Discreet vs Concealed Carry

[celticfisherman]

In GA as a CCW holder (or now a Ga Firearms License) you have the option of open or concealed carry.

This is just a question for other people out there to see what you think and do.

Since this law passed I find my self really going by a discreet carry type of scenario MOST of the time. I don't really care for all the questions I get when I carry openly and I don't really like IWB or deep concealment options so I just cover my gun. I don't care if it prints or etc.

What about you guys in areas like us where either is an option? What are you doing?

 

[feralmerril]

We also have the option here in utah. Maybe twice I have open carried in a town, and then only because of convinance. A few weeks ago a couple of us took a primitive trail quad ride to panguich, about 30 miles across a mountain range and we wanted to go to a resturant. Both of us had a rifle too and no way to lock the stuff on the quads and there were many people walking about. I had theresa go in first to ask permission. There was a lot of tourists in the cowboy smokehouse BBQ. Bryce canyon NP isnt far out of town. Some tourists asked us if it was hunting season. We said no, we carried them for protection as there was MJ farms in the hidden boonies with illegals guarding them from mexican drug cartels. And that is the truth out here!
I might open carry on the trails but not in town. I do have a ccw.

 

[maddog909]

Here in Tennessee we have either option. Myself, I prefer to conceal. I look at it as an advantage if a situation ever does occure, which I hope never does. There are advantages and disadvantages either way. If you open carry your giving a potential advisary a heads up and they may try to disarm you and use your firearm against you. Also with open carry you can make people around you very nervous and you may be visited by local law enforcement even though your legally carrying. Concealing gives you a slight edge if you are confronted with a bad situation. Personally, when I'm out catfishing late at night I'd be more inclined to open carry. Seen some pretty questionable characters late at night. During the daytime and out in public concealing seems to be the most logical way to avoid making a scene.

 

[newdovo]

In Virginia, we can carry concealed (with permit) or open. I'm like you, in that I don't care for the occasional questions when open carrying, but also am not into all of the deep concealment options. I do open carry, but need to be open to questions from the curious when I do.
I carry a j-frame 642 in an OWB holster, or sometimes in a pocket holster. When carrying on the belt, I usually just wear a shirt that covers it up. It will print sometimes, but with all the stuff people wear on a belt these days, I don't think anyone really knows what it may be. But if they do, that's OK, too.

 

[tops]

In NC open carry is legal and concealed with a permit. Before it was legal to carry concealed if you carried concealed it had better be concealed or you would be in trouble. Now that it is legal to carry concealed I carry discreet. I can carry a bigger gun and it doesn't matter if it prints. I don't like open carry because of questions. Most people don't even notice the discreet carry and if the law sees it I am still legal. Larry

 

[Lightfoot4]

I'm in North Carolina, which has open and concealed carry. However, towns (like Cary, NC) can pass local laws BANNING open carry, so you have to be careful. We also have more and more people moving into the area that are anti-gun. Last time I open carried was in a McDonalds a few years ago and a customer complained to the manager, who approached me and told me I couldn't carry a gun in there. Rather than argue, I took the gun to my car and have concealed carry ever since. In North Carolina, a business can put up a sign banning concealed carry and I would hate to see that at the restuarant I frequent the most!

So I quietly conceal carry anywhere it is legal to do so. I'd love to stroll around with my big western holster and my Vaquero, but those days are gone.

 

[Engine 21]

I've always thought that a legal citizen of the United States should have the right to Open Carry anywhere it is legal to do so. I also think it is a personal choice and I respect anyone's decision to Open Carry - God Bless you.

That said, I personally prefer to carry concealed. Several reasons for my decision. First, I don't want to have to explain myself to anyone as to "why are you carrying a gun?" and getting into a long discussion as to the values and reasons for my carrying a firearm. Secondly, I view carrying concealed as a plus for me.
If the situation ever developed that deadly force was required to defend myself, my wife or family I do not want to telegraph to the perp(s) that I am armed until I want them to know. I have more ability to affect a postive outcome verses the open carry where you have no element of surprise and the perp is seeing you as a threat to be addressed with immediately.

 

[old curmudgeon]

Concealed should be properly concealed.

Hysterical "HE'S GOT A GUN!!!" is made even more hysterical by the idea that there is an attempt to hide it.

Better to OC than to do a poor job of CC.

 

[celticfisherman]

Concealed should be properly concealed.

Hysterical "HE'S GOT A GUN!!!" is made even more hysterical by the idea that there is an attempt to hide it.

Better to OC than to do a poor job of CC.

Then you should probably not cause the people to scream he's got a gun. The worst thing anyone has ever done to me is ask if I'm a cop. Criminals don't carry open.

 

[Gamer]

Even if I had the option here in SC I would never open carry around the general public. Heck, I don't even like to print with a cover garment and that's difficult at times with OWB and some shirts. I prefer it when nobody has a clue I'm carrying but I think I have been made a time or two wearing OWB.

