The Open Carry Argument

[ATM]

Only way I can OC here in FL is if I'm hunting or fishing...

Next best thing, until the nonsense gets straightened out:

 

[Anima mundi]

Next best thing, until the nonsense gets straightened out:

*blip*

this is awesome, I really hope people actually wear this in places where OC is illegal.

 

[nakinate]

Next best thing, until the nonsense gets straightened out:

Or just carry a fishing pole everywhere you go.

 

[LostWander]

Or just carry a fishing pole everywhere you go.

Both shirt and a pole just for good measure lol. Theres a 2A group that does awareness meets on the beach pier while OCing and fishing. Gonna join em one of these days

 

[cbhausen]

Haha, TOO FUNNY! If I lived in Florida I would SO wear that t-shirt AND carry a fishing pole. Maybe one of those Popiel Pocket Fisherman rigs, OC on my belt. I wonder if anyone prints t-shirts with guns poking up out of the waistband. Now THAT would be interesting down there.

 

[CTS]

Kids seem to notice, probably because it's level with their eyes.

I noticed this guy yesterday...but mostly because of the horrendous carry style.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I'm too self-conscious to open carry. And I'd prefer a "bad guy" didn't know I was armed until absolutely necessary.

 

[ATM]

I'm too self-conscious to open carry. And I'd prefer a "bad guy" didn't know I was armed until absolutely necessary.

Open carry doesn't have to just be about you. Sometimes, you might not get the chance to let the bad guy know you were armed.

He might just find out when he retrieves it from your body.

 

[chipbennett]

I'm too self-conscious to open carry. And I'd prefer a "bad guy" didn't know I was armed until absolutely necessary.

[Insert here response given to this assertion approximately two dozen times already in this thread]

Bad guys (where "bad guys" = typical, common criminals) don't like armed resistance. Bad guys tend to look for softer targets/easier marks.

You win 100% of the gunfights you never have to face. Concealed carry yields a 0% deterrence rate.

 

[STARCOM]

[Insert here response given to this assertion approximately two dozen times already in this thread]

Bad guys (where "bad guys" = typical, common criminals) don't like armed resistance. Bad guys tend to look for softer targets/easier marks.

You win 100% of the gunfights you never have to face. Concealed carry yields a 0% deterrence rate.

If only OC was legal, criminals would know for sure who was armed and who was not (besides other criminals). Knowledge of legal CC keeps the criminals guessing and does have at least some deterrent effect.

 

[MCgrease08]

If only OC was legal, criminals would know for sure who was armed and who was not (besides other criminals). Knowledge of legal CC keeps the criminals guessing and does have at least some deterrent effect.

Open carry is perfectly legal in Indiana. The state issued license is a "license to carry a handgun." It is silent on the method by which one must carry. Hence, open carry is completely acceptable.

Now if you are referencing permitless open carry, I'm all for that too. Unfortunately, to date, state legislators have not agreed.

 

[eldirector]

If only OC was legal, criminals would know for sure who was armed and who was not (besides other criminals). Knowledge of legal CC keeps the criminals guessing and does have at least some deterrent effect.

It is legal in Indiana.

I see news clips pretty much every day about a CC-er defending themselves. I rarely hear of someone who was OC (other than a cop). My conjecture: if a crook can't see you are able to defend yourself, they assume you cannot. Now, if more than 50% of the population CCed, I'd bet that assumption would change. With less than 10-15% of folks carrying, we have a ways to go.

 

[STARCOM]

Open carry is perfectly legal in Indiana. The state issued license is a "license to carry a handgun." It is silent on the method by which one must carry. Hence, open carry is completely acceptable.

Now if you are referencing permitless open carry, I'm all for that too. Unfortunately, to date, state legislators have not agreed.

Yes, I know both OC/CC is legal. You did not understand my post.

It is legal in Indiana.

I see news clips pretty much every day about a CC-er defending themselves. I rarely hear of someone who was OC (other than a cop). My conjecture: if a crook can't see you are able to defend yourself, they assume you cannot. Now, if more than 50% of the population CCed, I'd bet that assumption would change. With less than 10-15% of folks carrying, we have a ways to go.

The “IF” was hypothetical to state a point.

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

Yes, I know both OC/CC is legal. You did not understand my post.




The “IF” was hypothetical to state a point.

I'm not tracking. Can anyone help me out?

 

[actaeon277]

He's stating, that if there was ONLY OC, and there was NO CC, then the bad guys would know who carried the guns.
Therefore, they wouldn't be worried about attacking people not showing guns.

Therefore, CC will cause some worry, that they will run into someone with a gun.

 

[rhino]

I'm not tracking. Can anyone help me out?

Based on the follow-up message, I believe that "If only OC was legal. . ." was intended to convey "if open carry exclusively were legal and concealed carry were illegal."

As written, most of us would interpret as you did and I did.

A better phrasing using the same words would be "I open carry only were legal."

 

[actaeon277]

I understood him.

 

[rhino]

I understood him.

You're different.

 

[actaeon277]

You're different.

I blame it on my brains being baked

 

[chipbennett]

If only OC was legal, criminals would know for sure who was armed and who was not (besides other criminals). Knowledge of legal CC keeps the criminals guessing and does have at least some deterrent effect.

Licensed (and permit-less) carry by law-abiding citizens does provide a general deterrence - in that would-be criminals generally move away from areas (i.e. counties, municipalities) where such carry is lawful, and into areas where such carry is not lawful (or not as readily practiced). This behavior is well-described by John Lott in More Guns, Less Crime.

But where criminals do exist, and do attempt to commit crime, the deterrence effect of general knowledge of carry by law-abiding citizens has been exhausted. Concealed carry simply affords no specific deterrence to a would-be criminal who has chosen a place and time to attempt to commit a crime.

Open carry, by contrast, has been demonstrated to provide some non-zero value of specific deterrence in such circumstances. What that value is, precisely, is certainly up for argument. But in all cases, that value is greater than the known, zero value for concealed carry.