# State/Nation wide open carry day?



## jlami (Jan 28, 2011)

While participating in another thread my thoughts began to wander a usual. The problem as I see with exercising Open Carry is the possibility of inciting panic... Well, if our society was more exposed to people exercising this right it would no longer be an issue.

Every week we wear certain clothing to show our support for our favourite sports team, ribbons to raise awareness for different terminal illnesses etc. Why not organize a regular day for everyone to raise awareness of our second amendment rights by exercising them with open carry?

Just a thought, what is your opinion? 

I would appreciate both sides of the coin but please stay within the TOS. I do not want a heated debate to result of this thought.

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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

As I posted in the other thread... Any person or group that blatantly assembles in a place to push and flaunt their beliefs, regardless of the cause, is a detriment to the actual cause....
You're not raising awareness for cancer survivors, you're picking a fight....

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## jlami (Jan 28, 2011)

Bad Bub said:


> As I posted in the other thread... Any person or group that blatantly assembles in a place to push and flaunt their beliefs, regardless of the cause, is a detriment to the actual cause....
> You're not raising awareness for cancer survivors, you're picking a fight....
> 
> Sent from my DROID RAZR using Ohub Campfire mobile app
> ...


I'm not saying anyone should gather in any designated place our group. Just exercise open carry as you go through your normal daily activities. I understand what you are trying to say and I agree. However if Joe Citizen sees one person waking through a grocery store with a pistol on their hip it could incite panic, alternatively if the same Joe Citizen were to notice several people throughout the day that panic would gradually reduce to acceptance and it would become nothing outside of the norm... Non supporters may not like it but would be forced to accept it.

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## BigV (Nov 11, 2004)

I don't open carry, (at least not very often) but I support those that do.
I agree that if more folks open carry it would expose more in the general public to the fact that open carry is a protected right in Ohio.

However, there are some folks that will never be convinced that there are benefits to open carry and will always criticize those that do and push to restrict this right.

If and when I am forced to expose my weapon it will be because I am in eminent fear of my life or that of a loved one. I do not want to give the criminals the upper hand by knowing in advanced that I am armed. I believe the desperate criminal will change his tactics if he knows his would be victim was armed. He may choose not to engage, or he may decide to disarm his victim and use their weapon to his advantage.


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## jlami (Jan 28, 2011)

BigV said:


> I don't open carry, (at least not very often) but I support those that do.
> I agree that if more folks open carry it would expose more in the general public to the fact that open carry is a protected right in Ohio.
> 
> However, there are some folks that will never be convinced that there are benefits to open carry and will always criticize those that do and push to restrict this right.
> ...


I agree with you, typically I do not want anyone to know I an armed either. Not only for the "ace in the hole" thought process but also because it is typically not anyone elses business. I don't tell anyone how much cash I have in my wallet either... However when and if I choose to open carry it is not for intimidation purposes it is for convenience/comfort and depending on who I'm with or what I'm doing respect for the people surrounding me. (I feel it is common courtesy to inform people you are spending time with that you are armed) I.e. When visiting the family land we often travel through town by atv and typically it is on a hot day. I will usually loose the t shirt leaving my atire as a pair of shorts and a tank top, it is nearly impossible to conceal your firearm at that point. I have had people give strange looks or seem to be more cautious as a result... Never been approached by LE our questioned by anyone though.

I also had a situation at a family holiday gathering at a park where a great aunt spotted my gun while I was helping to carry food, presents, tables etc. She was not upset that I was armed but she was surprised and had many "great aunt" type questions after informing my uncle who, is chief of police in the particular town we were in and insisting he confront me as to why, how, legaly and so on. Alternatively if I were open carrying that surprise element would have been removed from the equation and it would have caused no excitement. Not to mention if she were accustomed to seeing average citizens carrying, it would not have been anything out of the ordinary for her.

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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

Personally, I see no need to open carry. What type of beneficial public awareness would or does this promote? Isn't there enough negative comments regarding firearms in general being continually publicized without looking for ways to draw additional attention to this subject? Like Big-V, I don't want anyone to know when or if I am carrying. I truly believe that open carry benefits the ego of the carrier in most cases, exclusive of law enforcement or security personnel.


