I grew up in Virginia, where open carry is legal without a permit and is becoming more common.longtooth wrote:Lets let this thing evolve a little more. I am a supporter, great outspoken supporter of less govt is better. I to believe carry is a right not a liscensed privilege. There are some problems though that do not have a right answer.
1. We pass unliscensed open carry because it is a right & it becomes common. Citizen guns are regularly visible.
2. There will be the criminal ellement that will seek to open carry as he goes to do his mischief.
3. Fellons should not be allowed to have one.
4. Where is the line that prevents a LEO from stopping me while he checks a record (taking an hour, & he disarms me for his safety, handling gun in public & close proxcimity to other citizens) to see if I am "Joe GoodCitizen" or "Wanted PosterBoy."
5. If it is liscense to carry a weapon then it is instant answer to the above, but still regulation, & felon deterrent. (However so slight)
Regarding your second point, I have heard from LEOs that unlicensed open carry does not bother them--there are no cases of bad guys open carrying to prevent a concealed weapons charge, and then commiting a crime. Criminals will conceal their weapons because it gives them the element of surprise to attack their victims.
In response to point 4, my understanding is that, under Terry v. Ohio, in an unlicensed open carry state openly carrying a weapon is not in and of itself sufficient to justify a stop of the person.
So you support the outlawing of a right because it is a bad idea in your opinion?Chris wrote:i would never support open carry. by policy, i can carry openly, but you would never catch me doing so. on duty, i have to carry openly. i've had people jump me, and try and take my gun, and it's in a retention holster. people who think blatantly displaying a firearm is protection in and of itself, are only fooling themselves. a visible gun tells you and everyone else that there is a gun on scene. whether you can hang on to it is a whole different story. i'd rather not show my hand until i choose.
i know criminals like to hang around outside and scope out their targets just a few minutes before they hit it. who do you think is going to get shot first? the guy with the concealed weapon who chooses when to react, or the rambo flaunting a firearm?
i'll vote against it if it comes up. sorry. i support concealed carry 110%, but open carry is not a very good idea.
I'm going to use what I see as an equivalent example from our First Amendment rights to try to illustrate why I do not think that something should be outlawed simply because many people think it is a bad idea. I have observed from my time on this board that many people on here are devout Christians. I am sure that the majority of Texans characterize themselves as Christians, and as such believe that it is a very bad idea to belong to another religion--after all, nonbelievers will go to hell when they die, if Christianity is correct. However, how many Christians seek to outlaw all other religions simply because they believe it is a bad idea to belong to them?
Many people would characterize most of the people on this forum as "rambo," as you put it, simply because we choose to carry a concealed weapon. Can you show me one instance where a private citizen who was open carrying was shot first during the commission of a crime because the perpetrator saw his weapon? There are 43 states that allow open carry of some sort; if it were as much of a problem as you believe it to be, there should be plenty of cases out there for you to find.