Don't you think Open Carry is safer than CC?

[TexasGunbie]

I was driving home and thought... some people bring a bigger size gun to their CCW exam, but when they carry, they will carry a smaller gun.

So generally we get better accuracy from a larger handgun, wouldn't that make open carry safer than conceal carry?

I thought I start a discussion on weighting the pros and cons of both carry methods.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

Also faster draw, serves as a deterrent, and helps put a message out there that we aren't bad people.

This is a very old subject btw, been discussed many many times.

 

[huntinggamo]

it has it pro's and cons...

on one hand while you may be more accurate you give away the element of surprise and make yourself a target, if you are in your local gas station checking out and someone walks in to rob it do you want to be CC or OC? OC makes you a target, he will most likely come in and address you as a threat first, possibly costing you your life before you even know what happened, if you cc he would most likely focus his attention on the clerk and the cash, giving you the discretion of being able to make a tactically based decision and not having your hand forced by some one that already knows you have a gun...

 

[hirundo82]

If you really want to do so, you can conceal a big gun. You need a good holster and a good gunbelt, and you dress around the gun.

I carried a Glock 17 OWB when I first got my CHL (it was the only gun I had). I've moved to a slightly smaller carry gun, a Glock 19, but I'm not a big fan of the really small carry guns that are so popular now.

 

[Sky]

I think open carry is like riding a white horse when everyone else is on a black one. Yes there are advantages to open carry as far as speed and ease of getting your weapon. But as stated an open carry guy is the first one I am gonna drop if I am the bad guy.

 

[TexasRifleman]

OC makes you a target, he will most likely come in and address you as a threat first, possibly costing you your life before you even know what happened

an open carry guy is the first one I am gonna drop if I am the bad guy.

Anyone have any evidence that this actually happens? It very well might but I have never seen anything showing that it does. It's often used as a reason not to open carry but I'm not convinced it has any basis in reality.

Living in Texas I don't have a choice but I would OC if I could.

 

[HGUNHNTR]

I always prefer CC.

 

[huntinggamo]

i dont have any evidence to back up my statements (someone else may), but my extensive training as a good guy is to address the immediate threat, i just know that if i was going to rob a place and got in the store and THEN seen someone was armed i would not continue about my robbery till that person was dis-armed or dead....

the un-trained thug will most likley develop tunnel vision on his intended target giving you the opportunity to access your weapon if needed...

What people seem to forget is that not all situations warrant you drawing down on the bad guy. for example the above mentioned gas station robbery. just because some guy walked into the gas station with a gun and is robing it does not mean you HAVE TO shoot him or even take any action at all. that gas station is insured, let him rob it, unless you have reason other then him being armed to believe that someone is going to get seriously injured or dead. lots of variables, bla bla bla, but my point is open carry puts you in a position where you no longer have a choice, it forces hands on both sides of the table and leads to bad things happening. now IMHO such is not always the case such as hiking, camping and outdoors activities i always open carry.....

 

[Old krow]

Anyone have any evidence that this actually happens? It very well might but I have never seen anything like it.

There aren't very many open carries here so it really wouldn't play into the crime statistics here.

But, let's flip the script. If 2 guys break into your house, one is brandishing a gun and one is not, which one is going to get shot first?

I wouldn't pretend to know the answer, there's just not enough data here to make a assessment one way or the other. But personally I would think that it would deter a criminal that had less firepower, like a knife or you and 3 friends that OC'd were out together, but could be less advantageous in some instances because criminals get to pick their battles, good guys do not. It gives them an opportunity to asses the threat before they make their move.

 

[wrs840]

If you really want to do so, you can conceal a big gun. You need a good holster and a good gunbelt, and you dress around the gun.

^^^
This.

Practice with and have the options. A LCP can do if you're practiced with it. A 442 is better if you're practiced with it, and I don't feel under-armed with it. Either is un-noticeable in the right pants pocket, even light dress-slacks. A single-stack 9mm can easily go IWB under a tucked-in dress or polo shirt. Untucked shirt, you can CC dang near anything.

Les

 

[TexasRifleman]

i just know that if i was going to rob a place and got in the store and THEN seen someone was armed i would not continue about my robbery till that person was dis-armed or dead....

Or more likely, you simply would not continue your robbery at all and go find another place with no visibly armed customers.

The argument that bad guys look for guns to shoot first assumes that bad guys WANT to be in a gun battle and I don't believe that is true for the majority of criminals out there.

Most criminals want easy targets and victims, not a firefight.

