Almost a year since my first Open Carry.

For the uninitiated, "Open Carry" is the peaceable, unconcealed carry of a firearm by a law abiding citizen. For example, in a holster, on a belt in plain view.

As I look back on how scared I was to Open Carry that first time, I now realize it's no big deal. Every time I see Law Enforcement, I can't help but still think in the back of my mind that there is going to be some kind of confrontation.
I've open carried in almost every business I regularly patronize, except my bank, I just feel weird about open carrying there. It's the one place I mentally can't bring myself to OC.

My main goal when I’m out and about (besides whatever I went out and about to do) is to go about my business and not be the victim of a violent crime. And thusly, I carry my firearm everytime I go out, and I also try to follow all the other standard safety practices like having good situational awareness, staying out of known high crime areas, and avoiding confrontation. I also have an overall goal of going through my whole life without being forced to shoot anyone because I don’t want to be responsible, legally or morally, for an idiot's death.

Carrying a concealed firearm says almost to anyone that I am unarmed. Every study I’ve ever read, says that criminals admit they will avoid an armed person or home during the victim selection process. That only makes sense, right? Criminals might be dumb and opportunistic, but they have the same instinct of self preservation we all have.


Yesterday while OCing at my favorite locally owned hardware store, one of the employees asked me about the law pertaining to OC. I explained it to him and he said cool, and then uncovered a nice shiny 1911 and said "I hate covering this thing up." I told him to stop by the forum for more information, and my house for some shooting!

I just got done talking to the electrician that was here, giving an estimate for a whole house generator, about OCing and CCing, he asked me who teaches classes for cc in this area and was going to go take a class soon.

This is a big part of why I OC, the positive encounters I have with people. I also feel that back in the day, a gentlemen wore his firearm on the outside visible to all, and it was the scoundrels who concealed it.

Studies show that criminals simply do not use holsters for their weapons, and they prefer to conceal their weapons. If you think about it, this makes sense, as criminals generally will not want to draw attention in any way before or after they commit a crime.