At the store this morning.

[Old Corp]

Can legally open carry where I live, but I choose to never do so. From what I've seen, the practice can make you a 'nut magnet'.
I got paid to interact with the nutcases for 3 decades, but not anymore - thanks anyway.

 

[feralmerril]

For my money, old corp said it best. I also can OC here but dont except once in a great while rideing atv. I have the permit too so why panic the public? I dont get off with the attention. While its legal here I never see it. Any novelty wore off for me about 40+ years ago. CC has all the plus`s and none of the negatives of OC. Well, maybe just one negative, probley a hair slower to get it out.

 

[COL Jagdog]

I fully support the right of anyone who open carries legally.
But,,
Open carry has a way of drawing the fruit flies.
They love to badger the person. Short of a physical threat, you end up in a stupid Q&A with a stranger.
Verbal harrasment,,it's a sport to a lot of people and they enjoy it.

I don't have patience to deal with people like that any more.

Hats off to you if you do though..

You hit this dead center -- I usually try to avoid getting into those types of inane conversations/debates with nitwits....but
sometimes I just have to respond -- and usually I feel like I am dealing with someone who is unarmed and defenseless (in the cerebral department) I am not a cruel person, but sometimes you just have to jack idiots so they will realize how silly they are -- I have a good background in Latin which comes in handy -- I'll them they are acting "puerile" which they will immediately think is a nasty scatological term and they'll ask me what that means and I'll tell them I have a dictionary in the truck if they want to look it up -- it instantly shuts them up since they don't want to admit they have no idea what the term means and it gives me an easy exit strategy after hitting them with 3 or 4 zingers. And of course, they have no idea they are debating with a lawyer, which makes it even funnier, considering the skills you hone in cross-examination.

I had a real dichotomy in life -- good Jesuit priests who taught me to be respectful, deferential and helpful -- and a hard-drinking Irish priest who was my boxing coach (growing up in Florida, I fought a lot of good Cuban-American fighters and my only saving grace was that that priest was a very good coach, I have a 35-inch reach -shoulder to mid-wrist, and very good eye-hand coordination) -- respect and deference gets you some of the distance but knowing how and when to fight .............priceless.

 

[COL Jagdog]

Statesrightist is very very right -- about civilization receding quickly when diaster strikes -- I was on military duty for Katrina and "the thin
veneer of civilization" is exceedingly thin when the lights go out.

 

[GerSan69]

Never understood the mentality of someone that harasses an armed individual.

 

[ohiobuckeye]

Never understood the mentality of someone that harasses an armed individual.

Around these parts, we call it stupidity....

 

[feralmerril]

So yer billy the kid? Well ya dont look so tuff ta me!

 

[pilgrim6a]

At times like that I try to remember the words of my friend Mike the Gnome.
He and Miss Sally were visiting a museum in Arizona. While Miss Sally was in the gift shop, Mike went to the designated smoking area.
He had just got his cigar lit when a woman walked by.
She stopped, looked at him and said in a loud voice, "That is a disgusting habit."
Mike looked at her and said, " You know, you're not the first fat woman to tell me that."

 

[arjay]

The sad fact is there are many people who assume only bad guys or leos carry guns,if you aren't a leo,you must be a "bad guy".

 

[feralmerril]

I dont need to say a criminal would be the last person to open carry.

 

[m1gunner]

I will not open carry in town, even though I may legally do so. I often open carry while doing farm work, and while hunting or scouting.

Anyone that wants to open carry has that option here, but to me it is kin to talking politics or religion with strangers. Some things are best kept private.

 

[McBear]

What's up McBear? As surprising as you may find this, we disagree on some aspects of your post. I agree we need to educate rather than demean the middle of the spectrum group. It's to our benefit. However, the kind of behavior he experienced indicates libtards at work and they are beyond remediation. If your in a crowd, yes, be nice, but acting in a way designed to change their mind is pointless.

"They don't live in ignorance or denial, they live in a world that accepts the realities of probabilities." There is a 100% probability when SHTF ala Katrina I'm going to hand these types bacon and turn the dog loose. They "knew it all," good luck with that. With all of the potential game changers out there, terrorism, weather etc if they are not marginally prepared I would submit, I would submit the "Antis" are the ones bucking the odds. Be someplace where the grocery stores do not open for a week and aid does not come and see what happens, it does not take much for civilization to recede. I've seen it firsthand. JMO.

Have a good 4th Sir.

On another thread on this forum there is a discussion about the civility that is occurring with all the power outages and the only example of violence was NYC in 1977. NYC in 1977 [year of Son of Sam] there was violence everywhere, not just during the power outage.

I have friends in Baltimore right now, most of what they are doing in the outage is sweating and cutting trees for others. Today she posted a pic of her flying a 172 over the Bay as a bit of R&R.

But back to my point...Katrina is not, by itself a gun carrying event [unless the "what kind of sidearm do you carry to protect against a hurricane?" thread exist], but you are correct the SHTF CAN occur after that kind of event. But most folks, the statistical vast majority never, ever see that potential for violence. So for that majority, the need to carry a weapon daily is an abstract consideration.

And there is certainly no reason to label them "libtard" or "ignorant" because they made their decision. I know many conservatives who choose not to carry for any number of reasons and I know folks who are excruciatingly smart who draw that conclusion. Adversarial labeling does nothing to move the ball on either side. As far as changing minds...I have found, through personal experience that I don't change minds demanding my rights but have better luck fully understanding the reasoning behind the objections that others have and letting them see through my deeds what I am, rather than telling them what I am.