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## lotaluck (Dec 17, 2009)

jlami,

I get the point you are making and agree that with enough people open carrying that eventually it would become acceptable to the general public.
However now is probably not the best time to bring this type of organized event. I find even in my day day talks with people that fire arms in general is still a very emotional subject. Now if we were in texas that would be a totally different song.


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

People with the fear of guns are people who are uneducated about guns. The fact that they would see guns more often will not reduce that fear. Any designated "day" or gathering of open carry would be nothing short of an activist movement. And that is definitely NOT the image any gun owner should ask for... I do understand the idea of making it more normal. But the last time open carry was considered normal, Billy the Kid was robbing banks and passenger trains at will. I can't believe the general public would ever accept that ideology again....

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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Bad Bub said:


> People with the fear of guns are people who are uneducated about guns. The fact that they would see guns more often will not reduce that fear. Any designated "day" or gathering of open carry would be nothing short of an activist movement. And that is definitely NOT the image any gun owner should ask for... I do understand the idea of making it more normal. But the last time open carry was considered normal, Billy the Kid was robbing banks and passenger trains at will. I can't believe the general public would ever accept that ideology again....
> 
> Sent from my DROID RAZR using Ohub Campfire mobile app


I have to agree with all of this. It&#8217;s just not going to help. If you want to see the mentality of some of the people out there, just look at the post below Bad Bubs. It goes far beyond simple ignorance. A combination of ignorance, fear, and hatred of what they don&#8217;t understand. Many people just refuse to look at anything with an open mind, and some aren&#8217;t smart enough.

Edit: Never mind the reference to the other post, it's gone now.


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## Workdog (Jan 10, 2007)

Shortdrift said:


> Personally, I see no need to open carry. What type of beneficial public awareness would or does this promote? Isn't there enough negative comments regarding firearms in general being continually publicized without looking for ways to draw additional attention to this subject? Like Big-V, I don't want anyone to know when or if I am carrying. I truly believe that open carry benefits the ego of the carrier in most cases, exclusive of law enforcement or security personnel.


I'm with Ron on this subject.


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## jray (Jan 20, 2006)

people who carry and conceal will kill people they are confronted by people who open carry will not have confrontations. Besides if you are trying to fish especially in shady areas as many of us do, concealing is uncomfortable and difficult based on amount of clothing etc. I see open carry as a deterrent more than anything. However in places with an abundance of people, stores, businesses, restaurants and so on i think you are at a disadvantage open carrying. One because you cannot keep track of everyone around you and your gun could be used on you, and two because the general populous will freak out. I think there is an advantage to open carry and i think it saves lives, yours and some punk looking to start trouble, but its not practical all the time.


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## jray (Jan 20, 2006)

And its not for my ego the places i would open carry half the time i wouldnt even see anyone. But if they are off the beaten path like me, they are either serious about fishing as i am or up to no good.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

it will never be accepted by the general public period. I myself think open carry in the general public is bullcrap because of the mindset of many people today (on both sides), you're just asking for a confrontation if you open carry in the general public, IMO. I don't do it and I wont come out to support those that do. if you want to carry a firearm GREAT! just go get your CCW license and do it that way.


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## I Fish (Sep 24, 2008)

jray said:


> And its not for my ego the places i would open carry half the time i wouldnt even see anyone. But if they are off the beaten path like me, they are either serious about fishing as i am or up to no good.


X2. Some of the off the beaten paths I've frequented, not just for fishing, there is always the chance encounter with wild dogs, coyotes, copper heads, whatever, not to mention potential criminals. As in the earlier thread, I didn't mean I go walking down the street in town on a regular basis, but, I have. I walked into town carrying my gun, and, I walked out carrying my gun. There shouldn't have to be something in season, and, I shouldn't have to have a license to carry a gun. A lack of a criminal record is enough license, and, that's something our forefathers knew and understood. We shouldn't be punished for the fact that the public has forgotten.


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## rustyfish (Apr 27, 2004)

Bad Bub said:


> As I posted in the other thread... Any person or group that blatantly assembles in a place to push and flaunt their beliefs, regardless of the cause, is a detriment to the actual cause....
> You're not raising awareness for cancer survivors, you're picking a fight....


