Saying that, mentioning the foolishness of civilians openly
carrying firearms must be discussed and debated. The debate about the law here is long over
for me. Open carry or any carry is the
law of the land. The debate about the
wisdom of open carrying in an urban setting must continue.
Just because you can carry openly should you?
I say that open carry is incredibly problematic and will put
you in prison or worse! Let’s begin with
the worse. If you’re carrying a gun for
personal and family security doing that openly, deprives you of the element
surprise needed to survive a violent event. Even worse, experienced violent criminals can
be counted upon to attempt to strong-arm you for your weapon. The tactical
disadvantages of open carry are huge.
Other challenges are laid out like mines in a minefield. I’ve seen the fallout of open carry first
hand. Here are just some scenarios:
A gun rights hater sees you with your gun and calls
911. The story this jerk tells is
exaggerated in many different ways because the caller wants to see the police
confront you and your gun. The 911 caller
will say, “the guy appears drugged up or drunk” or “The guy looks mean and angry
and has his hand on the gun!” or “The guy is paying quick draw in the street!”
The police can be counted on to treat the call like it is valid and the potential
for disaster here is enormous.
Then there is the town troublemaker who will see your weapon
and will try to aggravate you and instigate to the point where something stupid
happens.
Last but not least is the malicious person that you may or
may not know. He or she wants to see you
in jail and calls 911 saying, “there’s a guy with a gun and he pointed at me
and threatened to shoot me!” The police
arrive and see you carrying the gun as described. With a complainant that continues with this
lie the police have absolute probable cause to arrest you for a felony crime of
Aggravated Assault.
They will arrest you, seize your gun and you will spend the
next year of your life fighting the lie in court. Between the huge cost for bail and lawyers,
even if you win in court you lose. Yes, I’ve
seen innocent people sent to prison for as much as seven years this way.
If you are arrested for Aggravated Assault there is an 80%
chance you will be convicted. Innocence is really irrelevant in today’s American
courtrooms.
If you are discreet and keep your weapon concealed you can
avoid so many real booby traps that can kill you or ruin your life. Why would you take the unnecessary risks of
open carry?
Saying all of that there are places where open carry is not
a problem Events like those put on by SASS (Single Action Shooting Society) or
for filmmaking.
I simply ask you to think before you place yourself in
harm’s way by openly carrying.
