Open Carry vs Concealed Carry

[Walkeraviator]

I was wondering what your guys opinions are on open carry and concealed carry.  There are two trains of thought in articular I would like discussed, but that doesnt mean to limit the conversation.  And lets keep this discussion away from legality as I live in a state which protects our right to open carry.

1.  Open carry is a deterent.  If a possible perp sees that you are carrying he will look elsewhere for trouble

2.  Open Carry is a tactical disadvantage, and Concealed Carry gives you teh element of surprise.  If the BG sees your open carry, you become target number one and he gets the drop on you.

Im still in deliberation about whether I want to open carry or not.  These points in addition to not wanting headaches from Cops who dont know the laws they are hired to enforce, have kept me from open carrying to this point. 

What is your take on it???

[ericire12]

http://www.downrange.tv/forum/index.php?topic=2494.0



More here.....

http://www.downrange.tv/forum/index.php?topic=3533.0

[Walkeraviator]

Thanks for teh link... those are the responses i suspected I would get...

[twyacht]

NC had an "Open Carry" statute,....it was a legal double edged sword that cut both ways.

In rural areas, no problem,... shotgun in the rack of the pickup window type thing,. Everyone had a firearm close whether carrying or not, but we were awfully polite....regardless..

Brandishing to the terror of the public changed alot of that,...

Suburbs, small cities, .......concealed is the way to go.

[MikeBjerum]

NC had an "Open Carry" statute,....it was a legal double edged sword that cut both ways.

In rural areas, no problem,... shotgun in the rack of the pickup window type thing,. Everyone had a firearm close whether carrying or not, but we were awfully polite....regardless..

Brandishing to the terror of the public changed alot of that,...

Suburbs, small cities, .......concealed is the way to go.

Read my reply here - http://www.downrange.tv/forum/index.php?topic=7369.50

This was a case of assumption and not verified fact.  Tie that to what twyacht just stated, and you will know why I believe in concealed carry ... wide spread concealed carry!

[Sponsor]

[DavidC77]

Open carry brings problems, I'm not against it, myself I would still carry conceled.

We had a case up in NH (where it is OK to carry open) where a person from my state (MASS, that says it all there) saw someone carrying and went running scared, called the police saying there was a mad man running around with a gun and things like that. Well the police came saw what was going on and defused the case it was over but not without a lot of head aches to the legal carrying person.

So again my way of thinking is conceled. Looking at your statements, 1. the bad guy doesn't no you are carrying so you have the upper hand and 2. you don't become the 1st dead or shoot person. You can look at it this way too, if you are still in the mix, so to say, you can maybe help someone else (your wife, kid, friend) or even stop anything from happening.

I thought that the shows on "Best Defense" were very good when they were showing the different ways as to how a shooting "could go" when they did the different ways it could go down like in the store or at the ATM. Very good veiwing and teaching.

As i said these are only my views and my way of thinking, I no there will be millions of other views so don't flame me for my views if they aren't yours, that is one of the reasons I don't answer alot of these style questions, but, I wanted to add my thoughts to this one.

David

[Timothy]

David,

I live in MA as well and to the best of my knowledge, it's not illegal to open carry in MA either but I would never advise it.  Our LTC-A license is just what it says, License to Carry, Class A (Hi-Cap).  I've read the laws several times and probably will again but nowhere do they say you MUST conceal...

Again, I always do and would advise any other MA residents to do the same.

[DavidC77]

David,

I live in MA as well and to the best of my knowledge, it's not illegal to open carry in MA either but I would never advise it.  Our LTC-A license is just what it says, License to Carry, Class A (Hi-Cap).  I've read the laws several times and probably will again but nowhere do they say you MUST conceal...

Again, I always do and would advise any other MA residents to do the same.

Yes Mass is a "no open carry state".

Here are a few good places to look at: http://www.zerohourarms.com/ and http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eopssubtopic&L=3&L0=Home&L1=Firearms+Registration+%26+Laws&L2=Gun+Laws&sid=Eeops.

Hope that helps, you can also check out NortheastShooters.com, http://northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/index.php , there's alot of good info for us Mass people.

David

[tombogan03884]

 David, I live in NH and while I am not familiar with the specific incident you refer to, I have heard of several similar over the years. While I personally have never had to deal with a cop enforcing his opinion over the Law (the Seacoast area is the worst for that ), I figure that concealed is more likely to keep it that way. Besides, NH CCW is so easy and inexpensive that only a cheapskate WOULDN'T go that route.I realize that other states that is not true so I would suggest that people take their area and local attitudes into account.

[DavidC77]

I would suggest that people take their area and local attitudes into account.

I totally agree there.