Posted on 01/03/2018 12:53:04 PM PST by PROCON
There’s a lot of debate that takes place around the idea of open carry. Many argue that open carry is tactically stupid as it makes it clear to any potential bad guy who to take out first during a robbery. Others counter with arguments about how open carry initiates conversations about the Second Amendment and our right to keep and bear arms.
Both are good points, but for one open carrier in Fayetteville, NC, open carry isn’t such a grand thing these days.
An incident involving a stolen gun caused a commotion at Walmart on Skibo Road on Thursday afternoon.
About 3 p.m., Fayetteville police spokeswoman Asia Cannon said, inaccurate information based on radio scanner traffic began circulating about a shooting at the Walmart. Officers arrived and discovered that a man had grabbed a gun off another man who was open-carrying the weapon. The man who grabbed the gun then ran off.
Someone then yelled out about a gun in the store, which then caused some kind of commotion, though no one was injured.
Of course, this illustrates one of the main problems with open carry. Besides freaking out the uninitiated citizen, it also makes yourself a target for crap like this.
To be sure, there are things you can do to mitigate this kind of thing. First, look at your holster and see how easily it is to draw from someone else’s hip. I’ve found that some holsters are very easy to draw from when they’re no your hip, but not so much when they’re on someone else’s.
Also, look at learning some weapon retention techniques. These are, in my opinion, a good idea for anyone who is carrying a firearm, whether open or concealed. The last thing you want is for your decision to rely solely on stealth to come back and bite you in the rear should someone figure out you’re packing.
That said, stealth–in other words, carrying concealed–is the best way in which to carry as a general rule. If you want to make a statement, that’s fine, but don’t expect anyone to listen to you when they’re concerned about the heater on your hip. Some will, but a lot more won’t.
But if you’re serious about protecting yourself and others with a firearm, carry it concealed. Doing so means that not only will you minimize your chances of being murder target number one in the event of a robbery, but you’ll also help make sure that you actually have your gun at that key moment, rather than having lost it to some schmuck in a local Walmart who snatched it and ran off.
Folks, if we want to be considered responsible gun owners, we need to act like it. That means not advertising what we have so would-be thieves like this can grab a hold of our weapons and run for the hills. The last thing any of us want is to help arm criminals, but just what do you think happened with this weapon?
Learn from this, just as I am, and let’s make this the last such incident.
In the Phoenix Valley the majority (but not all) of Open Carry (as opposed to concealed) falls into three categories:
1.) Business operator in the course of business that requires same — collecting coin deposits at private laundry machines etc.
2.) Outdoors adventure — bicycle, hiking etc.
3.) Tactical wannabe. Guy with a strap-down leg rig, tactical clothing, momma four paces behind trying to keep up carrying a two year old and dragging a toddler. Dad has more invested in his tats than in his families apparel.
I would bet this guy lost his Glock from category 3.
AND. Definitely and.
I always use a retention holster for OWB carry.
I have NEVER seen your category 3, and I see a fair amount of open carry in rural VA and WV.
Hint: I am.
I’ve never seen a category 3 in Virginia, either.
Typical VA/WV open carry is a medium to full sized semiauto in a level 1 retention holster, centered on the belt and carried at or just behind the point of the hip. And nobody freaks out about it.
I’m older, slower and need all the advantage I can get ....... concealed carry grayman rule. Albeit I support 100% constitutional carry both concealed or open .
For those who are admittingly slow and old and decide to open carry anyway please consider this ......been around for decades, works well. You wont be shot with your own handgun.
http://tarnhelm.com/magna-trigger/gun/safety/magna1.html
;-)
Now you're talkin'!
Interesting, I had never seen this magnetic ring technology.
Who knows? If I've seen you, I almost certainly noticed the weapon ... and nobody noticed that I noticed.
Open carry should be legal under the Second Amendment. Concealed carry should also be legal, and it should be normal. The biggest value in open carry being legal is then you can’t be prosecuted when some far-left freak spots your concealed carry.
There is a rash of smash and grab robberies going on in the area around where I live. You are correct. They walk up and ring the bell. If no one answers they kick the door open and grab the nearest stuff. Over in less than two minutes. Security cameras and things like the “ring” doorbell seem to deter them, they just move on.
If you’re going to open carry. Retention holster amd practice with it until the rigamarole is automatic.
Making oneself a target and losing control of it is key reason to not open carry. Open carry, for me, is an exception, a statement usually. Out hiking, it is convenience. But in town, no way. On the very rare times that I do open carry, I also carry a concealed weapon as backup.
I wonder how common it is for an openly carried gun to be grabbed?
This is the first story of it I have ever seen.
Just another day in FayetteNAM.
The first rule of security is “Don’t advertise your security measures”.
I haven’t seen #3 in other parts of the country and I have been in rural Missouri for months at a time since open carry was passed.
In the five years since I have lived in the Phoenix Valley as a primary residence (the last two retired) I have seen it probably 15 to 20 times. WalMarts, Woodcraft shops, grocery store parking lots make up the majority of those sightings. I will also ad that while my wife thinks I am oblivious to many things she thinks are important, situational awareness makes me see these when the person is not trying to be too conspicuous — perhaps others might not even observe it.
Of course, out here the Glock is the state flower.
It is rare. I have heard of a few occasions where an LEO had his gun used against him.
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