I have spent the last hour or so reading as many of these post as I can. This is a very interesting subject, and everyone has an opinion on it, and most have made very good points. There has also been some facts stated as well. I enjoy reading all these comments.
I would like, for my first post on this forum, to just state a few observations on this subject. First, I think, I should try to state just what the debate is about.
The best I can tell, the debate is along the lines of - Is open carrying a firearm (handgun) going to deter crimes or is it going to get you shot? I keep up with the news quite a bit and cannot recall ever reading a story where a criminal shot a person because they were open carrying a handgun. Yes, some places like banks and jewelery stores get robbed occasionally, but the reason that the guards, who may be open carrying a handgun get shot, is because they are in the way of a big hall. Banks have a lot of money, jewelery stores very valuable items worth a lot of money. Criminals will do most anything to get their hands on that kind of money, and going through the guards is usually the only way to get it, or try to. These criminals, if the guards are preventing them from getting their loot, or getting away, may be shot regardless of if they are open carrying or not.
I can say, with certainty, that these armed guards are not shot because they have visible guns, they are shot because it is the only way to get to the money, or to get away without being shot. If these places did not have armed guards these places would be robbed a great deal more. I think we can be pretty certain about that. I believe we can be certain that the owners of these kinds of places have guards, openly armed, because they are the best deterrent they have for robbers. Bodyguards sometimes get shot and they usually carry concealed. We do not know how many crimes were prevented because these guards are armed, but the pretty much agreed belief is that they do prevent robberies. If they didn't, banks would not spend the money to employ them. It is impossible to prove a negative, so we have no way to know just how many robbers were deterred because of these openly armed guards.
I would like to try to phrase this debate a little differently. I believe that people who open carry as well as people who concealed carry, do so to protect themselves, their loved ones, other people, and their property. I think that we all, well most all of us, should be able to agree on that. Now, one can say that SOME people might open carry because of ego, but to lump ALL people into that category is simply wrong. The vast majority of people who open carry do so, I believe, because they firmly believe that it will provide the best protection they can for themselves and their loved ones. There are always exceptions, regardless of what subject you are dealing with. Exceptions should not be used to lump people into one group. And, people should not be called "scumbags" and "dweebs" simply because they carry their weapons in the way THEY believe will most likely protect them and their loved ones. One who makes these kinds of statements about an entire group of people usually either have little clue what they are talking about, or have some other agenda. A person who is happy with, and confident in the way they carry, and practiced with it, ARE more likely to be able to save lives. This is just common sense, and is fact based.
Back to rephrasing this discussion. It seems to me that the difference between OC people and CC people is the way they are trying to accomplish their goal, as previously stated. What I mean by that is this.
A person who is CCing is mostly planning to be able to deal with a crime as it is happening. One who open carries is trying to prevent the crime from happening in the first place (but of course, can also deal with one in progress). These are two different goals, or probably better said, two different ways to accomplish the same goal. Again, I am NOT talking in absolutes. A CCer could certainly prevent a crime from happening under the right circumstances, and a OCer could deal with one in progress. But generally speaking, the CCer is looking to deal with a crime in progress and and OCer is trying (really believes he/she can) prevent a crime in the first place.
Finally, I don't know if all this makes sense to anybody, but this seems to me anyway to be generally how the two are approaching self defense. People are different. So it stands to reason that they will react to seeing a gun on someones side differently. Some will see it and then go about their business with little thought about it. Some will not even notice it. Some will freak out. And, yes some, such as "moms against the second amendment" may call the police to cause trouble, and possibly get the OCer shot by the police. This IS a fairly good possibility, at least until the police get used to this tactic. I would say this is probably the most likely way an OCer might get shot. Criminals WILL stay as far away as they can from someone who is openly armed, with of course some exceptions. There are always exceptions, but the world is a dangerous place. A pickpocket walking in a mall looking for the biggest purse to snatch, is NOT going to pick the women walking with an openly armed man, or a women who is opening armed for that matter, but will instead pick one of the many unarmed victims to steal from. This is just common sense, and I could give probably a hundred examples where this would be the case, but will not take up any more time as this post is rather long.
Thanks to all who read this with consideration. This looks to be a great forum! Sorry for the long post.
Omegaman69