal, but it's not!" Next, we went into a local sporting goods shop, The Sports Lure, a place that sells firearms and ammunition, to browse. I asked the man behind the gun counter about open carry in Buffalo. He whispered back, as if we were discussing something bad, that open carry was legal but nobody in Buffalo OC's. These experiences were not so good.
What gives? I expected Wyoming to be more OC friendly than South Dakota. Is this attitude just isolated to Buffalo?
(please don't flame me for asking about OC when I knew it was legal...I know, I know...)
We both OC'd our revolvers (Ruger SP101 and LCR) while hiking and fishing in the Cloud Peak Wilderness on Thursday. We interacted with quite a few people, including Forest Service staff and many, many tourists. We met a couple from Ohio and their three small children along the trail and again in the parking lot at the trail head. They were curious about our sidearms. We explained to them the lawfulness of OC in WY and in our home state of South Dakota. They were surprised and pleased. The mother said that "she was glad to see people carrying." We were able to carry without hassle, and were also able to educate. This was the good experience.
That afternoon we went down the mountain to Buffalo, WY, to shop and eat. My fiance is new to OC and still nervous about doing so in 'in town,' so, in order to calm her fears, I stupidly called the Buffalo Police non-emergency line to inquire about the lawfulness of OC. The woman on the other end begrudgingly acknowledged its lawfulness, while using wording and a tone of voice that screamed "it's legal, but it's not!" Next, we went into a local sporting goods shop, The Sports Lure, a place that sells firearms and ammunition, to browse. I asked the man behind the gun counter about open carry in Buffalo. He whispered back, as if we were discussing something bad, that open carry was legal but nobody in Buffalo OC's. These experiences were not so good.
What gives? I expected Wyoming to be more OC friendly than South Dakota. Is this attitude just isolated to Buffalo?
(please don't flame me for asking about OC when I knew it was legal...I know, I know...)