First off,
Badbub that is one of the most unAmerican and idiotic things I have ever heard. Without the right or willingness to assemble you are a meaningless number without a voice. You just described the only way you can make a difference in this country. And then to bring cancer support into it "as if you could make cancer worse" and call it picking a fight. Well I sure hope we dont make cancer mad by talking about it in public. Screw America and Screw cancer survivors! Good call dude. But I guess I get your point because you just expressed your opinion publicly and made your argument look much worse.


As for the topic
I just don't see why every one is so excited to pay and take a class so they can carry a gun. Its like charging people money, requiring a class ,and permit to breath air. You already have full rights to do these things. Half the population including many gun owners do not even understand that they are already allowed to carry a gun.


Look on these threads with people responding, "I got my CCW so I can take a gun while fishing" or "thats why I got may CCW to keep myself safe while enjoying the outdoors". Uhmm ever heard of Open Carry?

As I siad on the other thread I know of people who have got the CCW just so they can carry a gun and they primarily carry on their hip. ???? When ask about it they get all confused. Now I know there are other advantages of CCW but that was not the case.

That being said, I feel no reason for me to carry a gun unless I am hunting, fishing, or something along those lines. If I am in a mostly secluded area doing those things then I would not expect to alarm anyone. I would not open carry in heavily populated areas myself but if a person chooses to then they should not have to deal with some crazy soccer mom screaming "he's got a gun". That person should be charged with invoking panic not the person carrying the gun.


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## Mr. A (Apr 23, 2012)

I must be missing something here. The OP went out of good way to explain good idea did not include a gathering of people. 

The way I understood it he was asking if we thought that of more people exercised the right to open carry, would it result in raising awareness and calming some of the fears in the general public.

Personally, I would support the idea of commonly open carrying for that propose alone. However, the reality is that there are far to many people that have never needed a gun to eat, always get what they need from a store, and haven't been poor enough to see the benefits of having a firearm. They outnumber any of its who haven't always been so lucky, so you now have a tyranny of the majority.

I won't even get into how clueless the general public is when it comes to their rights........ Or how the common American can only affect change through organizing and peaceful assembly... I just can't stoop to the level of not understanding those concepts, probably because to many have died to protect them, and so many today don't give a damn.

Mr. A


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

rustyfish said:


> First off,
> Badbub that is one of the most unAmerican and idiotic things I have ever heard. Without the right or willingness to assemble you are a meaningless number without a voice. You just described the only way you can make a difference in this country. And then to bring cancer support into it "as if you could make cancer worse" and call it picking a fight. Well I sure hope we dont make cancer mad by talking about it in public. Screw America and Screw cancer survivors! Good call dude. But I guess I get your point because you just expressed your opinion publicly and made your argument look much worse.


What?!?! Screw America??? Screw cancer survivors??? Not sure how you got that out of my post....

This thread was stemmed off of a previous thread about people gathering with guns on their hips (open carry) as a means of protest/support of the second amendment. They were not trying to make anyone more comfortable about a persons right to carry, they were trying to rub it in the faces of the anti's and wound up losing their platform. If people just started carrying on a regular basis, sure it could possibly become more normal for some people. But to designate a "day" for open carry, like it's a holiday (which is the title of this thread) would do absolutely nothing to help the cause. The anti's would be all over it. Places of business wouldn't want any part of it. And bottom line is, some moron will end up using it when somebody pushes his buttons... sorry that the cancer awareness comment evidently offended you, but designating a day, or week, or month for cancer awareness is not the same as designating a day, or week, or month for the open carry of a firearm. (Which was my point that you somehow missed) There is no reason why we should have a designated day to exercise our rights. If you want to be proactive, and a real supporter of the second amendment, carry your guns without drawing added attention to yourself. 

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## jlami (Jan 28, 2011)

Bad Bub said:


> What?!?! Screw America??? Screw cancer survivors??? Not sure how you got that out of my post....
> 
> This thread was stemmed off of a previous thread about people gathering with guns on their hips (open carry) as a means of protest/support of the second amendment.


Well truth be known it was spun off of the "conflict" thread... I'm purty confidant I did not participate in any thread regarding a protest, nor read one, nor had one in mind when I started this one. 

