The biggest advantage of open carry is it is powerful, protected, political speech.
Posted on 09/29/2025 6:52:40 AM PDT by marktwain
The Palm Beach Post published an opinion piece on September 18, 2025. While the Post says the article is only the authors’ opinion, this correspondent could not find any mention of who the authors were.
The authors show they lack significant information about open carry. A couple of years ago, as of 2022, only four states prohibited the general open carry of modern handguns. They were California, Florida, Illinois, and New York. As the divide between the states following Supreme Court decisions on the Second Amendment widened after the Bruen decision in 2022, New Jersey made it illegal to open carry with a permit. Connecticut and Maryland banned the general open carry of handguns in 2023, even with a permit, for self-defense. There are now six states that ban the general open carry of modern handguns in public for self-defense.
Let’s be clear. Lawful open carry is not a crime in the 47 states that allow some form of it, and that now includes Florida. Only California, Illinois and New York still prohibit open carry. While some gun enthusiasts may wonder what took Florida so long, the rest of state residents will have to adjust to a major change in law that came with little fanfare.
The legislature in Florida has been heavily debating the subject for many years. I would not call that “without fanfare”. The authors make a good point about the current law requiring gun carriers to act responsibly.
No one expects to now see an outpouring of gun-toting Second Amendment enthusiasts parading their hardware in Boca Raton’s Mizner Park or along West Palm Beach’s Clematis Avenue. The state still provides ample legal protection for property owners to prohibit firearms
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
“You lose the tactical advantage should you need the firearm,” Judd said. “Some people think, ‘Well, if I’m carrying a firearm, I’ll announce my presence and my intentions.’ You don’t scare away real bad guys by carrying a firearm in a holster. You don’t scare real bad guys by slinging an AR-15 over your shoulder.”
What a REAL bad guy is gonna do is take your firearm, stick it up your butt and discharge it until empty”
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_ Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd on the subject of open carry
The biggest advantage of open carry is it is powerful, protected, political speech.
The Lame Street Media must not believe “when guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns”.
When your “god” is the government, you do not want to see it’s power limited.
The left only sees the government as doing “good” even if it has to kill millions of people to do the “good”.
Every county in the country needs a Sheriff Grady.
Open carry needs to be legal in all states.
It puts a crimp on crime
OK, that is what this sheriff claims.
Now. Name every time this (a gun successfuly taken in public from an open carry holster) actually happened since 2015.
There is a corresponding problem with concealed carry.
Several concealed carriers have been attacked and their guns stolen because the criminals did not know they were armed. The criminals attacked them, overcame them, and stole their firearms because they thought they were *not* armed.
Criminals do not like to attack armed victims. It is too risky.
Both open carry and concealed carry have their advantages and disadvantages. They are different for each method.
Those “victims” should not have been carrying if they were not prepared to use their weapons to defend themselves.
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