I believe this is why open carry is safer, bad guys simply don't want to be in the middle of that kind of situation and someone obviously armed means they are going to be in a gun battle almost certainly.

 

[omegaflame]

Open carry is safer for people around you. It scares off criminals and it a situation like the criminal starting the crime before noticing, you're the target. As someone who's too nervous to open-carry, you have to be very brave to do it (that's a compliment).

Concealed carry is the safest for you. You have the complete drop on criminals, and if someone tries something to someone else, you can interfere at your discretion.

In virtually all cases carrying either way is safer than not carrying.

 

[Carter]

Anyone have any evidence that this actually happens? It very well might but I have never seen anything showing that it does. It's often used as a reason not to open carry but I'm not convinced it has any basis in reality.

I remember reading a news story on here about a guy who was known for open carrying being robbed. Every referred to him as "that guy with the gun" or something similar. I don't remember specifics but people speculated that he might of been targeted because he was carrying.

I always conceal carry. In NC we can do either, but I have a feeling I'd run in to some problem if I did open carry. Its not something that I see around town. In fact, I've only seen it once on a person who was in a gun shop (customer that is, the salesmen always open carry, but thats to be expected). Our Sheriff is also pretty anti. No NFA items (unless you get a trust) and he uses every little misdemeanor to disqualify someone for a handgun permit for around 3 years, CC permit is Shall Issue though.

All in all I feel better having it concealed. IMHO its better to be underestimated in a fight situation than to be picked out as a threat. That philosophy has benefitted me in wrestling and various encounters. Now that I carry, I like the fact that I won't be picked out as a threat. It means I'm probably less likely to ever have to use said weapon and no negative attention from LEO's.

On the other hand though, open carry is probably a lot more comfortable.

 

[Onmilo]

I have always felt along the same lines as the early western towns in that open carry in a public and congested area is akin to brandishing.

In rural areas open carry is to be expected.

 

[shockwave]

Handguns are generally expensive things. Maybe you got yours cheap, but it's hard to find good ones under $400 or so. First one I bought was quite a bit more than that.

So if you're walking around out there, swaggering and preening, sporting a sidearm on your hip, you're basically a joke. I'd laugh out loud at you. Any criminal who wants that firearm you're carrying can take it from you like snatching candy from a baby. All you're doing by OC is saying, "come and take it."

Do I think it "is safer than CC?" No, I don't. I think it's insanely dangerous. At least, if you live in the city. Out in the country, some rural area, different story.

 

[X-Rap]

I think it should be legal both ways and is in some states, the main point is to be armed. Let the bad guys try to guess who all has the guns for once.



Wow shockwave you must be from the real big city with an opinion like that.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Any criminal who wants that firearm you're carrying can take it from you like snatching candy from a baby. All you're doing by OC is saying, "come and take it."

Again, go look at the crime stats for states that allow open carry and find some examples of this actually happening. Hint: You won't.

I keep seeing all these reasons it's a bad idea but no one ever has a cite where these incidents actually occur. The closest thing I get is

people speculated that he might of been targeted because he was carrying.

It all certainly might be true but you'd think somewhere it would have been documented.

 

[FourteenMiles]

Shockwave your post makes little sense to me. You would not OC because a criminal will see you have a item worth over $400 and just take it from you? That sounds like an argument agaist defending yourself with a firearm in general because if you ever do, the criminal will just take your gun away and use it against you.

Do you ever drive a car, ride a bike, use a cellphone in public, or enter your house overtly? Lest a criminal see that and just take your possesion from you?

All you're doing by OC is saying, "come and take it."

Yes, exactly. What do you think "Molon Labe!" means?

 

[Mainsail]

There was a guy on one of the forums who was(is) a prison guard. He said he asked his hard-core inmates if they would try to rob an open carrier for their gun. It was a unanimous NO. They reasoned it was far safer to just buy one for $50 on the corner than go against someone armed. That makes a lot more sense than to believe the bad guys are looking for a gunfight.

 

[DenaliPark]

Handguns are generally expensive things. Maybe you got yours cheap, but it's hard to find good ones under $400 or so. First one I bought was quite a bit more than that.

So if you're walking around out there, swaggering and preening, sporting a sidearm on your hip, you're basically a joke. I'd laugh out loud at you. Any criminal who wants that firearm you're carrying can take it from you like snatching candy from a baby. All you're doing by OC is saying, "come and take it."

Do I think it "is safer than CC?" No, I don't. I think it's insanely dangerous. At least, if you live in the city. Out in the country, some rural area, different story.

There is not a scintillia of evidence to uphold such logic, this is largely hyperbole and Brady campaign talking points.

