Concealed / Open Firearms Carry

[OKshorthorn]

I don't really want this to get political, in that it spirals out of control as a left vs right debate...

That being said, I stopped in to see a potential customer that I had never met prior to. Got out of my pickup in his driveway and he came walking over. Immediately noticed that he was carrying a full size semi-auto pistol in a holster on his hip. During conversation I asked him about it and he said that was his daily attire basically, went everywhere like that, it wasn't something that he just did at home or on his property. I was a little taken aback.

Now, I have a gun permit in the great state of Oklahoma and it reciprocates to most states in the country, so I can legally carry a firearm most places I go. I do carry a little .380 in my pocket, only after having 2 baby girls did I ever feel like I needed to, and I don't necessarily feel like I "need" to now, but I feel better...being a dad is complicated lol

My question, or the topic I hope we can discuss cordially, is what everyone thinks about concealed carry, open carry, or what Oklahoma just did which they call "Constitutional Carry" and basically eliminates the need for a gun permit. Do you or any family members carry on a daily basis? Care or care a lot one way or the other? I'm interested in everyone's opinion.

Disclaimer, I don't think this is necessarily a 2A issue, and I'm not talking about carrying an AR10 over your shoulder headed to the supermarket. Just private citizens carrying a pistol. 

 

[knabe]

my cousin in oklahoma has been carrying for probably at least 40 years.


not sure what motivated her to do it, but something probably did.


probably had something to do with winning a wet t-shirt contest.

 

[Doc]

Heath, I carry everyday. That being said I don't openly carry. I truly carry concealed, because if I'm somewhere and someone is fixing to rob it then I don't want to be the one they shoot first then tell the clerk "it's a stick up". I do want to know that like you, that I am able to protect myself or my family.
I drive about 45,000 miles a year for work and the farm. Lot of the time I will have a trailer full of equipment or cattle, cash in my wallet & driving late at night. If I break down, I want to make sure I don't become a victim. I also don't pay attention to state lines. Like the saying goes, "I would rather be judged by 12 of my peers than carried by 6 of my friends".
My opinion also is that the people that carry an AR or such openly down a street are just looking for confrontation & end up giving gun carrying people a bad name. JMO

 

[Medium Rare]

I rarely carry anymore, but when I do it's always concealed. The last thing I want is to be a known threat if something should ever happen. Being the unknown threat significantly shifts the odds in my favor. Missouri no longer requires a permit to carry concealed. If you can own the gun, I believe you should be able to carry the gun however you want. It's yours.  Some of the laws in the North East make it nearly impossible to use a weapon in defense in any significant way while traveling. It's insane, and they can be quite aggressive during prosecution.

Some of those well educated fringe types who push open carry laws to the limits do serve a purpose to those of us who carry, if they do it right. Most aren't educated enough to do it in a way that's a positive though.

Even the existence of a list of "permit holders" always seemed like a liability to me. In todays world, no list is secure. The opposition wouldn't think twice about using that list against anyone on it.

 

[CRS]

I was not going to post on this as I have a different perspective than most.  I have worked in law enforcement for 25 years and I can honestly say that people that commit crimes are usually under disability and are not allowed to carry guns with or without a permit.  It is a rarity for the common citizen to be stopped by the police for any type of weapons violation.  Open carry has always been legal, but usually just makes you a spectacle.  The people parading around with long guns creating a scene are usually people wanting to be stopped and questioned by the police so they can file some type of legal action.  The law across the county should be the same, either you can or you can't, stop making it harder than it needs to be.  Certain sectors of our population have forfeited their right under the Second Amendment, but they're usually the ones with the guns committing the crime.  Switzerland has a low crime rate for a reason.  As far as working, I assume everyone is armed until I know otherwise.  Sorry to ramble!

 

[DLD]

I rarely carry on my person.  I do keep a pistol in my truck (that’s why I lock it pretty much every time I get out) at all times, and occasionally it goes in my pocket if I’m concerned for the safety of myself or my family.  I like the constitutional carry deal, but I like being legal across state lines,too. If you’ve taken the class to get your permit, you know it really doesn’t mean much anyway, at least not here in OK.

There are a few guys around here that open carry daily on the farm/ranch and don’t bother to take it off at the cafe or the quick stop or the co-op or the parts store.  They don’t bother me much, but I kinda know how to take them - I’m always a little taken aback by the ones I’m not familiar with. 

 

[Red Cow Relocators]

We travel a lot for our sale management business (70K+ a year) and we all have concealed carry permits. There is always a Glock in the pickup while we are traveling and when we leave the truck it goes with us. Stopping for fuel at all hours of the day and night as well as checking into hotels late at nights in strange cities and towns. It sure seems like the world we live in has gone crazy at times and the drug problems seem to get worse and worse. I doubt that I will ever need it but a quote from Woodrow F Call from Lonesome Dove is a policy that we have adopted, "It's better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it."