I read Miguel’s post Friends Don’t Let Friends Open Carry – Written by Greg Ellifritz and the article he quoted.

I was once much like Miguel, I agreed with the right but not the practice.

Then I moved to Alabama.  I am now an open carrier.

Open carry is legal in Alabama with a permit.  Alabama permits are not concealed carry permits but pistol permits, both open and concealed.

I didn’t jump into open carry right away.  I still carried concealed initially, and I still do, but not having to worry about complete concealment has been such a relief that I’ve embraced it.

I need to clarify something at this point.  I believe that there are ways to open carry that are unobtrusive and polite and ways to open carry that make you look like a dick.  Not all open carry is created equal.  Running around with a tactical holster like you’re SWAT on casual Friday is a dick move.

When I am open carrying, I am already going to be in jeans or pants that mandate the use of a decent belt cut from the hide of a ruminant.  It is convenient then to holster up with a decent strong side holster and throw a shirt over the top.

Call it IDPA chic.  It is a lot more comfortable not having to worry about IWB or printing or peaking or anything else like that.  I carry a commander length 1911 and it’s easy to sit or drive or do what I want.  I don’t have to do the awkward “how do I bend over and not show the world I’m carrying” squat.

People are used to it enough around here that the muzzle of a pistol poking out from under the corner of shirt, vest, or jacket is a non issue.

There are a few places where I do make the effort to carry concealed because it is more fitting with the decorum of the establishment, like the fancy shopping mall in town.

Then there are the times where the convenient thing to do is carry in my Galco Waistpack because I’m just running errands with the kids and am in a t-shirt and shorts.

The point is, it has afforded me more freedom and ways I can carry, which I can match to my situation.

I understand that north Alabama is not Miami and that what works in one place doesn’t work for another.

It’s too bad that “don’t act like a dick” can’t be a law.

I have come to support “polite” open carry.  IDPA chic, with a gun in a modest but secure holster, partially hidden under an outer garment.  The problem, and I get it, is how do you legalize that without getting the occasional douche  going all operator with his eBay knockoff Blackhawk gear.

I support the right, and the practice, in a polite way, when appropriate.

If I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of freedom.