I understood what you were saying in your previous post that another member quoted. You were saying that firearm rights are very controversial and education will be fast more difficult than raising cancer awareness which is a cause that noone in their right mind could ever discredit.

Cancer awareness was used as an example of something that a large portion of society adjust their normal attire to show support for, and had become mainstream enough that we no longer look twice at someone pinning a pink ribbon to their lapel because it has become somewhat common/mainstream. As I originally stated, later clarified, and was also brought to light by another member, I was not suggesting gathering of the masses in public display for the purpose of any sort of protest, police action, vigilante movement, or political message. I was asking opinions of whether or not they think a regularly scheduled increase in people going about norm life while exercising the open carry right would lessen the shock/panic factor of people that would normally freak out at seeing a plained clothed citizen with a firearm on their hip next to the same cell phone holster, pocket knife, wallet chain etc. that many of us carry daily. If you guys thought it would become an accepted/tolerated thing that people would eventually get used to. I mean back in the early 90's anytime you seen someone with a beeper it was typically assumed that they were either a drug dealer or a Dr. depending on their physical appearance. Now it is common to see young children of elementary school age with the most sophisticated cell phones available....

Was curious if people thought something as big a deal as open carry could evolve in the same direction if it were done more regularly by a large group of people.

As I requested in the original post of this thread please do not derail this topic into a heated debate our confrontational discussion. I was just asking for peoples opinions.

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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

My bad. Thought it was spun off of the Starbucks/ careful who you support thread....
But my reasoning still stands. I believe people should exercise their right to carry more often. But I think making "a day" for it will only bring negative attention.

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## jlami (Jan 28, 2011)

And I was looking for different opinions on the topic. I feel that taking in different points of view often educate us and allows us to form an educated opinion of our own. I feel that open carry is a wonderful right and will continue to exercise this right. Hindsight there is a time and place. Obviously it is a bad idea, especially in todays society to walk into a crowded dept or grocery store in an urban area with a pistol hanging off of your hip for everyone to see... I assumed that to be common sense considering todays society. But I was curious to the opinions of the 
"what if"

Btw, I do agree with the fact that a day set aside for open carry would have negative reactions and contradict the cause... It might work if it were only publicised to supporters and participants and seemed to be a somewhat unscheduled and natural transition of daily activities.
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## rustyfish (Apr 27, 2004)

Sorry BadBub, I now realize what you are saying. 

But by saying "regardless of the cause" you are including cancer support, civil rights, and anything else in your statement. That then caused me to view the cancer support statement as "Even gatherings of cancer supporters are just making the situation worse". I now see it was the exact opposite and apologize for my reaction. My reaction was based mostly on the principle of your first statement not specifically "open carry day".


I am split on this. I strongly disagree with the idea that if a gun is to be carried then it should be concealed. Which is it, are you concealing it so you have the element of surprise or so people don't freak out. I don't want to ever shoot a person but I want to die a lot less. In that situation I feel confident that I would use it. So the element of surprise is not that desirable to me because by that point it has gone too far. If the sight of a gun has any chance of deterring a criminal than I would much rather it go that way. But like I said I just have no reason myself to carry a gun all day and would not participate in such an event. 

I think CCW is the solution in a round about way. Not all concealed carriers conceal their gun at all times. It has removed a lot of the fear out of seeing someone with a gun. If an average person sees a man with a gun (open carry) on their hip they think of the CCW law being passed and that it is ok. Even though they are unrelated. People carrying guns should become more common making them less "disruptive". Maybe that person who would have been afraid before now has a dad, brother, or sister who has CCW. Maybe CCW will make open carry more acceptable.


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

Understood. I came from a different thread than the rest of you. I went back and read the "confrontation" thread and see where the need for awareness/ education on peoples rights come from. 

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## WalleyeWiz (Jun 18, 2004)

After seeing this playout in Mich . I have changed my mind about OC . This guy gives all gun owners out there a bad name . Yes we have the right to OC but idiots like this sets back everything we fight for .

Dwayne


http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/23460269/does-this-2nd-amendment-protest-go-too-far


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## jlami (Jan 28, 2011)

I was not able to load the video but that was not at all what I had in mind. No signs, no picketing, no groups, just simply open carryas you go about your day to day activities... Hindsight, as I said previously oc in a crowded place is probably not the best idea.

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