The last entry here, on “in your face” open carry versus concealed carry or discreet open carry, caught interest with a three-digit comment count. I also raised some new issues I hadn’t discussed here previously.
Basic truth, folks: economic rhetoric has never fed the hungry, and Second Amendment rhetoric has never armed the helpless.
via Massad Ayoob » Blog Archive » MORE ON OPEN CARRY.
And that is the whole point. Go read it and pass it along
It is heartening to see Mas moving more towards the distinction between a small number of folks who are openly carrying “provocatively” and the rest who are going abouit their daily lives without bringing unwarranted attention to the fact that they have a visibly holstered handgun. The “discrete” label still bothers me but I suppose I’ll get over it.
Now if Mas would only apply the same distinction to the difference between the vast majority of concealed carriers and those who are concealing “provocatively” under their shhot-me-first vests and pants of 1000 pockets.
Neither side needs the attention being brought by those wearing clown suits under or over their holstered handguns.. We just need to remember that the “issue” is about those in the clown suits and not everybody who carries one way or another.
stay safe.
I would be one of those…. and in over a decade I have been carrying, nobody ever said crap about it. The only ones that might have “suspected” were others carrying, so basically people in our side. Nor I have heard anybody getting in trouble because of a Royal Robin, 5.11 or other vest.
The Shoot Me Vest thing is another Internet myth alongside “IDPA will kill you in the street” and “You don’t need to carry a spare mag with a 1911.”
Also I think the “Shoot-Me-First Vest” is a bit of a gunnie legend. In the summer I see people wearing photographer’s vests in the city all the time, and I have a few family members who are in love with the extra pockets without much extra weight….none of the strangers appear to have been carrying, and none of my family that wears vests carry.
So yeah if the legend ever came true and a robber fired his first shot into the back of the head of the dude wearing a vest….chances are he’d have shot the wrong guy, while somebody else pulled their gun and ended the fight….
Both the instructors at our CHL class wore vests to cover their handguns, but not the typical “shoot me first” vests with the zillion pockets.
They wore normal fleece vests (not unlike this one in the navy color) with no “extra” pockets. Those vests are very common in Oregon, especially in non-summer months; they don’t stand out at all.
I will agree that there is a difference between carrying a gun, and carrying a gun at people.
To that end, I can agree that OC of long guns qualifies as the latter, and is thus counterproductive, the vast majority of the time.
Handguns though….