 

[mc5aw]

I view my CCW options as I do all aspects of my financial and personal affairs ... it's no one's business but mine, and I'm not interested in broadcasting to the world.

 

[hatt]

...Criminals don't carry open.

I don't think many care for holsters either. Most people capable of making out a print probably have enough sense to see if they person looks suspect as well.

I gave up on all that deep concealment stuff with tiny guns and just carry my Glock 32 on my hip where it's comfortable driving and bending over. I'm sure someone could make me but the general public is clueless.

 

[The Big D]

Hmmmm... It's not as if we have any idea who you are...or where you are...bit of paranoia, it seems.

Exchanges of information are the reasons this Forum exists..and why we post. I think...

Be safe.

QUOTE=mc5aw;136102528]I view my CCW options as I do all aspects of my financial and personal affairs ... it's no one's business but mine, and I'm not interested in broadcasting to the world.[/QUOTE]

 

[mc5aw]

Big D ... My comment referenced my everyday carry options and my personal belief that the general public need not know where/what I'm carrying, as open carry would allow ... NOT regarding forum members knowing where/what I carry.

 

[Mphstiger1981]

I read somewhere that back probably about 100 years ago or more, when it was common for a man to still wear a gun on the hip, concealed carry was considered a real no-no. It was just as widely frowned upon then as open carry is today. Most people who concealed carried were thought of as pretending to be a Pinkerton or something similar.

Fast forward to today. As Maddog stated earlier, in TN you can carry either way. I normally carry concealed 98% of the time. Lately, I have experimented with OC a little. My trips have usually been on the weekends like to Lowe's or to pick up a pizza, or run to Target. The result is pretty interesting in that for the most part, it seems no one really notices.

Any time open carry is discussed someone will automatically discuss the possibility that if you're someplace that is about to get robbed you may get shot first, or something similar, but I've never heard anyone give a real life example of this happening. Besides, if I'm toting open carry, my situational awareness is probably in a yellow anyway, just more aware of my surroundings than normal. Could some slime ball and his buddies slip in close and take me out? Sure, but I think the chances would have to be slim in the relatively tame orbits my life spins these days. Also, if they did see me sitting or standing someplace armed, why not wait until I leave and rob the place or whatever?

For me personally, I think a larger deterent to open carry is dealing with those who are hostile to anyone with a gun that is not military or law enforcement. I doubt most of us really want to get into the 2nd Amendment debate while shopping at Macy's, but hey, it can happen. Do I have the right to do so, yes, but sometimes just because I can do something doesn't mean I will.

All things considered, I have to admit, open carry is very liberating. I can't say I'm going to start going open carry all the time, but I am getting more open minded.

 

[The Big D]

Oops, I stand corrected. And, I am in total agreement...CCW is the only way I carry...with many options for CCW from which to choose.

Thanks for the clarification, mc5aw.

Be safe.

Big D ... My comment referenced my everyday carry options and my personal belief that the general public need not know where/what I'm carrying, as open carry would allow ... NOT regarding forum members knowing where/what I carry.

 

[papabob]

Civilian open carry in public is just wrong in my opinion. When I see someone open carrying I expect to see a badge of some kind. Open carry says “I’m here to protect and serve.” Civilian carry is for personal protection. I know there are rare exceptions when a civilian may have to intervene on behalf of others, but odds are that will never happen and being canceled would likely be an advantage is such a case.

 

[Ogandydancer]

I have to agree with maddog909 and TOPS. N.C. has always been open carry but no one does it so, if you do it you would likely to get a lot controversial comments about it and maybe even a visit from a LEO. This is why I wouldn't do it.

 

[scooter123]

Here in Michigan Open Carry is legal without any permit and there is a rather vocal Open Carry movement in this state.

On the plus side they've slowly changed attitudes towards carry by various LEO agencies and they recently managed to have the city of Royal Oak rescind a ban on firearms during the Art, Beats, and Eats Festival on grounds that it violates the Michigan Pre-Emption statute. On the minus side I find them to be a bit too Strident and personally believe that Concealed Carry with a permit is a much more sensible way to carry. However, I will give them "props" for advancing the carrying of firearms whether concealed or open. One major plus is that if you happen to "print" while carrying concealed it no longer carries the potential of a suspension of your permit, which could happen prior to the time when Open Carry was firmly established as being completely legal.

However, I always carry concealed. I live in an area that borders Detroit proper and I do work for a living, so I've been careful to see to it that no neighbor knows that I have a "high value" collection of firearms. Actually, most wouldn't consider it high value but burglars regard any firearm as "high value" and teenagers do talk. By not carrying openly I keep those teenagers clueless about what I have in my home. The second reason I don't open carry is because quite simply I don't want to have to waste my time in discussions about firearms with some antigun liberal.

 

[rchance]

Gun! Why would anyone want to carry a gun? This is not the wild wild west is it?