To be honest, I see no reason to open carry, but that is MY personal opinion only. As others have pointed out above, it leads to issues that do not need to come up time and again. Sometimes, like it or not open carry perpetuates a negative stereotype. An interesting example. Last year an open carry group in Lexington decided to have a Lexington Open Carry Adopt-A-Highway Litter Pickup on a pretty busy section of a four lane highway. The idea was to show normal folks doing normal stuff to remove the stigma of open carry. It didn't work out that way in the public perception. It was an idea that did not work as hoped. Perception is well more than half the battle.

 

[Marshwheeling]

Never understood the mentality of someone that harasses an armed individual.

Harassing, perhaps, but I don't see why anybody should refrain from expressing an opinion or even giving someone a piece of ones mind, just because he is carrying. After all, isn't the man who is legally armed presumed to be saner and more rational than the general run, less prone to rise to the petty provocation. I would not like to think that my neighbor or anyone I might meet on the street is someone to be feared just because he is carrying a gun.

 

[StatesRightist]

On another thread on this forum there is a discussion about the civility that is occurring with all the power outages and the only example of violence was NYC in 1977. NYC in 1977 [year of Son of Sam] there was violence everywhere, not just during the power outage.

I have friends in Baltimore right now, most of what they are doing in the outage is sweating and cutting trees for others. Today she posted a pic of her flying a 172 over the Bay as a bit of R&R.

But back to my point...Katrina is not, by itself a gun carrying event [unless the "what kind of sidearm do you carry to protect against a hurricane?" thread exist], but you are correct the SHTF CAN occur after that kind of event. But most folks, the statistical vast majority never, ever see that potential for violence. So for that majority, the need to carry a weapon daily is an abstract consideration.

And there is certainly no reason to label them "libtard" or "ignorant" because they made their decision. I know many conservatives who choose not to carry for any number of reasons and I know folks who are excruciatingly smart who draw that conclusion. Adversarial labeling does nothing to move the ball on either side. As far as changing minds...I have found, through personal experience that I don't change minds demanding my rights but have better luck fully understanding the reasoning behind the objections that others have and letting them see through my deeds what I am, rather than telling them what I am.

To be honest, I see no reason to open carry, but that is MY personal opinion only. As others have pointed out above, it leads to issues that do not need to come up time and again. Sometimes, like it or not open carry perpetuates a negative stereotype. An interesting example. Last year an open carry group in Lexington decided to have a Lexington Open Carry Adopt-A-Highway Litter Pickup on a pretty busy section of a four lane highway. The idea was to show normal folks doing normal stuff to remove the stigma of open carry. It didn't work out that way in the public perception. It was an idea that did not work as hoped. Perception is well more than half the battle.

I may have been unclear, my labeling applied to the gentleman's hecklers, not the unprepared. If people choose blissful delusion that is there option, my issue is with the vocal opposition.

 

[amazingflapjack]

I guess it's human nature to want to "tag" people into categories that fit our own concepts. "Many people really don't want to be informed. They simply want to have their personal opinions confirmed and validated." The many shades of gray that was refereed to above is a better description of any society, maybe especially ours, where there is still some modicum of free thought, even with PC. For example, I am a Southerner who married into a family whose roots are NYC. My wife was raised in the South, but her parents were Brooklyn and The Bronx-died in the wool Republican-Conservatives-he a Korea era Navy Vet, and to them guns were evil, unless carried by LEO's. Not an unusual situation in some parts of our society. Some folks just don't like guns!!!

 

[DeadAye]

Proper response:
*Oh, you must not have heard about the rabid dogs.*

 

[sasu]

they live in a world that accepts the realities of probabilities.

That explanation does not fly.

The probability of becoming a victim of a violent attack is fortunately very, very low. But if it happens, the consenquences can be serious.

Risk assessment has two components: the probability of something happening and the damage caused if the risk is realised.

 

[jlrhiner]

I think I would have responded with something like "so, your unarmed. I guess that means I could do anything I wanted to you, and you could do nothing to stop me. I never want to know what that feels like".

 

[McBear]

I may have been unclear, my labeling applied to the gentleman's hecklers, not the unprepared. If people choose blissful delusion that is there option, my issue is with the vocal opposition.

I understand. The assumption was that they were liberal. That may or may not have been the case. Many in that middle ground, and many do have opinions are from both sides of the fence on things like open carry. It is why I chose to quietly carry on hikes for decades, even when I had more convenient options. Some of the most annoying questions on the subject I ever received was from the wife of a good friend, best described as "the local church lady", and as conservative as they come. Had one called her a libtard, after she quit laughing the tongue lashing would be unbearable. Oh, and she later became my mother in law. And later my ex mother in law. Apparently my situational awareness was temporarily blinded by...well, we'll leave that part alone.

 

[quneur]

"what kind of sidearm do you carry to protect against a hurricane?"

I don't think there's a CTG that could kill a hurricane. Go to the next hurricane and shoot it in the eye and report back.

My response would probably have been:

Irritant: Why do you carry a gun?

Me: To protect myself in case some madman comes in to rob the store. I'd rather have a chance then none at all.

Irritant: And if someone going to rob the store, they are going to shoot you first. How will that work out for you?

Me: Yep, and would that give you enough time to get away if they are concentrating on killing me?

Okay, said my piece before they move this thread.