I carry concealed for several reasons but the last reason would be to appease the masses. If and only if I were not able to carry concealed would I even entertain the thought of open carrying. IF I could only open carry, yes I would revert back to the notion of, I truly do put my life over your comfort level. That's just how I feel about it. Does that make me an irresponsible gun owner? If my thinking that I am going home at the end of the night regardless of if you have that warm fuzzy false sense of security that you are safe makes me a bad guy, well I guess i'm a bad guy.sevenhead wrote:chevy01234 wrote:I am not going to open carry nor am I am huge fan of it. Just to clarify I conceal carry and think it is the best option for me. I am for the preservation of my life over if your wife is happy or not I have a gun to be honest though if it boiled down to it. At what point is the comfortability of those who walk around defenseless more important than my ability to defend my life if the need arises? Is it more important for her to be uncomfortable for our ten minute encounter than me saving my kids and wives life after we leave that store? I agree for all intensive purposes that open carry is not the best option out there but apply your same logic to those who aren't comfortable not knowing who has a gun and who doesn't (ie concealed carry). Where does it stop once that slippery slope starts?sevenhead wrote:Let me say that I am all for our gun rights and I am, for the most part, for open carry. I'm just trying to think about all situations.
So chevy in the article you're referencing to about sheeps, sheepdogs, and wolves, (and mind you this was just one mans opinion on people, it's not gospel) didn't he basically say that as sheepdogs we must protect the sheep and keep them from living in fear from the wolves. So what i'm getting at is, what about the people who aren't like you and I (and most on this board) that don't carry, don't want to carry, and wouldn't ever carry? As "sheepdogs" we know of these people and must be tolerant to them being a sheep, they see a man with a gun, in there eyes a wolf, they are in fear. How do we resolve this, concealed carry. Now these sheep with there children don't have to go out to the docs office in fear because a man (who very well may be a great person "sheepdog" but nonetheless) is wearing a pistol on his side. Let's face it, women will be uncomfortable, do you feel comfortable having your wife in fear because a man wants to open carry?
My opinion is that it's not really seeing a weapon on someone's side but seeing someone actually take measures and put a bullet in somebody that makes a criminal have fear of a weapon. Yea you've got your petty criminals, but i'm talking about real deal thugs. Actually seeing a handgun used by a normal citizen to stop a crime in progress is what might work. So we can have all the folks in the world concealing but if they don't actually use the weapon it does no good. Until criminals know that actual force will be used to stop them, they'll keep on ginnin.
I apologize for the brevity of these messages, I'm on my phone. I probably have some grammatical errors to fix when I get home.
Chevy I'm not trying to single you out or ruffle any feathers just using what you say to further a conversation just for the sake of having a good conversation with guys of like mind and it's slow around the office.
As I stated in my last post, as sheepdog, we must be tolerant to the sheep. So to be responsible (and again for the sake of conversation) we can't just say, "oh well, when it boils down to it I care about my life more than yours, so i'm going to carry open carry whether it scares you or not." That's obviously a given that you care more about yours than mine. But as responsible gun owners, we should be trying to figure out how to make it easier to get more people trained with firearms, how to be responsible with them, and concealed carry so they're not so uncomfortable? You ask is it more important for her, (a woman, any woman) to be comfortable for a ten minute encounter? The problem is, it would never be just one person that's uncomfortable, it would be everyone you encounter throughout the day, it would be the husbands or fathers they came home to and told about it. So because one man decided to be comfortable and open carry instead of CC he's made numbers of people uncomfortable. I in know way think it's going to be wild wild west with folks everywhere strapping a six-shooter on their hip, but I do think they're will be some punks trying to be cool and doing it, and that's really my main problem with it.
You ask, "At what point is the comfortability of those who walk around defenseless more important than my ability to defend my life if the need arises?" and, "Where does it stop once that slippery slope starts?", I think a good argument could be made for, the line is drawn at concealed carry. It's only slippery if the people want it to be. It should be as cut and dry as 2nd amendment, we can carry, end of story, but that's another topic. I'll refer back to the sheep, sheepdog, wolf article since most of us read it, so the sheep know the sheepdog are there, they know the sheepdog have the ability to hurt them, but the fear of wolves is greater, and they know sheepdog will protect them.
Sorry to hi-jack, just a good topic. Again chevy not singling you out just making points.
I don't like kids screaming or talking loudly or running around in restaurants, at wal mart, or anywhere else for that matter. Is it ok for me to make you take those little noise machines somewhere else because it makes me uncomfortable? No, that would be a little unreasonable right? So i'm uncomfortable and I go home and complain to my girlfriend? What is the difference in your argument on comfort and mine? Take why we are uncomfortable out of the equation and focus purely on comfort and our lack of it. I deal with it, move on, and don't think the world revolves around me.
We must make compromises daily on things that make us uncomfortable. I make 100 a day just on my drive to work. Every single person on the road has a much more dangerous weapon than the gun on my hip. There is no age limit for them from 16-100 years old, there is no special licensing other than a test so easy a monkey could pass it. How in the heck can anyone lecture me about being comfortable with a legally carried handgun when there are 16 year olds driving like total maniacs every single hour and every single day and 85 year olds that have no business on the road? What is more irresponsible, your 17 year old having a 2,000 pound vehicle and an iphone and little suzy from down the street distracting her or someone like myself who is trained and proficient with my weapon having a firearm in a holster? See what i'm getting at?
You can cite oranges to apples if you'd like but if you remove the part of the equation that makes them uncomfortable, its an apples to apple comparison on being comfortable in our surroundings.
As far as you saying conceal carry is the way to go, I agree with you 110%.
