Soccerdad1995 wrote:If I owned a retail business, I would be much more likely to have a problem with CC than with OC. I believe this was the prevailing view back when everyone carried. It was considered a bit "sneaky" and potentially nefarious to conceal your firearm.
I know that if I am in an altercation with someone I would much rather know right at the start whether or not they have any weapons on them, and I would adjust my approach accordingly.
That's why this outcry against OC is so crazy. Don't the gun haters understand that a criminal is much more likely to conceal their gun right up until the moment they stick it in your face and demand your money (or worse)? Having people OC'ing around you only minimizes the risk of harm to you and your family. It is a great deterrent to criminals, who tend to be dumb, but are also likely to pick the easiest target around.
For a long time in this country concealed carry was considered something that bad people do. In fact it was illegal in many places for that very reason. Then things changed, and open carry became illegal too, in some places (most relevantly here in Texas). It was considered OK to have a rifle holstered on your horse (after all, it was the wild west), but you could not carry a handgun at all.
Legal concealed carry is a "modern" invention with the exception of a few states like Vermont, where it's always been legal. The first state to pass a "modern" concealed carry law was Indiana (1980). Gradually other states began adopting them until now it's legal in all 50 states (but in may issue states it's very hard to get a license.)
In order to understand what's going on in other people's minds, you have to step out of yours. You are aware of guns, know how they work, understand that they are not a threat unless deployed by a threatening person. The average person knows very little about guns what they do know is false. That's why you can have people screaming that we should take automatic weapons off the streets when anyone with a modicum of knowledge knows that was done in 1934. When the media reports that a gun went off, I cringe. Guns don't "go off". They are shot. But Joe Bob, who doesn't know anything at all about guns, thinks they can go off - just spontaneously fire and hurt people. Every time some irresponsible gun owner has a negligent discharge, that just reinforces that false belief.
The media works overtime to ensure that gun knowledge is not disseminated, that fear of guns is implanted in everyone's minds, and that getting rid of guns is the solution to violence. The fact that violence preceded the invention of the gun doesn't deter them from spreading their gospel. So for most people seeing a gun is frightening, and not seeing a gun is comforting.