 

[TexasGunbie]

Concealed carry is the safest for you. You have the complete drop on criminals, and if someone tries something to someone else, you can interfere at your discretion.

Why do you think you have the drop on criminals? If the BG didn't know you have a gun, and he come out and points a gun at you, that would be BG having the drop on your right?

If you open carry, likely the BG will pick another target, maybe a small build female??

If you are with a group of people and you open carry, wouldn't that give an impression that the other people in the group may be conceal carrying? and thus a more effective warning for the BG?

I think unless you have a contract on your life or something, most BG wouldn't pick on someone that visibly have a gun. Unless maybe you are carrying a engraved super rare 1911 worth thousands of dollars.

 

[Sky]

I do understand the op's point and I have no hard evidence published by some Obama czar only life experiences of myself and others I grew up with.

Remember the Texas saying that when you go to the barnyard it is the chicken that raises his head that goes into the pot?

I strongly believe that anything you do to draw attention or single yourself out in a war zone you are the one that takes the first round. White Horse?

Have seen formations of aircraft that when one bird moves out a little to far he is the one that gets the quad fifty or 37mm up the tail pipe. To blend into your environment is one of the cardinal rules of survival in a hostile situation. Don't draw attention to yourself.

It is usually not the big load mouth you gotta worry about for you always know where he is...the little quiet guy in the corner you did not see is the one who gets you.

See no facts or figures just innuendo and speculation. To many sheep for open carry; just my humble opinion.

 

[TexasGunbie]

Handguns are generally expensive things. Maybe you got yours cheap, but it's hard to find good ones under $400 or so. First one I bought was quite a bit more than that.

So if you're walking around out there, swaggering and preening, sporting a sidearm on your hip, you're basically a joke. I'd laugh out loud at you. Any criminal who wants that firearm you're carrying can take it from you like snatching candy from a baby. All you're doing by OC is saying, "come and take it."

So having a purse is not eye catching as well? What about a student walking home from campus, wouldn't they carry a notebook computer? What about an old lady wearing her favorite jewelery? Man I can name so many many many many more!
Oh, my iphone is worth more than a gun btw... and my other electronic devices that I carry daily too...

But NOOOOO, the criminal would love to snatch your 400+ dollars gun, and fight you for it. Really, it's like taking candy from a baby? If that's the case, it must be easy to fight a cop, just snatch that gun from his holster like taking candy from a BABY...

<deleted -- Sam>

Do I think it "is safer than CC?" No, I don't. I think it's insanely dangerous. At least, if you live in the city. Out in the country, some rural area, different story.

Oh yeah, living in the country or rural area... maybe in the desert in a house by myself and that's a safe place to conceal carry. Maybe up in the K2 would be the safest place to conceal carry too.

btw, you do know that conceal carry is to defend against bad guy right? so surely the best place is out in the country or rural areas where you live by yourself...

 

[Cactus Jack Arizona]

I've got to agree with TexasRifleman. I've watched a lot of those "caught on camera" type shows and they show a lot of convenience store type robberies. I'm also 15 credit hours away from a Crim degree at my University. Most guys holding up a store want easy money. They don't want a challenge, especially if it's a shoot out. If they get shot, that's a hospital trip, providing they are not killed instantly. Once there, inquiry minds want to know how and why they had been shot. This usually ends up with a trip to the police station, and yadda, yadda, yadda. The outcome is not good for them at that point.

I believe OC is actually safer for all because the criminal sees the pistol, if he's paying attention, and will be more likely to walk away. However, given society's long-time standing fear of guns, no doubt in part due to the anti-gun nuts whose panties get all bunched up if they even see a toy gun, OC is a far-reaching dream for most people in most states.

There's a story about 5 law-abiding Americans and how they were treated in Wisconsin when they OC'd at a restaurant. The 5 belonged to a firearm rights group. This is a recent event. Google it.

 

[Jumping Frog]

i just know that if i was going to rob a place and got in the store and THEN seen someone was armed i would not continue about my robbery till that person was dis-armed or dead....

Or more likely, you simply would not continue your robbery at all and go find another place with no visibly armed customers.

The argument that bad guys look for guns to shoot first assumes that bad guys WANT to be in a gun battle and I don't believe that is true for the majority of criminals out there.

Most criminals want easy targets and victims, not a firefight.

That is what happened in this story: Open carry deters armed robbery in Kennesaw.

Robbers cased a Waffle House. Saw open carriers. Decided not to rob it until the Open Carriers had left.

This was discussed in these forums last Feb: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=506232