Being born and raised in Missouri which allows open carry unless outlawed by city ordinance, I can tell you open carry is rare, even in the rural areas. I grew up in a town of about 15,000. This town was the county seat and drew a large amount of folks from the county and surrounding counties for shopping and food. The biggest reason was we had the only Wal-Mart for many miles.LittleGun wrote:A few months ago, I visited friends in Arizona which allows open carry. I asked them if they ever open carried? They told me that they never open carry and that they have never seen anyone open carrying. During my brief visit, I did not see anyone open carrying.
In my 34 years in that part of Southeast Missouri, including 4 years as an active Reserve LEO, I can count on one hand the times I saw anyone open carrying. However, I can tell you of two instances of 'displaying a weapon in a threatening manner' or 'brandishing' and two 'man with a gun' calls while I was a LEO.
One call I had forgotten about was funny, but could have ended badly. We had a guy in town who was mentally challenged and they called him Tex. The reason was he would be seen around his neighborhood wearing a kids cowboy hat and a double holster belt with cap guns. You pretty easily tell the cap guns were toys, even from a distance. Almost everyone in town, especially in his neighborhood knew Tex and he never bothered anyone, so he was left alone for the most part.
One afternoon we got a 'man with a gun call' from the bank. We had a new officer in town, and he was dispatched. About that time the bank called back and told the dispatcher it was Tex. We barely got word to the officer that if the man was short, dark headed, heavy set and wearing a red kid's cowboy hat and western gun belt with two silver guns he was NOT a threat. The officer was just heading in the doors, gun drawn, when he got the information on the radio. Also, two or three of the bank employees who knew Tex were talking to him and in between the officer and the door. We found out that about 3 minutes earlier Tex had been out in front of the bank waving his guns around, thus promoting someone who didn't know him to call.
Another recent (within the past year) I am familiar with was a 'man with a gun' call on an individual who DID have a real gun. The grocery store called and wanted him removed. He was not bothering anyone, but just having someone in the store with a gun showing was upsetting them and the patrons in the store. When the officer went in, the guy was apparently mentally disturbed and kept moving away from them yelling 'You can't have my gun, it's mine'. They told him he either had to leave the store or they would arrest him, all the time with their guns drawn. He finally settled down and left the store. He was advised to NOT carry his weapon in any other stores or risk the same type of reaction.
So, all in all, no matter if it is legal or not, it is NOT often practiced, even as much as the folks on from the open carry movement would like you to think, and WILL cause problems.
And yes Flint, this is definitely
I'll be in VA next week - home of the OC.org folks. I'll meet you for dinner one night in Alexandria at my favorite place (219), it's on King St. about a block or so from the water). We can do Warehouse if you prefer. We can have drinks and dinner then go for a walk, maybe swing into Books a Million and check out the latest selection of gun mags. Or just stay in Springfield and hit Mike's for a martini, ribeye, and the great dinner rolls. If youi're on the other side of town, Russia House in Herndon works for me. 
